You might have noticed some work taking place at Dock Street Park. It started with overturned dirt, and now we have plastic covering the ground in some areas. This project is being spearheaded by our Invasive Species Management team and is aimed at removing invasive Johnson grass. They are using a technique known as solarization to destroy especially heinous invasive plants in that area.

Solarization involves using clear plastic to trap the heat from the sun against the ground. This kills plants, seeds, and anything else in the soil so that the Johnson grass can’t regrow. This process will take around three months. When it is completed, the soil will be augmented as necessary and replanted with native pollinator plants.

This project was supported by our partners at Ocean Network Express (ONE). They not only provided the funding for the necessary materials, they also came out and helped us get the project started. It was a hot day and we got a lot done together!

All together the project will be spread out across a half an acre of Dock Street Park for most of this Summer, and on the other side of it we will have a clean slate for native plants to take root. We ask that if you notice any damage or vandalism to the project site that you let us know immediately so we can make necessary repairs. We are placing signs around the project site this week so that people will know more about what is going on.

As always, we also want to thank our partners at the City of Richmond for allowing us to support cool projects like this, and you for helping provide us with the resources to be able to do so.

See you in the park!

-Josh