Cleaning Up a small section of the creek. The goal is to widen and deepen the creek, restoring it to its original width and depth.
Removing overgrown bush hedge thornbush plants that are overhanging the creek. The accumulation of dead branches, twigs, leaves, rotten apples, birch catkins, and general debris have slowed the water flow and causes blockages to form easily as debris floating by gets snagged and hung up on the branches. THORNS make it even more difficult to quickly prune or cut back live stringers, and are a deterrent to cleaning up years of dead branches building up underneath.
Not my style (I like to do everything by hand), but I took the chainsaw and sliced through the dead overgrowth and just raked the whole mass of branches away. Putting the thorny branches into the blue plastic pool made it easier to transfer to a pile because none of the branches could snag my clothes as I overturned the pool. The kiddie swimming pool has definitely been handy. A wheelbarrow would've been harder to load.
Cutting away the branches at waist level was necessary so I could access the lower branches at water level. Kept telling myself, "Don't poke your eye out!" Most of the branches at water level were wet, decaying, decomposing, slimy, and easy to just pull out. Just had to take the time and make the effort to do it as cleanly as possible, grabbing clumps, so as not to introduce any more debris into the creek which feeds the duck pond. It has enough debris in it already and this process is already stirring up A LOT of silt and sediment. I have set up 2 grates downstream, which I empty multiple times a day, which catch some of the larger twigs, branches and leaves. But a lot of debris gets through or bypasses the grate and goes around. The catkins (which are dropping, falling off the birch tree now, it's May) float and are all over the place because it is windy regularly here.
I will probably continue to do it this way as we tackle more sections along the creek. The transformation is definitely welcome! The ducks have been enjoying this newly-cleared section, foraging in the newly exposed brambles and fishing in the stirred up sediment for a tasty snack of worms and bugs. I found a lot of earthworms for them in the mud and since I wore my waders (waterproof rubber boots for muddy situations), I was able to easily stomp around and try to be a worm whisperer.
I am so grateful we have access to such a beautiful property with a creek and pond and we can have ducks and I can hear the running water all day. 😊❤️ Very peaceful and makes it even more satisfying to do all this property maintenance "work". We try to do as much community beautification as possible, and keeping the creek flowing smoothly is one of my favorite things. We will hopefully be having a larger "community clean up day" in the upcoming months to tackle clearing the creek brambles (understatement of the year) that runs from the springs. Our entire neighborhood benefits when years of neglected growth is cleaned and cleared.
Date: Wed 5.15.24
Tools: Stihl Battery-Powered Chainsaw, Metal Bow Rake, Hand Pruners, Loppers, Plastic Kiddie Swimming Pool, Rubber Rain Boots for Mud
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Changed title from: Creek Cleanup: Cutting Back & Clearing Overgrown Overhanging Thorny Branches - Debris Accumulation
18 май 2024
