[To see photos and stories about Maple Ridge in other years go to the links on the main Maple Ridge page.]

We worked on Garlic Mustard here this year – me spraying the small patches, and Mike weed whacking the larger ones.

I found one new plant that I’d never seen on the farm before: Dioscorea villosa – Wild Yam.  And one new shrub: Viburnum opulus var. americanum  American Highbush Cranberry.

In early September we found out that the highway department was planning to spray all the roadsides with herbicides, killing everything except grasses.  When they did their clearing work last year, they didn’t treat any of the stumps, so all the shrubs and trees resprouted.  We talked with them and got permission to do our own maintenance on our own roadsides.   Their main concern is tree sprouts – they don’t want trees to grow up and topple down onto the road.  We marked the ends of our property, so they would know where not to spray, and got to work, cutting and treating all the tree sprouts.  It took us a few weeks of hard work, but it was worth it to protect all our natives.

5/15/2025

 

Wild Yam – Dioscorea villosa

 

5/22/2025

 

9/12/2025  Roadside after we’d cut and treated brush

 

9/13/2025

 

9/26/2025  American Highbush Cranberry – Viburnum opulus var. americanum

 

9/29/2025

 

12/26/2025