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Join Friends of North Beach Park for the wrap up of the planting season on Saturday, January 23, 2016. We’ll meet at the main entrance to the park, 24th Ave and 90th St. NW. The work party will run from 9 a.m. to noon, rain or shine.

We’ll be planting at the main stream crossing and streamside up and down from that point. We’ll also be transporting some mulch down to the planting areas. The plants we’ll be planting have been provided by Green Seattle Partnership and the Washington Native Plant Society.

We’ll provide tools, gloves, and guidance. Please wear weather appropriate layers than can get dirty (likely very dirty) and closed-toe, waterproof shoes. Rain gear will be helpful; expect late-January weather, whatever that means these days. Even in cold weather, it’s a good idea to bring some water and a snack. Note there are no facilities at the park.

Please sign up in advance so we know you’re coming.

All ages are welcome; volunteers under 18 must sign and bring a waiver (link next to the sign-up form). The #48 and #40 buses stop a few blocks south of the park; check Metro for details. Parking is available on 90th St. east of 24th Ave.

As always, you can support Friends of North Beach Park by making a directed donation to the Seattle Parks Foundation. All money donated will be used to fund the restoration efforts of North Beach Park.

If you’re looking for something on Martin Luther King Day, there are a number of special events all over the city.

If you can’t join Friends of North Beach Park in January, save the date for one of our upcoming work parties: February 27, March 26, or April 23. All work parties are 9 a.m. to noon, and will meet at the main entrance to the park, 90th St. and 24th Ave. NW.

Mirrored from Nature Intrudes. Please comment over there.

Another great work party today at North Beach Park! We were able to plant 150 wetland trees and shrubs with time to spare. The plants we installed were:

Scientific Name	Common Name
Fraxinus latifolia	Oregon ash
Malus fusca	Pacific crab apple
Physocarpus capitatus	Pacific ninebark
Salix lucida	Pacific willow
Salix sitchensis	Sitka willow

Five buckets of fun!

These are all “facultative wetland” plants, which means that 2/3ds of the time they are found growing in wetlands, and about 1/3 or so in slightly dryer areas. They were purchased from 4th Corner Nuseries as partial fulfillment of the Washington Native Plant Society Stewardship Grant that Friends of North Beach Park received last June. It’s been a very successful grant for us, and we look forward to seeing the results in the summer and the coming years.

We had eleven volunteers ranging in age from senior in high school on up to well retired. Here is a picture of two of them:

Spot the volunteers!

We installed the plants between the stream and the trail, in areas that were primarily salmonberry and red alder. They greatly increase the diversity of plant life in those areas; in a few years, they’ll be taller than the salmonberry and quite striking. Also, when they’re at their full height, they will increase the structural diversity (that’s good for birds as well visual aesthetics). We worked in two sections of the park, the Headwaters Bowl and the Central Valley.

I didn’t take very many pictures this time, but there are a few more on Flickr.

Our next two work parties are scheduled for March 28th and April 25th. We usually skip May, because of Memorial Day weekend, but we’re working on something special that should be a lot of fun. We’ll update with details as they become solidified.

Join us in the woods some time! It’s fun and a great way to meet your neighbors.

Mirrored from Nature Intrudes. Please comment over there.

We’ve set up the first batch of work parties at North Beach Park — come join us for invasive removal, planting, meeting people and sharing good work.

All events start at 9 a.m. and run until about noon, rain or shine. All events are on the fourth Saturday of the month, with specific dates below. Please sign up in advance so we know you’re coming!

We welcome all ages, but children must be accompanied by an adult. High-school aged people should have a Youth Waiver Form signed when they arrive. The form is on the sidebar of the event page.

Please wear weather-appropriate layers that can get dirty and closed-toe shoes that can stand up to a little mud. We provide tools, gloves, and guidance. Bring water and snacks as you need them, but there are no facilities at the park.

For events in the main body of the park, parking is available on 90th St. east of 24th Ave. Parking near the South Plateau is more limited, as the nearest public streets are residential. The #40 and #48 buses stop within a couple blocks of the park. Check Metro Trip Planner for details.

