On September 15, 2024, AYLUS Oakland Gardens held its 123rd event by returning to Kissena Park. Working with Park Rangers Ada and Roxana, we cut vines, gathered branches, and removed invasive species to preserve the Historic Grove. This event lasted from 8:30 AM to 12:00 PM, and over 60 members showed up to this event.
Before the start of the event, we separated into two groups, one led by our Chief Philanthropy Officer Brandon Lin, and the other by our Secretary Iokseng Lin. These two groups worked in different areas of the Historic Grove, ensuring we would cover as much of the Grove as possible. After we separated into groups, the Park Rangers provided us with various tools, such as loppers and gardening shears. They told us to avoid areas with poison ivy, which were marked with caution tape, and taught us that we could identify poison ivy by the three leaflets on every leaf. After they finished giving us the instructions, we ventured into the Historic Grove.
In the late 1800s, the area that is now the Historic Grove was a plant nursery that grew many rare and exotic plants. The nursery served as an important center of horticulture, introducing dozens of trees to the country. These include the Japanese maple, white mulberry, and Asian rhododendron. Rediscovered in 1981, the former plant nursery was designated the Historic Grove. Some of the trees in the Historic Grove are over 100 years old, and the Historic Grove contains over 100 varieties of trees, including many rare varieties such as the Persian parrotia, the Katsura, and the Bald Cypress! The historical importance of this grove reminds us how important it is to preserve parks.
Upon entering the Historic Grove, we observed a plethora of scattered branches and a thick layer of vines covering the trees. The Park Rangers informed us that if we didn’t cut the vines, they would gradually grow up to the canopies of the trees and slowly kill the trees by suffocating them and preventing them from getting sunlight. The Park Rangers also told us to remove suckers, which are growths that appear on the roots of trees.
We immediately got to work cutting vines and suckers using the loppers and gardening shears provided to us. We were told not to cut some of the sturdier vines, as the loppers and gardening shears were not designed for them. The Park Rangers used pole saws to cut the stronger vines. Some of the vines also had thorns, but we were protected from them by the gloves provided to us by our parent advisor team. We also worked to prune some of the trees and collected the branches that had gathered on the ground. We accumulated all of the branches and vines that we had gathered and put them onto a truck, while also removing various invasive species, including the Rosa multiflora and several invasive trees.
Brandon’s group managed to finish a bit early, so they joined up with Iokseng’s group to help them put all of the branches and vines that we had gathered onto the truck. It was here that we encountered a problem—some of the branches were too big to put onto the truck! To solve this problem, we cut the branches into smaller pieces using saws before putting them onto the truck. Once we had finished everything, Roxanna told us that the branches and vines would be taken to Cunningham Park, where they would be turned into mulch and fertilizer. This way, nothing would go to waste.
Thank you to Park Rangers Roxanna and Ada for providing us with tools and guiding us during this event! Thank you for allowing us to work with you! We eagerly anticipate the next opportunity where we can work together again! We not only learned more about trees and the Historic Grove, but we had an opportunity to reconnect with nature. Thank you to our parent advisor team for advising us during this event! And of course, thank you to all of the AYLUS Oakland Gardens members who attended this event! Your dedication to community service is admirable! Your actions have helped to preserve the Historic Grove, making it cleaner and more vibrant, thus ensuring that it can be enjoyed by visitors for years to come!
Our Volunteers:
Jia Qi Liu (Angela): 3.5 hours
Vicki Lin: 3.5 hours
Iokseng Lin: 3.5 hours
Hong Hao Liu (Alfred): 3.5 hours
Ioklee Lin: 3.5 hours
Ioknor Lin: 3.5 hours
Iokting Lin: 3.5 hours
Patrick Guan: 3.5 hours
Sophia ShiHan You: 3.5 hours
Stephanie ShiRan You: 3.5 hours
Evan Li: 3.5 hours
Yuan Gu: 3.5 hours
Sophia Lin: 3.5 hours
Mandy Lin: 3.5 hours
Benny Yeung: 3.5 hours
Patrick Yeung: 3.5 hours
Karis Lau: 3.5 hours
Shirley Chiu: 3.5 hours
Justin Cheong: 3.5 hours
Michelle Song: 3.5 hours
Tiffany Pan: 3.5 hours
Bowen Chen: 3.5 hours
Rex He: 3.5 hours
Alex Lu: 3.5 hours
Sabrina Gao: 3.5 hours
Derrick Gao: 3.5 hours
Sophia Gao: 3.5 hours
Kaisa Wu: 3.5 hours
Shi Zhen Li: 3.5 hours
Shi Hao Li: 3.5 hours
Yiming Chen: 3.5 hours
Chloe Chan: 3.5 hours
Jerry Shan: 3.5 hours
Steven Zhu: 3.5 hours
Liam Cheung: 3.5 hours
Yifei Mei: 3.5 hours
Alexander Lu: 3.5 hours
Melody Ke: 3.5 hours
Elyssa Lin: 3.5 hours
Cassandra Lin: 3.5 hours
Aidan Zheng: 3.5 hours
Ziheng Jiao: 3.5 hours
Anthony Lin: 3.5 hours
Jerry Zhu: 3.5 hours
Jasmine Qu: 3.5 hours
Joanna Qu: 3.5 hours
Hanna Chen: 3.5 hours
Leon Chen: 3.5 hours
Huaxin Zhu: 3.5 hours
Adley Zhu: 3.5 hours
Tian Xiang Ding: 3.5 hours
Ryan Wu: 3.5 hours
Sophia Xu: 3.5 hours
Anthony Xu: 3.5 hours
Brandon Lin: 3.5 hours
Aaron Shi: 3.5 hours
Blake Han: 3.5 hours
Darren Li: 3.5 hours
Austin Li: 3.5 hours
Ian Lee: 3.5 hours
Elina Lee: 3.5 hours
Nerissa Xu: 3.5 hours
Paxton Xu: 3.5 hours
Nina Yang: 3.5 hours
Parent Adviser Team:
Teng Fei Liu: 4 hours
Hsinhui Liao: 4 hours
Cui Fang Li: 4 hours
Report written by: Anthony Lin
Reviewed by: Jia Qi (Angela) Liu
