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Friends of Gentle Woods - March 29, 2025

Friends of Gentle Woods (FoGW) is a volunteer-led effort to restore the health of the native plant community at along Middle Fork Ash Creek within Gentle Woods Park, Monmouth. Throughout the summer and fall of 2024, FoGW volunteers worked hard to manually remove invasive weeds like Himalaya blackberry, English ivy and reed canary grass, and prepare the streamside areas for replanting with native vegetation. On the first day of March 2025, volunteers then came out to plant 62 native trees in these areas and protect them from hungry deer with wire mesh cages.

On March 29, 13 volunteers returned to the planting area to spread mulch around the newly planted native trees. The mulch will suppress weeds and keep the soil moisture levels higher around these young trees as the temperatures climb and the rainfall tapers off. We are grateful for the hard work and dedication of all the FoGW volunteers, and look forward to seeing these new plants grow and thrive!

Want to lend a hand towards this effort to improve local habitat for plants and wildlife? Click here to join our FoGW mailing list!

Photo slideshow from March 29 mulching event:

Species planted at Gentle Woods Park

• Cascara (Rhamnus purshiana)
• Bigleaf Maple (Acer macrophyllum)
• White Alder (Alnus rhombifolia)
• Pacific Willow (Salix lasiandra)
• Valley Ponderosa Pine (Pinus ponderosa)

Read more about the FoGW tree planting day here!​