GETTING AHEAD OF BRUSH CLEARANCE
Ohlone Hillside at Lawrence Hall of Science, Berkeley
"xǔčyun" the region that is part of the ancestral and unceded homeland of the East Bay Ohlone (pronounced "HOOCH-yoon" in Chochenyo language)
By Jen Toy
Test Plot Director
DATE: May 23 2025
TIME: 10am
TEMP: 56 degrees
︎WEATHER: Sunny, no clouds
We’ve been prepping this new plot for brush clearance season. Up here in the East Bay, this happens in May. The Lawrence Hall of Science works with an outside contractor to bring in 6 guys with string trimmers that work their way down the UC Berkeley owned slopes and hillsides, cutting back the browned out invasive grasses and thistles to the ground. I got a heads up that the crew would begin work May 12th. To prep for this we did a few things:
- Fence the plot + put up a sign about the project. We debated whether we needed to fence this plot but decided we should demarcate the area for brush clearance (and to help us not feel too overwhelmed by the size of the area!)
- Vinegar spray inside the plot (3 rounds through March-April. See pics of the trial here)
- Weed whip a 15’ buffer upwind of the plot
- Flag newly plants outside the plot (mainly existing naked buckwheat)
A few days before the crew arrived, we also did an emergency weed whack inside the plot and around the fence to make it spotless. With 2 electric string trimmers going, we got it done in an hour (thank you Sandra!). I checked out the plot today and am happy to report the men with machines stayed out of our area! Things are growing in nicely with weeding and spot watering the shrubs as the sole forms of care.
︎PLANTS SIGHTINGS: April showers bring May Flowers. There is definitely herbivory happening, most likely by deer that have gotten into the property. Many flower stalks have been decapitated. In terms of blooms, I noticed:
Grown from locally collected seed by Margaret:
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Gilia tricolor / Bird’s Eye Gilia we have both white flowers with lavender and pink edges
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Gilia capitata / Blue Field Gilia with blue spherical flower cluster
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Hemizonia congesta / Hayfield Tarweed
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Madia elegans / Elegant Tarweed fragrant leaves, growing large, no flowers yet
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Achilliea millefolium — Yarrow naturally occurring in the seed bank. We discovered a patch and have been weeding around it
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Artemisia douglasiana — Mugwort
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Chlorogalum pomeidianum var. Pomeridianum— Soap plant (at the bottom near fence) The plants outside the fence were all weed whipped bye bye.
- Dipterostemon capitatus — Blue dicks also naturally occuring. Found 2. One flower stalk got chomped.
- Marah fabaceae
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Wild cucumber
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Pteridium aquilinum — Bracken fern
Planted from Xerces Society:
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Arctostaphylos densiflora subsp. — Manzanita
- Baccharis pilularis — Coyotebrush
- Ceanothus 'Concha' — California lilac
- Diplacus aurantiacus — Sticky monkeyflower
- Lupinus albifrons — Silver bush lupine
- Phacelia californica — California phacelia
- Phacelia imbricata — Imbricate phacelia
- Ribes malvaceum — Chaparral currant
- Solidago velutina ssp. californica — California goldenrod
- Stipa pulchra — Purple needlegrass
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Verbena lasiostachys —Western vervain
Planted by not observed:
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Grindelia camporum — Gumplant
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Penstemon heterophyllus — Foothill penstemon
- Symphyotrichum chilense — Pacific aster
︎WEED SIGHTINGS:
- Euphorbia
- Chinese St. John’s Wort (newly cropping up)
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Wild oats (mainly gone to seed, though areas where we weed whipped are still green and growing back. I hand pulled a dozen that had new flower stalks)
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Vetch (mainly gone via weed whip)
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Russian thistle (present at the fence edges)
WILDFLIFE SIGHTINGS: 2 Turkeys