Alright! Now onto the event-specific information:

South Plateau Planting Work Party

January 24, 2015

This is the third of four planting parties in North Beach Park during this planting season. We’ll be installing upland trees and shrubs in the South Plateau area of the park. The entrance is located at 27th Ave NW and NW 88th St. If we have time or enough people, we’ll also do some invasive removal.

Directions: From the intersection of 24th Ave. and 85th St., head west to 26th Ave. Turn right onto 26th Ave. and continue north to 87th St. Turn left onto 87th St. and look for parking. The entrance to the park is a half block or so up 27th Ave., which looks like an alleyway at that point. The South Plateau is below street grade, but the work party should be easily visible.

Wetland Trees and Shrubs

February 28, 2015

Join us for the final planting work party of the planting season! We’ll be planting trees and shrubs appropriate for wetlands and streambanks. They’ll add a nice mid-canopy layer to the wetland stretches of the park. These trees and shrubs were purchased as part of a stewardship grant from the Washington Native Plant Society.

Spring is Bustin’ out all over

March 28, 2015

March is the start of the really pretty days for North Beach Park. Several herbaceous plants and many shrubs are already in bloom and all the deciduous plants are leafing out. If you visit the park sometime when no one else is there, you might be surprised at the amount of bird song you can hear. (During a work party, it might be too noisy to hear much.)

April Work Party

April 25, 2015

This is the last work party of the winter and spring series. Just about everything that can be in bloom will be at this point, and everything is fully leafed out. If the weather is gorgeous, but you can’t quite clear your schedule to get out of the city, come join us in the woods.

That’s it! We take a break in May for a couple reasons. The first is that it’s too close to Memorial Day weekend, and everybody has more fun things to do (I mean, WE think pulling ivy in the park is fun…) The second, and more important, is that it’s the height of nesting season, and we don’t want to disturb the ground and shrub nesting birds that make North Beach Park their home.

And as ever, if you can’t attend a work party, your financial support is more than welcome. Just visit the Seattle Parks Foundation’s North Beach Park page and make a tax-deductible donation. All funds will be used for purchase of materials, supplies, and plants. Thank you in advance!

Mirrored from Nature Intrudes. Please comment over there.

In June of 2014, Friends of North Beach Park received a $500 stewardship grant from the Puget Sound Chapter of the Washington Native Plant Society.

The main body of this chapter was written in summer of 2014. The “Addendum” section, following “Plant List” below, was written in November 2014, after some work had been done.

Purpose of grant

The purpose of the grant is to help rebuild the wetland basins of the park into a scrub-shrub plant community, with trees surrounding the wetlands to stabilize the upland slopes. The planting pallet will follow recommendations for the reference ecosystem, riparian forest and shrubland.

The replanting will be done in phases, using obligate wetland plants to begin holding the soil, followed by reintroducing woody plants to build deeper root structures.

Timeline (projected)

The timeline below was written in summer of 2014.

• September: Invasive removal in the wetlands. This will be done by small groups of forest stewards. Care will be taken not to overclear an area and not to disturb the soil structure too much.
• Early October: installation of obligate wetland plants. This is done just prior to rain return, so the ground is relatively stable. The work will be done by experienced forest stewards.
• Late October: installation of facultative shrubs and woody plants at the wetland borders. This work can be done by volunteers during a regular Friends of North Beach Park work party.

For the timeline as the project is being executed, please see “Addendum,” below.

Plan

The work will be centered on the social trail dividing Headwaters Bowl Subarea B and Central Valley Subarea B. See Figure 1, below.

Figure 1: Area of work for the Stewardship Grant.

The stream will be the northern boundary. In the Central Valley, the southern boundary will be the south loop social trail. In the Headwaters Bowl, the southern boundary will be the wetland border established by Doug Gresham in 2011. This is the entire area referred to as “Central Valley Subarea B” and the western edge of the area referred to as “Headwaters Bowl Subarea B.” The actual work area will be smaller than illustrated above.

The planting is intended to increase diversity and density in three locations:

• Mixture of shrub and herbaceous plants streamside.
• Herbaceous plants in seeps.
• Shrubs at the toe of the slopes, above the seeps.

Headwaters Bowl Subarea B

Streamside

The substrate of the stream in this location is mostly silt and fine sand, with occasional patches of small cobbles where the channel has narrowed.

