On September 7, 2024, the 121st event, AYLUS Oakland Gardens Branch helped mulch, clean, and weed at Crocheron park. Members worked with Dana Gump, Gene McQuillan, and Paul Brunn in three groups from 8:30 to 12:00, volunteering for a total of 3.5 hours.
At the beginning of the event, Dana told us the importance of mulching Crocheron park, a park that has a lot of hills. Slopes with bare ground makes it easier for mud and sediment to move downhill towards the pond. Also, mulch can suppress unwanted plants like Japanese knotweed, which is an invasive species from Japan. Because it originally lived near volcanoes, it puts all its energy into the roots so it can keep coming back even when the leaves are destroyed. With this in mind, the first group started mulching the area. Some members filled buckets and wheelbarrows, some brought the mulch to certain areas, and the rest spread it evenly on areas with Japanese knotweed to suppress it.
The second group was tasked with bringing branches scattered around the park to the woody debris area. To help make the park workers’ jobs easier, members of this group had to make sure they put the branches in the pile with the cut ends facing out. This way, it would be easier to pick up and discard in the future.
When they were done, the second group started using clippers and loppers to cut English ivy and porcelain berries that were growing on the trees and on the ground. These invasive plants could hinder the growth of native plants like the virginia perigynium, virginia creeper, and pokeweed. To effectively rid the area of unwanted plants and weeds, they should be cut at the very bottom of the stem, making it harder for the plants to grow back.
Lastly, the third grape collected walnuts on the floor to spread and germinate in other areas. These walnuts are originally green, but in time, they mature and become black. A total of three bags were collected and they will soon be used to help grow more black walnut trees.
We would like to thank Dana, Gene, and Paul for teaching us so much about plants and for guiding us in today’s events. Thank you to all AYLUS members for working so hard today!
Our volunteers:
Patrick Guan: 3.5 hours
Amy Liu: 3.5 hours
Alfred Liu: 3.5 hours
Angela Liu: 3.5 hours
Fiona Liu: 3.5 hours
Ioklee Lin: 3.5 hours
Iokseng Lin: 3.5 hours
Vicki Lin: 3.5 hours
Sophia Lu: 3.5 hours
Alexander Lu: 3.5 hours
Leon Chen: 3.5 hours
Bowen Chen: 3.5 hours
Alex Lu: 3.5 hours
Rex He: 3.5 hours
Justin Cheong: 3.5 hours
Steven Zhu: 3.5 hours
Lucas Chen: 3.5 hours
Chloe Chan: 3.5 hours
Sophia Lin: 3.5 hours
Shirley Chiu: 3.5 hours
Yuan Gu: 3.5 hours
Kaisa Wu: 3.5 hours
Ryan Wu: 3.5 hours
Maggie Liu: 3.5 hours
Johny Yang: 3.5 hours
Jerry Zhu: 3.5 hours
Aaron Shi: 3.5 hours
Sophia Gao: 3.5 hours
Sabrina Gao: 3.5 hours
Derrick Gao: 3.5 hours
Sophia Li: 3.5 hours
Karis Lau: 3.5 hours
Ian Lee: 3.5 hours
Elina Lee: 3.5 hours
Ziheng Jiao: 3.5 hours
Aiden Lin: 3.5 hours
Brandon Lin: 3.5 hours
Matthew Lin: 3.5 hours
Nerissa Xu: 3.5 hours
Paxton Xu: 3.5 hours
Darren Li: 3.5 hours
Zhengyilan Fang: 3.5 hours
Shiqi Zheng: 3.5 hours
Liam Cheung: 3.5 hours
Sophia You: 3.5 hours
Stephanie You: 3.5 hours
Ioknor Lin: 3.5 hours
Queena Li: 3.5 hours
Yize Dong: 3.5 hours
Sophia Xu: 3.5 hours
Anthony Xu: 3.5 hours
Joanna Qu: 2.5 hours
Jasmine Qu: 2.5 hours
Xiangxi Yu: 1 hour
Eric Yu: 1 hour
Parent Adviser Team:
Teng Fei Liu: 4 hours
Hsinhui Liao: 4 hours
Cui Fang Li: 4 hours
Report Written by: Iokseng Lin
Reviewed by: Jia Qi (Angela) Liu