Last month on March 7, the Weed Wrangle took place all over the United States. The one-day, area-wide, volunteer effort helped rescue our public parks and green spaces from non-native invasive species through hands-on removal of especially harmful trees, vines, and flowering plants.
On Lookout Mountain, several folks joined the outstanding Howard Interns with the Lookout Mountain Conservancy and spent the morning wrangling non-native honeysuckle, privet, euonymus bamboo and more. Howard Interns Jennifer Mateo, Jimmie Thomas, Josten Reyes, Jason Lopez, and Jada Lake worked long and hard to tackle the invasives. Robyn Carlton, CEO of the LMC, led the charge, but not from the sidelines. With her hair tucked under a bandana and heavy work gloves covering her hands, she hauled and chopped and pulled harder than anyone, as did LMC’s Brad Hutchison.
Gathering at 9 a.m. at the new Sims property off of McFarland Road on Lookout Mountain, the goal for the morning was to load a trailer-size heap of dead bamboo into a very long and very tall dumpster. The bamboo had been cut months ago and left to dry over the winter. It wasn’t heavy, but it was long and cumbersome and unwieldy.
No matter. This wasn’t the first rodeo for the Howard Interns. They sorted the bamboo into like-sized piles, carried it all the way to the front of the very long dumpster, then took turns jumping up and down on it to compact it for space.
“That dumpster is expensive, so we’ve learned to consolidate and take advantage of as much space as we can,” Robyn explained.
The massive mountain of brown bamboo was gone within the hour, and the wranglers moved on to other issues. Kelsi Bell, Anna Lee Jones and Ingram Carpenter of the Laurelwood Garden Club donned their cute club T-shirts and brought their A-games to the wrangle. And Emily Campbell joined Marshall Persinger and Angie Sutherland in chopping massive invasive vines that had been choking majestic native trees for decades. Mary Leland Davenport hauled cumbersome vines and branches from the far end of the property to the dumpster.
None of the gals mentioned in the above paragraph knew exactly what they were getting into at the park, only that it was overgrown. The five acres in the heart of Fairyland in Lookout Mountain, Ga., is well past its prime, but in its heyday it was a beautifully landscaped resort for tourists, with cabins, a pool, shuffleboard courts and an outdoor kitchen.
The pool has been filled in and the cabins are long gone, but the concrete shuffleboard courts remain, as do the outlines of about a dozen garden beds. Former owner Jesse Sims was a renowned gardener whose formal English herb garden was featured in Southern Living and other magazines. Mr. Sims was also president of the Southeast Dahlia Growers Association, and folks came from miles around to see his dahlias.
The Lookout Mountain Conservancy has big plans for the property. And lots of excitement.
“This will be the children’s trail through here,” Robyn excitedly points. “And the trails through here will connect with other trails on the mountain.”
There is so much history on these acres looking over Fairyland, starting with the old stone tiered wall and steps. And the master plan the LMC is working on is respectful of that history.
It may take a little more elbow grease, but it’s going to be a feather in the town’s cap by the time all is said and done.
by Ferris Robinson
On Lookout Mountain, several folks joined the outstanding Howard Interns with the Lookout Mountain Conservancy and spent the morning wrangling non-native honeysuckle, privet, euonymus bamboo and more. Howard Interns Jennifer Mateo, Jimmie Thomas, Josten Reyes, Jason Lopez, and Jada Lake worked long and hard to tackle the invasives. Robyn Carlton, CEO of the LMC, led the charge, but not from the sidelines. With her hair tucked under a bandana and heavy work gloves covering her hands, she hauled and chopped and pulled harder than anyone, as did LMC’s Brad Hutchison.
Gathering at 9 a.m. at the new Sims property off of McFarland Road on Lookout Mountain, the goal for the morning was to load a trailer-size heap of dead bamboo into a very long and very tall dumpster. The bamboo had been cut months ago and left to dry over the winter. It wasn’t heavy, but it was long and cumbersome and unwieldy.
No matter. This wasn’t the first rodeo for the Howard Interns. They sorted the bamboo into like-sized piles, carried it all the way to the front of the very long dumpster, then took turns jumping up and down on it to compact it for space.
“That dumpster is expensive, so we’ve learned to consolidate and take advantage of as much space as we can,” Robyn explained.
The massive mountain of brown bamboo was gone within the hour, and the wranglers moved on to other issues. Kelsi Bell, Anna Lee Jones and Ingram Carpenter of the Laurelwood Garden Club donned their cute club T-shirts and brought their A-games to the wrangle. And Emily Campbell joined Marshall Persinger and Angie Sutherland in chopping massive invasive vines that had been choking majestic native trees for decades. Mary Leland Davenport hauled cumbersome vines and branches from the far end of the property to the dumpster.
None of the gals mentioned in the above paragraph knew exactly what they were getting into at the park, only that it was overgrown. The five acres in the heart of Fairyland in Lookout Mountain, Ga., is well past its prime, but in its heyday it was a beautifully landscaped resort for tourists, with cabins, a pool, shuffleboard courts and an outdoor kitchen.
The pool has been filled in and the cabins are long gone, but the concrete shuffleboard courts remain, as do the outlines of about a dozen garden beds. Former owner Jesse Sims was a renowned gardener whose formal English herb garden was featured in Southern Living and other magazines. Mr. Sims was also president of the Southeast Dahlia Growers Association, and folks came from miles around to see his dahlias.
The Lookout Mountain Conservancy has big plans for the property. And lots of excitement.
“This will be the children’s trail through here,” Robyn excitedly points. “And the trails through here will connect with other trails on the mountain.”
There is so much history on these acres looking over Fairyland, starting with the old stone tiered wall and steps. And the master plan the LMC is working on is respectful of that history.
It may take a little more elbow grease, but it’s going to be a feather in the town’s cap by the time all is said and done.
by Ferris Robinson
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