Mulching and Fall Plans for Marymoor Park’s Bird Loop Natural Area

By Natasha Kacoroski

The day’s weather on July 6th at Marymoor started cloudy and then burst into sunshine for our restoration work. We worked along the dog fence and in the alder grove. With the help of 33 volunteers, we spread approximately 9 cubic yards of mulch and finished mulching both areas, covering about 800 plants. Many areas next to the dog fence are thick with flowering red currant, Nootka rose, and Oregon grape, all of which were fruiting. In a few places along the fence, Himalayan blackberry and reed canary grass have sprouted up, so we also removed about 2.5 cubic yards of invasive plant material.

Now that we are done mulching, it’s time to prepare new sites for planting this winter. Right now, we are looking into installing a display garden near the kiosk and restoring the areas around the shed and near the viewing mound. There are also patches in the meadow and oak savannah that need attention once the nesting birds have left in September. All of these areas need to be cleared of invasive plant material before planting.

There were some heron flyovers and a few chickadees, juncos, and robins seen. Many more birds were heard. All in all it was a lovely, if cooler than usual, July day for habitat restoration.