Pritchard Beach Morning Glory Pull & Mulch

Squad braved the heat wave to spend some time with long time stewards at Pritchard Beach Park on Lake Washington. Having six days in a row of 90 degree weather is pretty warm for Seattle but we worked in the shade and of course cooled off in the lake! This is such a neat site to work in, click on the location tag for more info and past events!

Pritchard Island Beach Hot Summer Swim & Stewardship

Pritchard Island Beach was the perfect Stewardship Squad location on a hot summer day! The restoration area right on Lake Washington is nicely established and shade-giving. We focused on pulling bindweed out of the native plants, which can take quite a hit from the tenacious vines that can pull young shrubs and even trees right down to the ground, smothering them.

The Green Seattle Partnership furthers ongoing restoration by supporting dedicated local forest stewards, Kathy and Catherine who with the help of Phillip and others have lovingly tended the park for years. They are excellent hosts! Our swim play even had a visit from a Seattle Times photographer and some of the kids made the paper (screen shot of the pic below)!

More Weeding at Pritchard Island Beach on Lake Washington

How terrific it was to resume summer swim Squads! We love returning to Pritchard Island Beach where restoration happens right on the lakeshore. The natural area is adjacent to the staffed swimming beach and showcases an interesting range of habitats from a hidden pond and mini amphitheater to charming woodland and wetland bridge- all along Lake Washington. The Green Seattle Partnership supports ongoing restoration by supporting dedicated local forest stewards, Kathy and Catherine. Read more from past event posts by clicking on the Pritchard tag.

Pritchard Island Beach Noxious Weeding

Pritchard Island Beach showcases an interesting range of habitats from a hidden pond and mini amphitheater to charming woodland and wetland bridge- all along Lake Washington. The Green Seattle Partnership supports long-time stewardship efforts to nurture the native plantings at the park. You can read past posts for more information about the park’s restoration efforts. History Link notes that:

“Pritchard Island, a small island on the southwest shore of Lake Washington, was the site of a Duwamish Indian village known as tleelh-chus ("little island") for generations before the first United States settlers arrived in the area in the 1860s. It gained the name Pritchard Island when Alfred J. Pritchard acquired it in 1900 and platted a housing development that was reached by a footbridge over the slough that separated the island from the mainland shore of the lake. The area was annexed into the City of Seattle in 1907. Ten years later, the lowering of Lake Washington due to the opening of the Lake Washington Ship Canal drained the slough, connecting the island to the mainland.”

We pulled copious amounts of noxious buttercup, bindweed, curly dock and more to give the young native plants some breathing room for the summer growing season. A few buckets of mulch for each plant will also help knock back weeds and retain moisture during our naturally dry summertime. After a nature stroll through the woodland everyone enjoyed swimming at the beach.

Pritchard Island Beach Native Plant Rescue

Pritchard Island Beach is always a fun restoration visit with the kind and knowledgeable Forest Stewards, Kathy & Catherine of the Green Seattle Partnership. The property's past life is fascinating–check out some history of the park area, including how it used to be an island before the construction of the Ballard Locks dropped the level of Lake Washington.

There was wonderful salmon art as well, done by an artist and local school children who reused aluminum beverage containers. The Native American style (sans the bamboo) fish weirs, stood vertically, made for attractive and informative markers. When placed horizontally in the water, the fish swim into them but the current prevents them from exiting.

Unfortunately for the ecologically sensitive restoration efforts, there is now an an active encampment cut out of the shoreline vegetation that has eliminated years of volunteer efforts. There are chopped plants, trash and debris on the water's edge in the restoration zone such that we decided to work elsewhere at the site. We briefly touched on the basic idea that sometimes people disagree about ownership, environmental significance and best uses for particular spaces–that while we may consider this a community natural area, someone else consider's this their personal home and it is a complex issue to be addressed on another occasion. We were there for ecological stewardship and stuck to pulling noxious weeds, climbing trees, water play and spreading mulch.

twin berry / Lonicera involucrata

twin berry / Lonicera involucrata