There is a large Thuja plicata (Western red-cedar) stump in the stream, covered with moss and hosting numerous Vaccinium parvifolium (Red huckleberry). This could host some Cornus canadensis (Canadian dwarf dogwood) but would be unlikely to support Tsuga heterophylla (Western hemlock).

Plants already growing streamside (based on a visual survey):

• Rubus spectabilis (Salmonberry)
• Lysichiton americanum (Skunk cabbage)
• Oenanthe sarmentosa (Water parsley)
• Carex amplifolia (Broad-leafed sedge)
• Polystichum munitum (Sword fern)
• Athyrium filix femina (Lady fern)
• Urtica dioica (Stinging nettle)
• Sambucus racemosa (Red elderberry)
• Tolmeia menziesii (Piggyback)
• Cardamine hirsuta (Shotweed)
• Lonicera involucrata (Twinberry)

Above the stream

About five feet above the stream, there is a nurse log and a large amount of coarse woody debris holding the stream bank. I think the seep is eroding the soil from underneath the CWD, and it will eventually collapse. Upland of this the substrate is mostly decayed wood, which makes it a good place for Tsuga heterophylla. On either side of this substrate, the seeps reach to the wall of the ravine.

Growing in this area:

• Polystichum munitum (Sword fern)
• Rubus spectabilis (Salmonberry)
• Ilex aquifolium (Holly)
• Hydrophyllum tenuipes (Pacific waterleaf)
• Tolmeia menziesii (Piggyback)
• Sambucus racemosa (Red elderberry)
• Ribes bracteosum (Stink currant)
• Spiraea douglasii (Douglas’ spirea)
• Germanium robertianum (Herb robert)

Growing in the seep between the CWD area and the social trail:

• Tolmeia menziesii (Piggyback)
• Glyceria elata (Tall mannagrass)
• Oenanthe sarmentosa (Water parsley)
• Hydrophyllum tenuipes (Pacific waterleaf)
• Rubus spectabilis (Salmonberry) in dryer areas
• Thuja plicata (Western red-cedar) (planted)
• Cardamine hursuta (shotweed)

Central Valley Subarea B

Streamside

The stream itself is similar to the stream in HWB Subarea B: The wider sections have a substrate of sand and fine silt, and with narrower sections have a substrate of small cobbles.

The red cedar stump in this section has a wider variety of plants than the one in the HWB section. In addition to the red huckleberry and mosses, there are also salmonberry and a Tsuga heterophylla (Western hemlock) seedling that is naturally regenerating.

Above the Stream

There is also a nurse log holding the bank, but there is not the woody debris substrate above it as with the HWB.

Salmonberry and red elderberry form a thicker canopy than on the HWB side. There is also much more Hedera helix (English ivy) that comes down from the South Slope and lies across the seeps.

In the stream, but closer to the right bank, is a red alder root ball, with the tree itself lying across the width of the seep. The root ball has red huckleberry, ivy, and a couple Acer macrophyllum (Big leaf maple) seedlings growing in it. There is holly in the stream and around the root ball that will need to be removed.

Integrating into Work Flow

Between Sept. 15 and Nov. 27, there are nine possible Monday sessions and the October work party. The September work party will be on the South Plateau, and the November work party will be dedicated to planting GSP-provided plants. It is possible that some work on the stewardship grant could take place at the November work party.

Plant list

Table 1, below, is the plant list submitted to the WNPS for the grant. The actual planting list will vary considerably from this list, but that variance is within the scope of the grant. The wetland status, size, and number were obtained from the Fourth Corner Nurseries Catalog.

Table 1: Plant list and estimated planting time.

Early October
Genus	Common Name	Wetland	Size	# plants
Carex deweyana	Dewey’s sedge	FAC	bareroot	100
Carex obnupta	Slough sedge	OBL	bareroot	100
Fraxinus latifolia	Oregon ash	FACW	6-12″	50
Glyceria elata	Tall mannagrass	FACW	bareroot	100
Viburnum opulus v. americanum	Highbush cranberry	FACW	3-6″	50
Late October
Genus	Common Name	Wetland	Size	# plants
Holodiscus discolor	Ocean spray	FACU	6-12″	50
Lonicera involucrata	Black twinberry	FAC	6-12″	50
Berberis nervosa	Low oregon-grape	FACU	3-6″	100
Sambucus racemosa	Red elderberry	FACU	crown	50
Vaccinium parvifolium	Red huckleberry	FACU	2″ pots	50

OBL = obligate, plant has to grow in a wetland; FACW = facultative wetland, plant grows in a wetland most of the time but can occasionally be found in drier areas; FAC = facultative, plant grows equally well in wetlands and drier areas; FACU = facultative upland, plants grows mostly in drier areas, but can occasionally be found in wetlands.

