This photo may not be everyone's idea of beauty, but to tree lovers, it is a wonderful sight. Underneath the brown leaves is a living Eastern Red Cedar, rescued from smothering invasive vines by the Clifton Tree Rescuers. Three weeks earlier, our team of volunteers convened in a Balmoral Heights community where three neighbors have been working for years to control Autumn Olive and other invasive plants. We got to work on invasive Oriental Bittersweet and Japanese Honeysuckle that was threatening the trees, clipping the vines near the ground and painting the larger stumps with herbicide to keep them from resprouting. In time, the vines above will dry out and fall off on their own.
Our team meets twice a month - on second Saturdays and fourth Sundays - to tackle invasives for two hours in the morning. We welcome invitations to hold events anywhere in Clifton where help is needed. Come join us - it is really fun! We post our schedule on the Clifton page of the Fairfax Tree Rescuers PRISM website. Children under 15 must work side-by-side with their responsible adult.