Update on Brooklyn planting project and next working bee!
From Kim Burridge, BOMB squad leader
Volunteers, mostly from the Brooklyn BOMB squad, have taken over management of a long strip of land sitting between the Brooklyn Stream and Vaila Orchard. It starts at Linden Reserve and meanders for a couple of hundred meters alongside the stream heading up the Brooklyn valley.
The plan for 2025 is to continue preparing the site, with the focus on weed control and creating a permanent track during the first six months, followed by planting in winter. The project is slowly ticking along, despite being on a summer hiatus.
Steve from MAD Conservation sprayed the area in early December and successfully knocked back most of the weeds, although it took the blackberry a while to show any impact. The weeds have just begun to resurface, particularly the convolvulus and gorse. Steve recommended monthly monitoring of weed regrowth, especially the convolvulus, so volunteers sprayed the regrowth on half the area today and we’ll finish the remainder tomorrow morning.
Helen Forsey’s (TDC) planting plan is confirmed and has been sent to Westbank Natives for supply and pricing. At this stage it looks as though our current funding will allow us to plant half the area this winter and the second half will need to wait until the following winter. If you know of any organisations or individuals wanting to fund native plantings in this area, please do get in touch and we will approach them!
Our first onsite working bee is scheduled for Saturday 15th February from 9am – 11am, and our tasks will be to remove the skinny young willows (leaving all the big established trees in place to provide shade and bank stability) and to start forming a meandering track. Hopefully the weeds will be fairly well in hand after today’s spraying, but there might be a bit of blackberry and convolvulus needing to be hauled out of the willows.
If you have any questions about this project, please don’t hesitate to get in touch.