Ladd Arboretum Archives - Page 2 of 3 - North Shore Channel Habitat Project

Ellen and Jack Donovan clearing buckthorn in the arboretum

Back to the buckthorn

As most of our native trees are losing their leaves, non-native buckthorn and bush honeysuckle stand out with their dark green foliage, making this an ideal time for identifying them—and cutting them down. This winter, we plan to continue clearing ...

8 years ago

A perfect day for planting

Community members came out today to help plant wildflowers and grasses in the Ladd Arboretum's new sun garden, an area behind the Ecology Center where non-native and invasive trees have been cleared to create a sunny patch where prairie plants will t...

8 years ago

A time to plant: Oaktober at the Ladd Arboretum

Oak Awareness Month each October is a statewide effort to raise awareness of the value of the region's native oak ecosystems. Oak trees are not only beautiful and long-lived—they also are the most important tree for birds and butterflies....

9 years ago

Black walnuts

It seems to be a mast year for the black walnut tree in this area, and the squirrels have been taking advantage of the abundance. Squirrels help to spread walnuts, and several can be spotted along the channel banks where we are working....

9 years ago

Getting ready to order trees and shrubs

Site stewards have begun sourcing trees and shrubs for fall planting in the Ladd Arboretum and Twiggs and Harbert Parks, working with bird conservation expert Judy Pollock and a master plant list for the channel-side sites developed by Living Habita...

9 years ago

Working our way along the channel banks

Buckthorn and honeysuckle clearing continued yesterday along the banks of the North Shore Channel. Volunteers worked with a city crew in a section northeast of the Ecology Center. We’ve been using hand tools so far, but the city’s forestr...

9 years ago

Butterfly Milkweed in the Ladd Arboretum

Managing weeds

Butterfly milkweed is in full bloom now in the Ladd Arboretum. In spite of its name, butterfly milkweed (Asclepias tuberosa) is a native plant and host to butterflies and other pollinators. Not everyone agrees about what counts as a weed. In fact, th...

9 years ago

Concept plan for fall planting in the Ladd Arboretum

Selecting new plants for the arboretum

Even as we continue clearing invasives in the Ladd Arboretum, it’s time to order the plants that will go in this fall. The stewards who have been working on the site are bringing to the task their collective knowledge of native plants, restor...

9 years ago

Generosity

Neighbors near and far have been generous not only with their time, but also with their plants. Last week, the latest contributions came from Dennis Paige, who had worked to assemble more than 175 species of native woodland, mesic, and wet prairie pl...

9 years ago

Cutting Norway maples at the Ladd Arboretum

Clearing the way for new plants

Regular visitors to the Ladd Arboretum will notice a difference this week, after volunteers and a city greenways crew cleared invasive trees and shrubs along a section of the channel bank northeast of the Ecology Center. Clearing is a necessary step ...

9 years ago