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I volunteer at greencitypartnership.org, leading a crew restoring a large park. I've been wondering how we might build a community of urban forest hackers. To
by specialist 2mo ago
I volunteer at greencitypartnership.org, leading a crew restoring a large park.
I've been wondering how we might build a community of urban forest hackers. To share tips and info, how to deal with vandals, help each other make yard signs, how to transport water over trail, etc.
I would love to know better ways for breaking up a parking lot.
I opened up 4 separate spaces for tree planters. I started with pickaxe and pry rod (nicknamed The Persuader by its owner). That's real work. Next, I borrowed a Makita rotary hammer from our local tool library. Very helpful!
My "boss" has a protocol to improve plant survival and reduce labor: pile up 10" - 12" of mulch. If my trees survive this summer I'll be very happy.
So, my boss's teams use the "too much mulch" hack, to great success.
But her innovation is slow to spread. Because our teams only meet yearly (some of us do float around to other job sites, which is great). But we have no contact with other teams, other cities, other regions. And seeing is believing. (I too was very skeptical and reluctant to schlep that much more mulch.)
And I'm sure someone somewhere has some labor saving hacks for tackling Himalayan blackberry. Once removed, my boss's hack is to use pinebark to prevent their return. Works great! (Another innovation slow to spread.) But oh boy removing invasives like blackberries, english ivy, scotch broom, etc currently requires a lot of labor.
(I know about super steam lances. Notion is to cook root balls from the inside out. I'm still trying to find a unit to experiment with. I heard there's one in Oregon, that I might go visit.)
- toast0 2mo ago> And I'm sure someone somewhere has some labor saving hacks for tackling Himalayan blackberry. Goats. It's not labor eliminating, you've got to set up and maintain temporary fencing, and you've got to remove plants that dangerous for goats to eat, and you need to take care of the goats generally. But, they can really help get things under control.
- specialist 2mo agoI would love that. We've asked. Something something budgets, liability, approvals, blah blah blah. Like everywhere else (in this habitat zone), we have acres of just blackberry. They even choke out the scotts broom and butterfly bushes. There's no way us volunteer crews are going to get ahead of all that. What I'm doing is creative, strategic, public relations. In our 80 acre park, we choose spots based on impact and visibility. Just like Tom Sawyer painting the white picket fence. Our first year, I got lots of skepticism, negative comments. A few years later, the park regulars (aka voters) have seen results and progress. It cheers people up. And we're getting all sorts of ad hoc support, donations, etc. Over time, I have to believe, we'll win over enough support to actually compel the host city to honor their tree conservation and restoration commitments. (They're still losing canopy cover faster than its being replaced.)
- Schlagbohrer 2mo agoI would absolutely love to see shepards sheparding small groups of goats (maybe four or five?) safely through the city to eat weeds and clear areas. That's the solarpunk vision.
- instakill 2mo agolink does not work
- specialist 2mo agowhoops https://forterra.org/our-work/programs/green-city-partnerships/ https://forterra.org/our-work/programs/green-city-partnershi...