Volunteers Aggressively Protect Trees From Invasive Plants and Vines

Yanking out gnarly invasive vines snaking through a plot of land near the Saw Mill River Parkway energized a group of about 10 volunteers last Saturday.

The thick overgrowth had carpeted the ground and enveloped some of the 155 shrubs and sapling trees first planted three years ago.

Restoring the land by planting trees and shrubs, and regular clean-ups, were spearheaded by the Conservation Advisory Councils (CAC’s) from both Pleasantville and Mount Pleasant.

“The first time we did a clean-up before we planted anything there were large trees totally covered with vines. It was like something out of a science fiction movie,” said Don Willemann, a member of the Pleasantville CAC who led last week’s effort.

The area is down a steep hill behind McDonald’s on Marble Avenue in Thornwood and is bordered by the Saw Mill River that runs alongside the parkway. The lot was first cleared by the local CACs and helped by the Green Team from GroundworkHV, a local nonprofit organization that works with communities to create sustainable environments.

The plot had been used for years as a garbage dump.

“That first clean-up we hauled hundreds of pounds of trash months before planting trees and shrubs,” recalled Pleasantville CAC Chair Helen Meurer.

“We found a rusted out car chassis, a bathtub, old tires, and lots of plastic take-out items like bottles, cups, plates,” she said. “We had many bags of invasive plants including garlic mustard, mugwort, porcelain berry, Oriental bittersweet, grape vine and multiflora rose.”

Many intact antique bottles were also found during the first clean-up, Meurer said.

The plantings are in a floodplain, areas along small creeks and streams that eventually flow into larger rivers and lakes.

“The plantings will stabilize the area and provide native vegetation to improve the ecosystem there,” Meurer explained. “The trees absorb a lot of the water and act as a filtration system that keeps the water clean.”

Among the many varieties of trees and shrubs planted were red maple, silver maple, river birch, blue beech/ironwood, black gum, sycamore, poplar and swamp white oak. The 2021 planting was also helped by the state Department of Environmental Conservation’s (DEC) Trees for Tribs program, a statewide effort to reforest New York’s tributaries.

According to Meurer, local groups that included students of all ages have been helping to clear the area for the past three years. A clean-up is held twice a year, in spring and fall.

Last Saturday volunteers wore heavy work gloves and used pruning shears to cut back the massive underbrush, plants and vines that were later bagged and picked up by the Mount Pleasant Highway Department.

“I’ve been helping with the clean-up project for three years,” said Josephine DiCostanzo a Mount Pleasant CAC member. “The area along the Saw Mill River is a horror. It’s good to remind our community members to be mindful of this issue and to increase the awareness.”

Pulling a long bunch of vines out of the ground with DiCostanzo was another Mount Pleasant CAC member, Sue Smutzler. Smutzler said she has helped several community projects.

“I like to do good work for the environment and work that goes towards being sustainable,” she said.

Some of the trees and shrubs were still in their white, opaque protective tubes. Some tubes appeared to be empty.

“It may be that they didn’t survive the drought,” Willemann said.

Kristina Buddenhagen, who works at Pepsico in Westchester but lives in Queens, made the drive up from the city last weekend to help out. She said it was the first time she has worked on the site.

“We have a green team at Pepsico and they organize events and I wanted to help,” she said.

Buddenhagen was working next to Bedford resident Joe Novak, also a Pepsico employee.

“I’m doing this work because I try to make a difference,” Novak said.

Willemann ultimately envisions a long-term goal of creating a path to the river.

“People could walk down a path and walk along the water as another way to access to the river. It could be like a recreation trail,” he said.