Saturday's cleanup started with the appearance of a large, beige-colored praying mantis on the park sign holder on Pasadena Avenue. Walking down into the park, a blue dragon fly lit onto my finger. Neither insect was moving very fast in the cool, early morning weather.
With such a nice welcome, it turned into a very productive day. At this time of the year the weeds are just getting going. The ground is moist and the young weeds are easy to remove. We concentrated on castor bean, mustard and horehound in the central mound area and near the steep wooden steps. Removing them now is extremely efficient since not only are they small and easy to pull, but they have not flowered and spread seeds.
In addition to weed removal, some picked up litter, others worked on removing chain link in a drainage area on the southwest side of the park (below Pasadena Ave.), and others chopped away at some large, weedy trees (shamel ash and Chinese elm).
The park is improving and with plans to lay paths and plant in the bare central mound area, I foresee good things to come. And none of this would be possible without the help of community volunteers, including scouts, college students, landscape professionals, and just regular people who care about the park.
The next cleanup is Saturday, December 10th. On January 28th, students from Occidental College and South Pasadena girl scouts will be laying paths and planting in the center of the park.
If you have a few minutes on one of our weekend cleanups, stop by to say hello, enjoy the park, or get down and dirty pulling weeds and picking up litter.
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| Volunteer removes graffiti from sign. (10/15/2011) |
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| Oak tree in park |
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| Path leading to sign in center of park. Plants include red willow (Salix laevigata), deer grass (Muhlenbergia rigens), coyote brush (Baccharis pilularis). |
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| Large boulders surround infiltration basin that collects rain water and runoff from Pasadena Avenue. |
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| Beautiful cloudy day is perfect for working,walking or just sitting in the park. |
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| Red toyon (Heteromeles arbutifolia) berries add color during the holiday season. |
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| Monkeyflowers (Mimulus aurantiacus) have been blooming for months. |
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