Save a Forest in Southworth, WA

Southworth Forest Update:

Volunteer Native Trees Battle Scotch Broom at the Forest

Posted June 1, 2023 by Southworth Forest

Douglas fir and Grand fir are revealed when a patch of Scotch broom is removed by hand in spring. (2023)

On about one fifth of an acre of meadow within the Southworth forest in Port Orchard, young volunteer Douglas fir, Grand fir, Western hemlock, and Western red cedar are battling an outbreak of invasive Scotch broom. There are roughly 150 young trees in this area, ranging from tiny babies to one-foot-tall three-year-olds. This is the only major young crop on the parcel.

This area is close enough to the destruction of the neighboring forest at 11090 SE Southworth Dr. to be experiencing additional light impacts that have caused the Scotch broom to explode as well. Eventually, the broom would overtake all the resources needed by the trees. Since 2020, the edges of the adjacent converted area have been overrun by Scotch broom that is now invading neighboring forests where it never did before.

This group of volunteer trees will need protected from inevitable deer damage made worse by the nearby deforestation, too. Most of the trees will be transplanted into half or one-gallon pots during the winters and watered by hand throughout the summers for re-planting in the forest a year later. At that time, protective deer fencing will be installed around each tree to maximize the chance for survival.

The broom is being removed carefully by hand. When it's two or three feet tall as it is here, it can be pulled manually if the ground is very moist. It's muddy work in the winter and spring, but it needs done! Remember, Scotch broom seeds can remain dormant but viable in the ground for 80 years, lying in wait for clear-cutters like Meghan and Clint Edwards to wipe out the forest canopy and give those seeds the sunlight they need to dominate native species.