Back Gate Dog Park Hill

Silvery Checkerspot Butterfly

The little hill just to the right as you approach the back gate entrance arm is adjacent to the small area of the dog park. Until 3 years ago it was a little piece of boring mowed ground with no contribution. The BTCI grounds crew agreed to stop mowing it (a tiny little bit of cost control!). Like most of the 'Natural Habitat Areas', the first step was to wait and see what the seedbank offered. Plant identification can be challenging until they bloom and some plants need time to reestablish, so patience is required to really understand what wants to thrive in any given location.

There has been a bit of 'management', nudges into a good direction. Undesirable plants were removed, making a bit of extra room for the good stuff that supports pollinators and birds. Like in a picture, the taller subjects are not best in the front row, so the goldenrod and boneset has been encouraged more to the right and the back (though they don't always cooperate!). Native wildflower seeds were haphazardly thrown in with the idea that if they were suited and found a niche then great but if not that was OK too. A relatively neat front edge is attempted and some signage is placed as 'cues of care' to communicate that the area is intentional.

Silvery Checkerspot Caterpillar using Purple Echinacea. Goldfinches and other birds love the seed head in the winter, both great reasons to not deadhead.

What has found a home on the hill is a mixture of butterfly weed, coreopsis, purple coneflower, boneset, goldenrod, wild carrot, trumpet vine on the fence, and partridge pea. Blooms are not deadheaded and that means less color in the short term. But the goal is to have more plants and blooms long term and also let birds enjoy the seeds.

When the power line tree trimming took place in the past year, the area behind the dog park towards Pendley Creek Stables was included, and the hill was the access point. Ouch. As it turns out this has increased the sunlight, so the power line corridor is being included in the Natural Habitat Area. Stopping the stilt grass from immediately taking over was job 1 this summer, and the area will be seeded this fall with a great native seed mix.

With mostly just 'letting it be', this once dead little hill is now a thriving spot that serves the ecosystem. Future plans include adding native coral honeysuckle to the fence which is the backdrop for the hill. The hummingbirds will love that!

What is being managed OUT? Japanese honeysuckle vine, stilt grass, small tree saplings, crab grass