SW Queen Anne Greenbelt Restoration.

The SW Queen Anne Greenbelt presented us with leafy native plants, much grown since the last time we’ve seen them. A dedicated group of Forest Stewards, some of whom live nearby, are supported by the Green Seattle Partnership in restoring this neighborhood hillside forest.

We prepared the plantings for summer by working on mulch and weed suppression. Coffee bag burlap sacks were overlapped around plants, particularly the high-value young conifers which grow more slowly. They we  covered them with a ring of mulch. The large hillside site creates a good bit of work in hauling mulch from the road access point. The wheelbarrow picks up such a speed that all must clear the bath as it barrels downhill! I’m sure we’ll be back to work on this neat site again.

SW Queen Anne Greenbelt Planting & Weeding.

Squad weeded stickyweed and bindweed out from around native plantings in the SW Queen Anne Greenbelt at a fun work party led by a couple of favourite stewards from the Green Seattle Partnership's Forest Steward program.

Much play ensued beyond the work as the trees were fun for climbing and large sticks abounded, as did the bugs. The nettles were lush and Squad sustained its worst injury to date- 20+ stings on one little leg. Fortunately the whole group rushed to her aid with botanical remedies, comfort and cream. You can read more and see our work parties via the SW QA Greenbelt tag here.

Bare Root Planting on Queen Anne With the Green Seattle Partnership

What a windy day on Queen Anne Hill! With 50's in the forecast no one was prepared for how cold and inhospitable it would be despite the sun breaks and rain mostly holding off. We saw white caps on Elliot Bay on the way in. Happily, two families were able to walk or take public transportation due to the nice central location. In fact that is a terrific aspect of the Green Seattle Partnership's Forest Steward program- there is probably a local stewardship opportunity near everyone in the city as motivated folks can identify projects in their vicinity then become Forest Stewards and host work parties supported by the Partnership. Try looking around where you live!

Speaking of Queen Anne, poison hemlock / Conicum Maculatum resembles Queen Anne's lace / Daucus carrota in the spring, and it seems that some of the former was sprouting up on site. They can be hard to distinguish from other carrot-family species, but I am usually wary of them when I see the purple blotches on the stem bases, especially without flowers to put it in the clear (poison hemlock has an earlier bloom with open branching flower clusters as opposed to QA's lace with a central flower head). Eating it is the greatest danger, but there can be other issues as well so it is good to be familiar.

And if all this talk about Queen Anne has you wondering about the history of the hill's name... Wikipedia states it was derived from the Victorian architectural style typical of the wealthy homes built on it in Seattle's early days. May the hill's natural areas receive as much care and consideration as its architecture.

SW Queen Anne Greenbelt Planting & Mulching.

This was our first work party in the SW Queen Anne Greenbelt hosted by the Green Seattle Partnership and some of their friendly Forest Stewards. We had a great time! This was one of our most productive bucket brigades hauling a good portion of the mulch pile down the hill so as to be closer to planting areas. The kids took turns (for the most part!) shoveling mulch into buckets, passing buckets and returning empty ones.

After lunch we took live stake cuttings of Indian plum / Oemlaria cerasiformis. Previously Squad has done live stakes of willow / Salix sp. and red osier dogwood / Cornus sericea so this was a first, it will be interesting to watch for how they grow. Our crew leader said about 30% have made it in his experience, so we planted in clusters of three. This article explains more about a local training event on live stakes and which species have been successful. Horticulture and restoration can be part art and part science so it is easy to encounter much variability in advice and experience. It is terrific that these kids and families are adding to their hands-on experience bank. We look forward to returning in March and beyond to see the site develop!