Report by Phil Ranly and Bin Ruiter

Several Wanderers joined the Wissahickon Restoration Volunteers, the Friends of the Wissahickon, neighbors and other volunteers, to help fix up a park mere blocks away from Wanderers headquarters. About 25 people altogether showed up on this first of several scheduled days of volunteering there.

We first received a primer from WRV about what we were supposed to pull and that which we were trying to save. After that, we started our work and made a lot of progress. And thanks to Dave from the FOW (who brought their motorized front loader along) we cleared a large patch along Johnson St that would have taken us many hours to do by hand!

The next steps will be to dry out the large piles of brush and trees that we pulled. Once dried and dead, we will spread it out to let it decompose naturally.

During our next work parties, we will be prepping the area for planting. Thanks to Fairmount Park and WRV, we will have more than 130 native trees and shrubs coming our way. We could use your help to prep the area in anticipation of planting later this Spring. The next group work party is on April 19 (although we will be out before then too).

We are working with restoration experts at WRV and Fairmount Park who will decide what trees to plant and where. The objective is to restore the area to a healthy park and beat back the invasive trees and bushes that dominate the area now. Please contact Phil or Jan if you are interested in joining them. Additional information can be found here »

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