Branch Out Dallas has begun. The program gives out free 5ish-gallon trees to residents. If your yard is all mature trees, then you need some young ones beneath the boughs to be ready for when the mature ones age out. Register by Sept 30. https://dallascityhall.com/departments/waterutilities/Pages/branch-out-dallas.aspx But even if you have…
by Amy Martin, Greenbelt & Gardens Coordinator The little pollinator garden on the sloped entry to the Woods Trail at The Knoll did well in our wet spring until the 100s arrived and rains departed. Then it really took a beating from the sunlight and heat. Francis to the rescue…
by Amy Martin, gardens and greenbelt coordinator Have you seen the penstemon cobaea in the Creekmere Meadow? So showy! The patches have more than doubled thanks to the Greenbelt Guild collecting seed that was distributed in the fall. The forest along the Woods Trail is looking fine. I started at…
Maximilian sunflower.
by Amy Martin, Greenbelt & Gardens coordinator TOBs for the win! It was a small but mighty restoration crew last Wednesday, just Hala and me, both of us of… a certain age. I call us the Tough Old Broads. And wow were we! Knocked out the final 20 yards of…
Our restoration days are the Sunday before the bulk pick up. We’ll play it by ear for the hot weather months — sometimes we do get cool spells. In cold weather, we may shift to afternoons. Mark your calendars! We always meet somewhere on Creekmere between Peavy and Sylvania. Look for the parked…
by Amy Martin, Greenbelt Guild coordinator One of our Greenbelt Guild members, Cade Lobo, has a toddler and is developing two ideas for the woods around the playground at Dixon Branch Greenbelt Park: Today, Cade and I started work on the Toddler Nature Trail behind the playground. There is currently…
Grassland birds are the fastest-declining bird species in the US, with a 34% loss since 1970. Native grass expert John Snowden knows how we can help! Last week in the greenbelt, a distinctive bird call caught my ear — dick-sis-sel, dick-sis-sel. The onomatopoetic call of a dickcissel, a grassland bird that’s…
Tour of Native Grasses in Creekmere Meadow with the Texas Grassman John Snowden, the Texas Grassman, is obsessed with native grasses. And quite a character! He knows more about native grasses than anyone in North Texas and provided some for us, like the line of Indiangrass in the Entry Meadow….
Eastward Ho, part 2! Discovery of the Druid, Saw Palmetto, & Big Ole Bois D’Arc by Amy Martin, Guild coordinator Earlier this month — after the Greenbelt Guild continued trail-making eastward from Steve Pickett’s re-routing of the Woods trail from the creek — Steve returned and continued their work. Find…
by Amy Martin, Greebelt Guild coordinator A merry band of five — Hala, Katherine, Keith, Rudy, and I — gathered on Sept. 7 Sun. to work on the easternmost section of the Woods Trail. Take the Creekmere Meadow Trail from the big pecan by Overglen and as it turns left/west,…
There it was on my iCal: Total Body Lab at the gym on Friday. But the morning was blessedly cool, and pushing a deadline had me indoors all week. Removing ragweed from the beautiful blue-leaved line of Indiangrass in the Entry Meadow would be a total body workout, while salvaging…