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The clearing of the weed trees at Chimborazo Park

120 comments

Rebecca Parker 06/16/2017 at 8:43 AM

Did anyone see them applying herbicide to the stumps directly after cutting?

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Diana Palese 06/16/2017 at 8:44 AM

I would love to see the natural spring pump area cleared as well !!!

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Chris Harnish 06/16/2017 at 8:48 AM

We cleaned and cut back the trees on govt Hill last July, which is part of the bike route. It could use a little (much less) work again, if anyone is interested in helping LMK and we can hit it up again on a weekday or Saturday morning.

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Jess Cadwallender 06/16/2017 at 8:58 AM

Since weeds/trees have names too, Ailanthus altissima "tree of heaven".

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Dana Bagby 06/16/2017 at 9:19 AM

Can’t wait. Some good fossil hunting to be done on that there hillside.

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Justin Curtis 06/16/2017 at 9:20 AM

Chris, I would be glad to help sonetime over the 4th of July weekend (7/1-7/4) if you want to tackle then? Really appreciated when you did the work last year

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Melissa Pocock 06/16/2017 at 9:29 AM

Sign me up!

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Mike King 06/16/2017 at 11:01 AM

No, they have not.

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Chris Harnish 06/16/2017 at 11:09 AM

We’re on vacation that week, Justin, but we could hit the following week. I took a look today, and I think a weed wacker and maybe a chainsaw for the bamboo (faster than a machete) plus some road side cleaning. A LOT less work than last year, but its good to cut the bush back. Maybe if its not bad, we can clean the gutter, which gets filled which is why the water flows into the road. I do think it’ll be a few hours this time around.

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Teresa Nieding Carrel 06/16/2017 at 12:06 PM

Careful, I’ve seen snakes back there twice!

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Marie Benavides 06/16/2017 at 2:32 PM

Ghetto palms

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Kathleen 06/16/2017 at 5:17 PM

I watched them at work last week and herbicide application is not part of the process.

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Spacecat 06/16/2017 at 5:36 PM

Quick, go admire the view before they grow back. Oops, too late.

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AC 06/16/2017 at 7:24 PM

I liked those trees, and so did the birds! 🙁

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Laura Dickinson 06/16/2017 at 6:54 PM

Invasive non-native stinking sumac

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Chris Harnish 06/16/2017 at 7:45 PM

Let’s plan for mid-july 15?

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yay for humans 06/16/2017 at 8:50 PM

Wow! we got our view back thank god and it has been impressive seeing ALL the neighbors out and about to admire the view – truly amazing! So glad tax dollars weren’t wasted on fixing potholes in the neighborhood or anything like that. The true beauty of this fix that desperately needed to be done ASAP is that all those stupid baby animals are probably now dead. They are so vulnerable in the spring and need the coverage and then one day, BAM, everything gets mowed down! how awesome is that? Stupid frogs and bats that are on the threatened list probably took a good hit – guess Darwin was right. I think we should just pour concrete over the whole thing and then we don’t have to worry about anything wrecking our view. I love all the animal sacrifice which has been made – which is why we have seen so many dead snakes this week and little dead bunny fluff- all for the view which, there being no back up plan, will probably be taken away again soon. Humans are so freaking wonderful!!!

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Kate Meacham 06/16/2017 at 9:14 PM

I always think of it as ruining the blackberry season

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Ben 06/16/2017 at 10:24 PM

Are those the same type of trees growing at the Grace street overlook?

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Shannon 06/17/2017 at 8:42 AM

Isn’t anyone concerned that those “weed” trees were holding up that hill

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John M 06/17/2017 at 8:46 AM

The hill was there for some decades without the weed trees. Libby Hill & Jefferson Park manage to have hills without’em.

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Shannon 06/17/2017 at 9:53 AM

Libby hill has had a lot of erosion problems if I am not mistaken.

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Mike Harrell 06/17/2017 at 9:54 AM

Glad to see the view restored though I would like to see some cover remain for wildlife.

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crd 06/17/2017 at 12:49 PM

@22 I am not aware of erosion problems at Libby Hill currently. There were some after a hurricane and either the City or FEMA planted what looks like heather when seen from down near Poe’s. Also there was some erosion, not as bad as the sinkhole at 31st, but it was in the back off Libby Terrace, and FEMA fixed it. I think that was from a hurricane too.

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Kathleen 06/17/2017 at 10:13 PM

These ‘trees’ are invasive, nutrient robbing, soil destroying, toxic vermin. They rob native plants and trees of the nutrients they need to grow and reproduce. They do not sustain wildlife. They are a curse on nature and we need to take whatever measures are available to rid the park of these parasitic plants.

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John M 06/20/2017 at 10:15 AM

An update on the scope of the project via Rick Tatnall:

Rick,

We will be out there this week working on the hill and No I do not think we will be able to mulch the entire hill. The grounds crew with the city of Richmond has a plan to continue until the hill is cleared. I can’t give you the details on that but you could always contact the city and find out what their plans are. If you have any contact with the other residents please ask them to stay out of the area while we are working it really slows down our progress to work around the people that come to watch. We at times have to stop working because they get to close.

Thanks

Candy
Lot Scapes
804-687-7932

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Trish Bernal 06/22/2017 at 11:54 AM

Response to #19 regarding the trees at the Grace Street Overlook. Yes, there a more ailanthus trees growing there. The Church Hill Planters worked with Enrichmond Foundation to have TrueTimber remove several of the larger trees, with application of herbicide, a few years ago. Some have returned there and other parts of the hill, Taylor’s Hill Park, are getting overgrown. We will have the same problem as Chimborazo in the not too distant future. Libby Hill Park is also starting to grow some of these trees on the east side of the park.

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Running Dog 06/22/2017 at 7:18 PM

Great job, love jogging thur the park. These trees of heaven are trash trees and one tree can produce 300 in no time. Glad they came down before reseeding.

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jeanMcdaniel 06/22/2017 at 7:49 PM

These trees do not “reseed” but instead proliferate by vigerous underground rooting systems. That is why systemic herbicides are necessary for irradication. This is also why it seems that all of a sudden a thick stand of these trees appear out of nowhere.

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Running Dog 06/24/2017 at 9:49 PM

Read the Ecological Landscape Alliance and you will find that this trees are spread by seed and will grow in almost any soil and take time to walk around, open your eyes and you will see them in gutters, growing out of brick walls. No roots there lol.

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Dave C 08/08/2017 at 1:11 PM

Heard any updates on this process? I was at Chimbo last week, and there were still large uncleared sections (as in the June photos above). The “cleared” sections, on the other hand, showed lots of new aithanthus sprouting from the ground. I do hope there is a plan in place to stop this new growth; otherwise, all of this time and effort might be for naught.

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WarGibFA 08/08/2017 at 5:18 PM

(To be fair, the cleared sections over by the dog park are also showing new growth of some native species, such as maypops, horse nettle, and, ironically, prairie dogbane.)

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