On Jan, 19, also known as the MLK Day of Service, a group of 7 volunteers helped remove ivy from cottonwood trees near the Union Bay Natural Area waterfront.
Just along the UBNA loop trail at the waterfront viewing area, many of the cottonwood trees have been suffocated by invasive English ivy. These trees may become a safety hazard for trail-users as ivy foliage weighs down branches.

Our goal was to create “life-rings” around the impacted trees by 1) cutting ivy at a 5 ft height around the tree, 2) peeling the ivy back off the tree, and 3) digging the ivy roots out of the ground around the tree base.
The ivy still hanging on the tree will eventually die without a soil sources.

We finished our goal of creating life-rings and removing some ground ivy, but we still have more ground ivy to remove in this area.
Another work party we be scheduled in the next few weeks to finish this area and move on to rescuing the cottonwood trees across the trail.

If you are interested in helping finish this project, please see the UW Botanic Gardens volunteer calendar. New volunteer events will be posted there. You may also contact Elyse Denkers, UBNA research assistant, directly at edenkers@uw.edu