For the purchased plant list and the actual planting times, please see “Addendum,” below.

Addendum

This is the revised timeline, written after some work had already been done.

• Plants were ordered in October for October and February delivery.
• The October plants were wetland obligate graminoids.
• The February plants were facultative wetland shrubs and trees.
• The plants will be installed during regular public work parties.

In October 2014, the following orders were placed with Fourth Corner Nursery, for delivery in October and February.

Table 2: October order of Obligate plants.

Scientific Name	Common Name	Wetland	Quantity
Carex amplifolia (1)	Broad-leaved sedge	OBL	50
Carex stipata (2)	Sawbeak sedge	OBL	100
Deschampsia caespitosa (3)	Tufted hair-grass	FACW	50
Glyceria elata (1)	Tall mannagrass	FACW	100
Juncus ensifolius (2)	Daggerleaf rush	FACW	50
Scirpus microcarpus (3)	Panicled bulrush	OBL	100

1 = observed growing with limited distribution; 2 = introduced to North Beach Park with this planting; 3 = previously introduced by restoration planting.

Table 3: February order of Facultative Wetland Shrubs and Trees.

Scientific Name	Common Name	Wetland	Quantity
Physocarpus capitatus (3)	Pacific ninebark	FACW	50
Fraxinus latifolia (1)	Oregon ash	FACW	50
Malus fusca (2)	Pacific Crab Apple	FACW	50
Salix lucida (2)	Pacific willow	FACW	50
Salix sitchensis (2)	Sitka willow	FACW	50

1 = observed growing with limited distribution; 2 = introduced to North Beach Park with this planting; 3 = previously introduced by restoration planting.

The October order is the actual quantities delivered and planted during the October work party. As discussed above, the work occurred in the Central Valley Subarea B and Headwaters Bowl Subarea B.

The planting was done by volunteers led by forest stewards. Duckboards were used to minimize disruption to the wetlands wherever possible.

The work area actually became larger than illustrated in Figure 1, above. Planting was done further east in Headwaters Bowl.

The second order will be delivered in time for the February work party (February 28, 2015). Approximately ten of each shrub will be held back for a year or so, to test is survival rates are increased with an extra year of nursery care.

The second planting will also happen further east than the original prospect in Figure 1.

Mirrored from Nature Intrudes. Please comment over there.

Planting season has hit the Pacific Northwest, and restoration projects all over the place are getting their shovels dirty. No less is happening in North Beach Park — we have planting parties planned for the next FOUR work parties, October, November, January, and February!

October
The October work party happens Saturday, October 25, from 9 a.m. to noon. Please sign up here. The Friends of North Beach Park will be joined by international students from North Seattle College, volunteering with their I-CARE program.

October features wetland graminoids (grasses) and one forb. These plants will come from 4th Corner Nursery in Bellingham, and are purchased with monies from a stewardship grant from the Central Puget Sound Chapter of the Washington Native Plant Society. We also appreciate the support of our fiscal sponsor, Seattle Parks Foundation, for processing the money.

These will be planted in the Headwaters Bowl and Central Valley habitat management units of North Beach Park.

Scientific Name	Common name	Size	Form	Number
Carex amplifolia	Broad-leaved sedge	br	Gr	50
Carex stipata	Sawbeak sedge	br	Gr	100
Deschampsia caespitosa	Tufted hair-grass	br	Gr	50
Glyceria elata	Tall mannagrass	br	Gr	100
Juncus ensifolius	Daggerleaf rush	br	Gr	50
Scirpus microcarpus	Panicled bulrush	br	Gr	100
Veronica americana	American brooklime	br	Fo	100

Although this is 550 plants, they’re all pretty small.

