Them Natives
This here’s a site that’s very special to me. It might look like little more than a jumble of weeds and brush, but it’s far more than that. It’s located on the site of my old high school, tucked in behind the elementary school where the creek runs. Downes Creek.
Five years ago this site was decked out in head high blackberry thickets from one fence to the other. Around the time of my grad year, and the year after that, some friends of mine, all students, calling ourselves The Streaming Eagles (after the school mascot), began doing some restoration work on the creek, and we began with this site.
We used hand held clippers, and lots of hot chocolate and muffins, and worked away at clearing the blackberries on many a weekend. Then we were able to use a grant available through the DFO to purchase a whole bunch of native plants and then one fine morning we re-planted the entire site with natives – Pacific Ninebark, Black Twinberry, Baldhip Rose, cedars and hemlock, Bigleaf Maple, Red-Osier Dogwood, and others. This is what the site looks like now. Some of the blackberry has recovered, but the natives are also doing well. This site is well on its way to recovery now; in 10 years or so the native vegetation should have a good strong foothold, requiring very little maintenance.
Today I spent a few hours back in the blackberry patch, clearing out all the blackberries that have begun to establish themselves. Many of the natives we planted are doing ok, but two of the cedars have succumbed. 
Red-osier Dogwood canes, gleaming red against the snow.
The creek, small but worthy of restoration.
