Springtime has been chilly in 2022 and one upsides is that the weeds are slower to come on in full force. At Cottonwood Corner on Riverton Creek in Tukwila, Squad worked under the support of the Green Tukwila Partnership to get ahead of noxious weeds sprouting up since our last work party, such as bindweed and Lapsana, of course there is always blackberry to dig up and horsetail to keep in check so that we can improve native species diversity for both plants and animals.
We receive two dump truck loads of steaming wood chips from Tukwila Parks & Rec which was very exciting- who doesn’t enjoy watching a dump truck dump(?!) with hand-warming perks to boot. We discussed how wood chips are steamy and warm due to the biological activities of microorganisms breaking down organic matter. Arborists chips are a fantastic natural material for simulating natural forest processes in urban environments. Wood chip mulch prevents weed seeds from germinating, protects soil from eroding/silting streams and storm drains, breaks down into plant nutrients and provides crucial benefits for fungi, insects and more.