Monday, July 20, 2015

Park Clean-up, July 26

I have not been to the park nearly as much as I would like but I did manage to do a quick stroll on Saturday. It is looking mighty fine! Most of the greenery is horseweed (Conyza condensis). Not a lovely plant but it is native and it is green during the summer. And it is easy to get rid of once it has finished blooming (a very scythable plant).

There will be two park cleanups this summer. I usually do not schedule these, but rather wait until I hear from high school students in need of service hours. I try to accommodate as many as possible. As such, we will have a cleanup on Sunday, July 26 from 8:30 AM to whenever we are too hot to work (around 11). We will be spreading mulch since there are very few weeds to deal with. There will be another cleanup in August before school starts (8/20/15). Check back for time and date.


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Map of park with areas labelled.

Volunteers should:
  • wear sunscreen, hat, sunglasses
  • bring water
  • bring gardening gloves and tools (weeders, trowels, whatever you use in your own garden)
  • wear comfortable work clothes, including work shoes (sneakers or boots) and long pants
  • bring binoculars for birdwatching (optional)
Children must be under adult supervision at all times. There is poison oak in the park that we will point out before starting.

The South Pas Nature Park is a four-acre habitat park along the Arroyo Seco. The entrance, marked by a small plaque on an attractive river rock wall, is in the 100 block of Pasadena Avenue in South Pasadena, east of the York Street Bridge. There is plenty of on-street parking on Pasadena Avenue.

The park is graced with mature coast live oaks, southern walnuts and western sycamores. Planted with sage, buckwheat and other native coastal sage scrub plants, the park provides an inviting environment for birds, lizards, squirrels and numerous other critters. Locals too enjoy walking, jogging and horseback riding through the park.

Coast Live Oak
Coast live oak

Since 2006 an informal group of park stewards, Friends of the Nature Park (FONP), have been removing invasive weeds and litter on Saturday and Wednesday mornings.  Cleanups are held approximately twice a month. For notification of cleanup dates, contact Barbara Eisenstein (barbara.eisenstein@gmail.com), or check the Nature Park blog, (http://www.nativebydesign.blogspot.com).