Volunteers cutting down the ragweed beside the bikeway
Back in 2019, the former disk golf course, now the Caswell Trail Meadow, was overrun by ragweed. The thicket was so dense, if you hadn’t been to the other side of the park you wouldn’t know it was ever there. Every square foot of the area was covered in massive ragweed plants, so large they engulfed the young saplings that had been planted just months before.
Fast forward two years, and thanks to a lot of hard work from over 120 dedicated volunteers, the Caswell Trail Meadow is on its way to a healthy ecosystem again. The area is almost completely clear of ragweed and is now home to grasses, wildflowers, and little park critters. There is still a lot of work to be done, non-native species to remove, and trees to be planted, but the progress we have made is visible in a big way.
Ragweed growth at the bottom of the bikeway, 2019
When we started, the meadow was heavily degraded. The soil quality was poor from years of erosion and could only support ragweed and not much else. The first step was clearing the ragweed. Pulling out or cutting down the ragweed before it produced seeds was critical. While a ragweed plant only lives for one year, each year they are able to produce tens-of-thousands of seeds meaning it would be that much harder to push them out in the long run.
Meadow grasses and wildflowers filling in at the bottom of the bikeway, 2021
Once the ragweed was removed, we covered the entire area, almost 12,000 square feet, with 45 cubic yards of compost. The process was daunting, but with the help of our volunteers, two pickup trucks, a skid steer, and one and a half dump trucks of compost, we got it done.
One of two dump trucks dropping off compost for the meadow
The next key step was seeding. For this, we used a mixture of riparian, or creekside-friendly grasses, and flowers. Volunteers helped us spread and pack the seeds across the fresh layer of compost.
The following year the ragweed returned, this time more aggressively than we had seen before. The entire area was filled with ragweed stocks, some as thick as four inches in diameter. Additionally, the onset of COVID-19 meant we were unable to host our normal springtime volunteer events. However, through our DIY volunteering program as well as effort from Conservancy staff, we were able to push back the ragweed one more time.
Volunteers unloading and spreading compost over the cut-down ragweed stalks in the meadow
Today, the meadow is recovering. There are a few patches of ragweed still hanging around here and there and some other non-native species have yet to be removed, but birds, squirrels, and rabbits can now be seen foraging in the tall grasses; the creek is visible from the elevated bike path, and wildflowers are beginning to bloom throughout the meadow.