On September 27 we volunteered with the Franklin High School PTSA for a SOLVE event to beautify and support the biodiversity and ecosystem services of the area around the Franklin High School Auditorium. The landscaped area had become overgrown with ecologically-disruptive thistle, grasses, tree of heaven, English ivy and other unwelcome species. Organized by Franklin PTSA President Jasper Lieber, our mighty STREAM~N Team group pulled weeds, dug out small saplings, and then spread a huge mound of mulch throughout the site. It is now a lovely area for both humans and wildlife to enjoy.
The shrubs and trees are now freed from the pesky weeds; they and 40 more trees that will soon be planted on the school grounds provide many benefits such as cooling the air, slowing evaporation, reducing erosion, and improving water quality and wildlife habitat. And all that mulch will help keep the weeds in check, reduce erosion, retain water, and improve the soil, too. Great job, team!
STREAM~N Team enjoyed this moment of celebration with other members of the community after several hours of work!
Michael and Sophie removing ivy from the base of a Douglas fir tree. Ivy can grow heavy enough to bring down branches and trees. We suspect this tree says, “Thank you!”
Chase, Jasper, Jaxson, and Jaz worked together to deliver mulch using garbage cans. Thanks, Jasper, for leading our group!
Dipesh and Sangat worked hard to dig out tree of heaven saplings. These trees grow very quickly and are highly invasive, so we were happy to slow their spread a little bit.
Jaz, Jaxson, Brady, Piper and team loaded a ton of mulch, which we spread on all of the areas we cleared to keep weeds under control and help retain water in the soil. We were thrilled to leave with the huge pile of mulch distributed!