Along the Placerita Canyon Nature Center trail, bushes of light brown buckwheat plants populate the dirt and the smell of vinegar plants wafts through the air, attracting bees, butterflies and other wildlife. But docent naturalist Robert Grzesiak would know that it wasn’t always easy for these native plants to regrow — he’s been whacking invasive weeds at the park for nearly 10 years.
“It was disturbing to me that there were so many weeds,” Grzesiak said. “Every time you cut down a weed, someone is bringing in a weed, either on their shoes or on their bicycle.”
Every Thursday at 9 a.m., Grzesiak and other docent naturalists try to clear areas at Placerita Canyon Nature Center that are highly populated with weeds, like thorny thistles and mustard plants. They wheel in buckets, trash bags and other gardening tools up the trails, and work on certain problem areas for about an hour to an hour and a half per visit.
Gresiak said that the presence of these weeds poses a fire hazard and prevents some of the native species from growing.
“Most of what we weed are essentially noxious weeds,” Grzesiak said. “Star thistle is painful, and the mustard becomes ugly and a fire hazard. These weeds don’t care about soil conditions. They just grow. And eventually the support system for the native plants is destroyed in the soil.”
Grzesiak said that once an area is clear of invasive weeds, the native plant seeds that are in the seed soil bank are then able to grow and thrive.
A seed soil bank is when seeds naturally stay in the soil for a long period of time waiting for the right conditions to grow, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
But Grzesiak also said that while he and the other docent naturalists are trying to restore some of the native plants by replanting them, not everything can be grown at once.
Other factors also need to be taken into consideration, he said, including not growing an excessive number of plants and making sure they are not too tall, so that the space is still easily accessible in case of fires.
“You have a really heavy responsibility when you do restoration,” Grzesiak said. “We have so many horticultural plants now that require nicer conditions, more water and more nutrients in the soil. If you plant those out, it looks nice initially, but it doesn’t have a [long-lasting] effect.”
Grzesiak also said that clearing the area is not the only important task in native plant restoration; maintenance of the grounds and prevention of other invasive weeds are also part of it.
On the hillside, Grzesiak said logs are used as barriers to prevent other possible weed seeds trickling down into the soil bank when it rains.
Tharis King, a Los Angeles County grounds maintenance supervisor, brings Grzesiak more logs and actively works with him to remove the weeds. He said the work that Grzesiak does with the other docent naturalists is vital to maintaining some of the history of Placerita Canyon.
King and Grzesiak said that the center previously had prisoners work on some of the problem areas, but that they pulled all plants, including the native species.
“The main concern is having a passion for what’s been already here, even before we were here, in the early 1800s,” King said. “The native [plants] are a big, integral part of the natural area. We have to put an emphasis on leaving them [alone] because it’s good for the environment. This is our home and we have to treat it as home.”
Docent naturalists and maintenance supervisors aren’t the only people helping out with weed removal, though. Organizations, like Partners for Potential, also swing by to help out.
Partners for Potential specializes in providing training and education to adults with developmental disabilities.
Pat Coskran, another docent naturalist who previously worked as a special education teacher, said that being able to provide people with developmental disabilities more nature-centered opportunities, like native plant renewal and restoration, is rewarding.
“Some individuals with special needs will kind of shy away from being outside and others are very interested in doing those things, using tools and helping with different projects,” Coskran said. “Being a teacher, I know that being in a classroom, you can only do so much. For me, just looking at this natural area, I realize the benefit that this area can have to our community, to individuals, exposing them to nature and for special needs folks.”
Like Coskran, Bill Rogers, who also volunteers for the Wildland Weed Warriors, said that he likes doing the plant restoration and renewal for the community.
“I’m really inspired by getting the planet back to a healthy state,” Rogers said. “I feel like for the longest time, mankind as a whole is not operated on a level where we thought about that much. By doing little things like this, I’m hoping to inspire [some people] to get into this too.”
More information about Placerita Canyon Nature Center and its activities can be found at www.placerita.org/news.