November
The November work party will happen on Saturday, the 22nd. Build up that appetite and enjoy your Thanksgiving feast that little bit more, because you’ve done some good for Seattle parks! Sign up here. Friends of North Beach Park will be joined again by international students from the North Seattle College I-CARE program.

November will see more plants installed in the main body of North Beach Park. These plants are provided by Green Seattle Partnership. There will be one tree, one shrub, and two grasses and two forbs.

Scientific Name	Common name	Size	Form	Number
Acer macrophyllum	bigleaf maple	1 gal	Tr	6
Asarum caudatum	wild ginger	1 gal	Fo	20
Oplopanax horridus	Devil’s club	1 gal	Sh	10
Petasites frigidus	coltsfoot	1 gal	Fo	20
Scirpus acutus	hardstem bulrush	1 gal	Gr	8
Scirpus microcarpus	panicled bulrush	1 gal	Gr	8

For the first three years of restoration, we planted hundreds of conifer trees in North Beach Park. Now we’re going to switch gears for a while: Let the new conifers establish and get well-situated for the next three to five years, and do some replacement of the deciduous canopy.

We skip December, because the 4th Saturday falls between Christmas and New Year’s Eve. We hope you have a good holiday.

January
In January, we return to the South Plateau to plant the last of the plants provided by Green Seattle Partnership. The entrance to the South Plateau is at NW 88th St. and 27th Ave. NW. The January work party will happen on Saturday, the 24th. The event is not posted to Cedar yet, but it will have full directions and information. We DO know what we will be planting, though.

Scientific Name	Common name	Size	Form	Number
Holodiscus discolor	oceanspray	1 gal	Sh	11
Lonicera involucrata	twinberry	1 gal	Sh	7
Mahonia nervosa	dwarf Oregon grape	1 gal	Sh	25
Malus fusca	Pacific crabapple	1 gal	Tr	5
Polystichum munitum	sword fern	1 gal	Fe	25
Pseudotsuga menziesii	Douglas fir	1 gal	Tr	5
Rosa gymnocarpa	bald-hip rose	1 gal	Sh	25
Rosa nutkana	Nootka rose	1 gal	Sh	25

February
This will be our last planting work party for the 2014-2015 planting season. Well, that we’re planning on as we write (four months in advance). Who knows what the future portends?

This work party will feature shrubs and small trees, the second half of the stewardship grant purchase from the Washington Native Plant Society.

Scientific Name	Common name	Size	Form	Number
Fraxinus latifolia	Oregon ash	6-12″ br	Tr	50
Malus fusca	Pacific Crab Apple	3-6″ br	Tr	50
Physocarpus capitatus	Pacific ninebark	6-12″ br	Sh	50
Salix lucida	Pacific willow	6-12″ br	Tr	50
Salix sitchensis	Sitka Willow	6-12″ br	Tr	100

The February work party will be back in the main body of the park, and will happen on the 28th. As soon as the information gets posted to Cedar, we’ll link to it on Nature Intrudes.

We also plan to do a little experiment: Hold back some of the plants of each species, and keep them in a well-tended nursery for a year or two. The question is: Will the plants that get the extra attention have a better survival rate than the plants installed immediately?

That’s a little over a thousand plants altogether. Most of them are going into wetter areas of the park, which means they should make it through the summer drought fairly well.

Mirrored from Nature Intrudes. Please comment over there.

This is a longer than usual post this time because there is so much to catch up on! But we start with the important bit: The work party announcement.

Saturday, June 28th, 9 a.m.: Welcome the early days of summer to North Beach Park at our June work party. Because the spring was relatively dry, we’re going to concentrate on after care for some of the newer plants in the upland areas. That means we’ll be getting buckets of water from the stream (carefully) and watering plants along the rim and main trail. A great way toget some exercise in! (Unless it’s raining, then we’ll do something else.) Please sign up on Cedar so we can make our plans.

We meet, rain or shine, at the main entrance to the park, 24th Ave and 90th St NW. Wear weather-appropriate layers that can get dirty and sturdy shoes or mud boots. We provide tools, gloves, and guidance. Bring water and a snack as you need them but there are no facilities at the park. All ages and skill levels are welcome, but children must be accompanied by a parent or guardian.

Parking is on 90th St., east of 24th Ave. The #61 bus stops across the street from the park, and the #40 and #48 stop at 85th and 24th; check Metro for details.

