On Saturday, November 15, from 9am to 11am, the AYLUS Dix Hills branch volunteered at Bethpage state park to remove weeds and plant native plants. Volunteers walked to the area they had already worked in last week and dug holes in the soil, removing invasive species like bittersweet vines and knapweeds, then filled the holes with robust native plants to try and overtake the unwanted weeds. The native flora was planted level to the already existing ground, so that their roots wouldn’t grow upwards and potentially dry out, or expose shallower roots that could also possibly dry out. After planting, volunteers managed to start pulling out mugwort from patches they didn’t get to last week.
Because of the AYLUS Dix Hills branch volunteers, Bethpage state park has taken another step closer to choking out the detrimental invasive species and bringing back native fauna.
Volunteers: Jonathan Fan and Aki Cheng
Volunteering Hours: 2 hours each
