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:

• Toddler Explorer Woods
• Toddler Nature Trail

Today, Cade and I started work on the Toddler Nature Trail behind the playground. There is currently a short U-shaped trail. But for half of its length it passes through un-fun privet-clogged woods. Yet among those awful mega-sized invasive shrubs are some magnificent large hardwoods crying for relief.

We started with the trail entrance closest to the playground. We knew there was a large tree right next to the entrance.

Here’s what it looked like:

Here’s the same area after two hours of work:

Is that not gorgeous? You can see the sky now! The glossy green plants are cherry laurel, a medium-sized understory tree. Birds love the berries, and being evergreen they provide a warm winter roosting area.

Here’s a closer look at the liberated tree. It’s a magnificent red oak and must be a century old!

We found lots of small yaupon, a berry shrub that birds like. They’re small but now have a chance to flourish:

Somewhere lost in the privet is a poplar tree. We found the leaves but not the tree.

Here’s Cade celebrating our magnificent pile. We’ll drag it to the curb before the March bulk pick-up day. Sure could use some help with that:

And here’s Cade, taking a well-deserved rest on the pile.

The Toddler Explorer Woods will be adjacent to the playground next to a small tributary of Dixon Branch. Cade plans to remove scratchy plants like briar, dangerous plants like poison ivy, and a whole lot of privet to create a safe woods with open sightlines.

The littles would be free to wander under supervision. A pile of large sticks and a bag of twine would help them make forts. We hope people will create fairy houses, toad abodes, and other fun things to help toddlers find magic in nature.

Want to get the great feeling of leaving a legacy for future generations? Join the Greenbelt Guild.

In the planning stages is a parents’ group for the playground. Stay tuned!