Pulling Broom Seedlings from the restoration area:

The Broom was removed in the winter and early Spring. By late Spring, Broom seedlings had begun to sprout.

• • Well over 1000 broom seedlings were removed from the restoration area in the summer of 2022. Most were removed in the early summer. By September, after the drought conditions of July and Aug, there were fewer seeds germinating.
  • Via trial and error, I estimated that a mulch thickness of about 2″ seems to keep seeds from germinating. (Spring of 2023 will tell the tale)

Mulching the restoration area:

To suppress Broom seed germination, mulch is spread over as much of the restoration as possible. This activity started in the Spring of 2022. Once Broom seedlings were removed from a patch of approximately 5 ft square, mulch was applied. Seedlings were the removed from another patch, then much was applied to this second patch, work moved to a third patch,  so on.

• • • • Douglas Fir chips produced from logging debris (see the Background section to find an explanation for the presence of logging debris) were used to mulch the cleared restoration area.
      • Although a 3500 ft^2 area was cleared of Broom, approx 500 ft^2 of this area is on a steep narrow strip (this area is depicted by the smaller red rectangular area in Figure 2). Therefore, only an area of 3000 ft^2 is mulched (this is depicted as the larger red rectangular area in Figure 2).
      • Mulching involves:
        • filling wheelbarrows with Douglas Fir chips,
        • moving the chips to the restoration area,
        • spreading the chips to about 2 inch thick layer
          • note: the chips are spread to a sufficient thickness such that broom seeds remaining in the cleared area will not be able to germinate.
      • To move enough mulch to cover the 3000 sq ft area is time consuming and physically challenging. Some days I only move a couple of wheelbarrows, other days 12 wheelbarrows.  By November, approx 1200 sq ft of the restoration area has been covered with mulch.