“HEAVY HITTERS” UNDER THE EUCALYPTUS (2 years in)
San Bruno Test Plot
By Jen Toy
Test Plot
DATE: March 31 2025
San Bruno Test Plot
By Jen Toy
Test Plot
DATE: March 31 2025
TIME: noon-1pm
TEMP: 53 degrees
︎WEATHER: Sunny
WIND (SPEED/DIRECTION): not noticeable
SOIL MOISTURE: Damp with lots of insects under the eucalyptus debirs
︎PLANTS SIGHTINGS: I didn’t have a lot of time so I just did a visual survey of the most noticeable plants. I did not go hunting under the rooreh and weeds to search for small plants.
︎WEED SIGHTINGS: The weeds have been left to grow since the December workday.
WILDFLIFE SIGHTINGS: When you pull out weeds, you’ll see a scattering of insects that are thriving in the leaf litter. I didn’t have time to ID.
︎HUMAN ACTIVITY: As usual, there were many walkers out on the path.
The plot is now two years old. It was first planted in March 2023. For the first year, we hosted monthly workdays (11 in total), weeding the oxalis, rattlesnake grass, ivies and himalayan blackberry. For the second year, we have intentionally done very little management. I’ve been interested to see which plants thrive and can hold their own despite the constant raining down of leaves, bark and branches in allelopathic conditions. Watching this happen, I’ve been contemplating how the test should evolve. Rather than trying to maximize species diveristy, perhaps we should document the species that can take up space and thrive... “the heavy hitters.” I’ve also been thinking about how to measure this. I was initially thinking of this as biomass, but I recently learned that biomass is usually measured by weight of plant material. I think the metric is actually “percent coverage,” though it doesn’t roll off the tongue quite as well. Basically we’re looking for the weedy natives that aren’t fussy or delicate and will take over and self seed with very little work.
︎A note on documentation: This is the first time I’ve been able to photograph the plot since I got a drone. The low canopy of eucalyptus directly above makes it impossible to get an orthographic view of the entire plot. I was able to capture a few oblique angles.
SCRUB MX: On this visit I noticed that the rooreh (miner’s lettuce) is completely dominant. The buckwheat and sagebrush are poking through the rooreh and monkeyflower is hanging on in the back. The self-sown red elderberry is doing great. That’s 4 species, compared to last year when I identified 15 species. At that time the dominant species included beach strawberry, CA fuschia, and miner's lettuce (rooreh). I estimated that 60% of the plot was composed of these 3 species.
PRAIRIE GRASSLAND: This plot is also dominated by the rooreh, though hummingbird sage and phacelia are still thriving. Last year I noticed 12 species, including clear winners CA phacelia, hummingbird sage, and woodland strawberry.
OAK WOODLAND: This visit I noticed the cow parsnip has remerged, and the snowberry, honeysuckle, buckeye, pearly everlasting and mugwort and strawberry are still present (7 species). The cinquefoil and heucheras have not made it thorugh, buried under the rooreh and weeds. Last year, I documented 19 species, including Symphoricarpos sp., Pink honeysuckle, buckeye, pearly everlasting and mugwort, woodland strawberry, sticky cinquefoil, and heucheras.
SEEP/FRESHWATER MARSH: Last year there were 16 species and the clear winner was Bee plant. This is still true, though the dogwood, fringecups, goldenrod and rush are still thriving (5 species).
WEEDS: The oxalis is largely gone (more present in the oak woodland and scrub plots). No cape or english ivy and very little himalayan blackberry. Pretty impressive for only 2 seasons of hand weeding. These species are still hugely dominant outside the plot fence. Other species that I noticed include bur chevril, common sow thistle, hordeum, cut leaf geranium, sheep sorrel and galium.
