On June, 22nd, 2024, AYLUS Oakland Gardens held their 76th event at Ally Pond Park. AYLUS Oakland Garden and other volunteers worked with the Stewardship Team. Leslie, Lea, Liam, Olivia, Demi, and Liz are members of the Stewardship Team that came to show us how to protect the forested areas in the Forest Restoration Park. We helped the Stewardship Team mulch and remove unwanted plants surrounding new saplings.
The Stewardship Team provided us with sunscreen, mosquito repellent, and water. We were working in the forest on a hot day, so the Stewardship Team wanted volunteers to be bug-free and hydrated to lower the chance of getting a heat stroke. Before the event started one of the Stewardship Team members, Liam, found a baby toad. It was either an American Toad or a Fowler’s Toad because they looked alike and were common to the area. Once everyone got a look at the toad, it was set free back into the grass.
When the event started the members of the AYLUS Oakland Garden branch were separated into two groups. Both had a mulch pile, some shears, loppers, and rakes. The shears and loppers were used to cut weeds and the rakes were used to put the mulch into Ikea bags, for easy carrying. Group one started by getting rid of the Mug Warts in the area. Mug Warts are a species of weed that spreads quickly and blocks sunlight from reaching the native plants and trees in the area. Mug Warts have feathery-shaped leaves and on the bottom sides of the leaves, it has a silvery green or white look to them. Group two had to find saplings that had not been marked yet. We used a brightly colored ribbon and tied it onto the saplings to mark them. We had to make sure we tied the ribbon on the branches of the sapling and not the main stem because the main stem provides nutrients to the whole sapling, so if the ribbon was tied too tightly around the main stem it could suffocate the sapling. After marking the saplings group two had to use shears and loppers to cut plants that surrounded the saplings. Group two had to cut 2 to 3 feet around the sapling. This way the saplings would have an adequate amount of sunlight for them to grow. Then group two would mulch the saplings in the shape of a donut and not a volcano. The mulch donut had to be about 3 inches high, to prevent other plants from growing and taking the nutrients from the sapling. A mulch volcano would trap the moisture around the sapling and rot the main stem, due to the high moisture content.
Throughout the event, members of the AYLUS Oakland Gardens were able to see rabbits and other small bugs. Some members noticed the various colors of dragonflies and butterflies in the area. We got to see a tall Stag Horn Sumek tree. The reason the tree is called Stag Horn is because Stag was an old word for deer and the branches resemble deer antlers. We also saw a bird’s nest nestled between some weeds with a small egg in it. We made sure to keep our distance and not disturb the nest.
Thanks to the Stewardship Team members of the AYLUS Oakland Gardens were able to explore nature while also making an impact. They allowed our members to see the amount of effort it takes to maintain a forest. We also like to thank the volunteers who came to the event despite the heat and bugs.
Our volunteers:
Hong Hao Liu: 3.5 hours
Jia Qi Liu: 3.5 hours
Vicki Lin: 3.5 hours
Stephanie You: 3.5 hours
Ivey Lam: 3.5 hours
Sophia You: 3.5 hours
Benny Yeung: 3.5 hours
Ricky Song: 3.5 hours
Justin Cheong: 3.5 hours
Shirley Chiu: 3.5 hours
Karis Yan-Tung Lau: 3.5 hours
Austin Yuel: 3.5 hours
Iokseng Lin: 3.5 hours
Ioknor Lin: 3.5 hours
Ioklee Lin: 3.5 hours
Tianxiang Ding: 3.5 hours
Blake Han: 3.5 hours
Kingsley Chen: 3.5 hours
Aiden Lin: 3.5 hours
Brandon Lin: 3.5 hours
Jasmine Lin: 3.5 hours
Ethan Lin: 3.5 hours
Matthew Lin: 2.5 hours
Parent Adviser Team:
Cui Fang Li (Fannie): 4.5 hours
Teng Fei Liu (Faye): 4.5 hours
Hsinhui Liao (Karen): 4.5 hours
Report written by: Vicki Lin
Reviewed by: Jia Qi (Angela) Liu
