1st and 3rd Saturdays (typically)
9:30 am-12:30 pm
Jones Falls Trail between North Ave and 28th Street
Year-round! All are welcome.
Since November 2023, the Friends of The Jones Falls Stewardship Committee has hosted bi-monthly volunteer “Parties” along the 0.6 mile stretch of the Jones Falls Trail between North Ave. and 28th St in central West Baltimore.
We are using an approach called adaptive management, where we try an intervention, observe how the landscape responds, and adjust as we go along. With the support of the Baltimore City Weed Warriors program, the parties began with a focus on invasive vine management and species like English ivy, porcelainberry, and roundleaf bittersweet.
After a year and a half, our volunteers celebrated the achievement of unburdening hundreds of trees of non-native vines, and the re-emergence of native plants from the seedbank, but also noted challenges that required professional support. We applied for and won a $36,580 Chesapeake Bay Trust award that allowed us to hire a contractor to treat Callery pear (aka Bradford pear, a cultivar) and Tree of heaven (the preferred host of the spotted lanternfly) as well as purchase and plant over 200 native trees and shrubs. Our bi-monthly Parties continue to feature invasive plant removal, but now include tending to newly planted and emerging natives, trash clean up and more as we continually learn and adjust.
Interested in Partying with us? We will provide the tools and training. Just send an email asking to join our mailing list for Party reminders and updates on exact meeting location: stewardship@thejonesfalls.org
