patch forest

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Wales Park Patch Forest

Members of the TWiG committee, led by the indefatigable Carol Herwig, have been busy this autumn clearing brush in the designated patch forest area of Wales Park. Culling over a thousand Norway maple seedlings by hand, girdling larger volunteer trees, and trimming low-growing and damaged branches on other trees kept the committee busy after meetings, but the work couldn’t have been completed without the help of Belfast Area High School students who volunteered time and labor as part of their hands-on learning in an environmental studies class. Park visitors will enjoy a safer landscape in the area where trees have…

TWiG Dig (and Pull) At Wales Park

TWiG Dig (and Pull) At Wales Park

Members of the Belfast Garden Club TWiG Committee met this morning in Wales Park. Afterwards, many stayed behind to pull and dig out the invasive Norway maple seedlings that proliferate beneath the trees. This area of Wales Park has been targeted by TWiG, the City of Belfast, and a group of eager high school students and their teacher to become a patch forest. A patch forest is a wooded area, as small as 100 square feet, that is a complete biosphere, including understory or ground cover plants, perennials such as ferns, small trees and shrubs, and large shade trees, all…