Save the date for upcoming workparties: July 26th, August 23rd, and September 27th. All workparties are 9 a.m. to 12 noon and meet at the main entrance to the park (90th and 24th).

Saturday, June 14th, 10 a.m.: Join Groundswell NW next week for the Ballard Open Space Discovery Day in Ballard Commons Park (57th and 22nd). Groundswell did an open space inventory for Ballard in 1996 and used that information to create many parks. The needs of Ballard have changed, and what we consider open space has changed as well. Friends of North Beach Park will be working with Groundswell NW in the area between 24th and 32nd Ave., and from 85th St. north to 100th St. We know there is a lot of open space that could be brought forward into better public use. Find out more Or take the open space survey.

North Beach Park News: Friends of North Beach Park was recently awarded a $500 stewardship grant from the Washington Native Plant Society. We’ll use this money to improve our wetland plantings. We’d like to thank the members of the Washington Native Plant Society – Central Puget Sound Chapter for their role in making this grant possible. The plants will be installed starting in early fall.

We’d like to say thank you to all the donors who made “GiveBIG” on May 6th so successful for North Beach Park. We raised more than $800, and the donors ranged from neighbors of the park to as far away as Wisconsin and Georgia. All this money will go to our restoration efforts. If you would like to donate, please see below.

A video crew from the Seattle Channel joined our April work party to document how burlap sacks are used in Seattle Parks. Most of the burlap used is donated by Distant Lands Coffee, and we’re grateful to have a good supply of free burlap to use on our hillsides. Watch the video.

Also in April, FoNBP was awarded one of the Groundswell NW 2014 “Local Hero” awards for our work in the park. We got the chance to meet the Mayor and babbled like an idiot when it came time to say thank you. But great fun was had by all.

Can’t join us for a work party? You can always support our restoration efforts by making a tax-deductible donation to the Seattle Parks Foundation. All moneys donated will be used for the restoration of North Beach Park. Please visit their website for more information.

Thank you for participating and helping in the restoration of North Beach Park.

Mirrored from Nature Intrudes. Please comment over there.

Saturday, March 22, 9 a.m.: Spring is busting out all over in North Beach Park. Skunk Cabbage is coming up in the wetlands, Pacific water leaf up in the trailsides, red flowering currant and Indian plum are blooming on the slopes, and everything is leafing and budding and getting ready to pop. Please sign up in advance on Cedar so we can make our plans.

We meet, rain or shine, at the main entrance to the park, 24th Ave and 90th St. NW. Wear weather-appropriate layers that can get dirty and sturdy shoes or mud boots. We provide tools, gloves, and guidance. Bring water and a snack as you need them but there are no facilities at the park. All ages and skill levels are welcome, but children must be accompanied by a parent or guardian.

Parking is on 90th St., east of 24th Ave. The #61 bus stops across the street from the park, and the #40 and #48 stop at 85th and 24th; check Metro for details.

After the workparty, starting about 12:30, join us for a Washington Native Plant Society field trip and restoration seminar. Here are the details:

Restoration Seminar of North Beach Natural Area, Saturday, March 22, 12:30 – 2:30
North Beach Park is a 9 acre ravine park in NW Seattle that has been under restoration since 2011. The bottomland is a permanently saturated wetland, yet there are also dry upland slopes, providing a variety of microenvironments in a small area. We’ll talk about some of the issues and opportunities facing restoration in small urban forests. We’ll also talk about the different forest types and what they mean to restoration efforts. We’d like this to be a seminar on restoration, and welcome any and all input.

Trail description: The trail has some moderate elevation changes, and is occasionally narrow and slippery. There are two log stream crossings.

Contact: Luke McGuff, 206-715-9135, lukemcguff@yahoo.com (email preferred).

Save the date for upcoming workparties: April 26th, June 28th, and July 26th. They’re also 9 a.m. to 12 noon, and meet at the main entrance to the park.

Can’t join us for a work party? Donate to the Seattle Parks Foundation to support restoration efforts at North Beach Park. Visit their website and click on the “Donate” button. Your donation is tax-deductible. Money will be used for tools, materials, and supplies. Donating is an important and appreciated expression of community support.

Mirrored from Nature Intrudes. Please comment over there.