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31 May 2009

On the Perimeter

Another month has flown by and I've just completed the second of three work rotations in the gardens this spring with the Perimeter group. These guys work under Longwood's Land Steward and are responsible for health and well-being of the 450 or so acres that make up the outlying areas of Longwood property. While it was a relatively short period of time, there was lots of activity: hunting for native Trilliums, battling invasive species, planting trees and shrubs, thwarting beavers, and avoiding poison ivy (which I managed to do successfully!). It's really almost too much to write about so I'll leave you with a photo gallery of memorable moments:

Rush hour commute.

Mr. Groundhog pops up to say hello.


A misty morning at Webb Barn. Quite often deer would venture out of the woods and one morning we watched a pair of foxes romping in the grass.

The water tower at The Row seen from Abbondi (so called because that was the name of the family who previously owned the land), one of the areas of managed wetlands.

Birds and Nests (clockwise: Starlings, Swallows, Oriole nest, Robin eggs)

This is how we dig holes and plant trees with the Dingo!

Unclogging the drainage pipe in one of the ponds (no thanks to Mr. Beaver) created this whirlpool about the size of a dinner plate.

This is Mr. Beaver's house
Once the pond drained a bit we rigged up The Beaver Deceiver!

Don't believe me about the size of the whirlpool? Check this out:



And we meet two more IPM Cats (why do they all think I'm a scratching post!?)

2 comments:

David said...

So I'm curious: Why are we attempting to deceive Mr. Beaver? Isn't a beaver dam a good thing, indicating a healthy and diverse ecosystem?

Debs said...

Well, yes and no. It's a managed wetland so they occasionally regulate the water level in the pond to create mud flats, encourage more critter diversity, and keep the oaks happy but Mr. Beaver had other plans.