San Antonio Forest
Est. 1998
Project Coordinator
Here is a pictorial progression of a native plant trail started in San
Antonio, Texas, by Master Naturalist, Diane Carkhuff:
The trail at Miller’s Pond Park was planned to provide an urban greenway for
wildlife and for humans, with possible extension to Leon Creek.
Railroad Berm Before
Railroad Berm After
Before
After
If you are a leader in a school located near Miller’s Pond Recreation Center, and are interested in actively showing your students how to care about wildlife, send an email toDiane Carkhuff
These organizations donated plants, time, or other
assistance:
Master Naturalists, San Antonio Parks and Recreation, San Antonio Forest,
Native Plant Society, Texas Parks and Wildlife, Southwest Community Association
November 1998 - Community association president agreed to let me talk to the
members at January meeting. Talked to Master Naturalists at meeting about trail
project, received verbal approval.
December 1998 - Received written approval from Parks & Recreation.
Submitted request for $500 grant from San Antonio Water System. Met with
horticulturist and maintenance technician from Parks and Recreation for a tour
of Miller’s Pond & tips on trail work. Visited wholesale nurseries and was
emailed a price list.
January 1999 - Sent letters to area nurseries for a spring plant sale at
Miller’s Pond, after interest on phone survey. No replies. Talked to two
community associations about plans and solicited help on locating plants and old
cedar fencing. Solicitation of volunteers was announced in the Master
Naturalist’s newsletter. Second acreage of land in several months bulldozed for
development near the park.
February 1999 - Received permission from subdivision developer to transplant
a small amount, if any could be found. Surveyed the property, dug & potted
several plants. Joined Native Plant Society, described project & desires for
it. A couple of people volunteered their property outside of San Antonio for
plant rescue. Went to meeting of newly formed San Antonio Forest, who agreed to
support trail labor on 3-27-99. Met with broker on nearby wooded property and
temporary approval to transplant. Received permission to transplant from local
developer of same property. Talked to Miller’s Pond park managers. Obtained nine
plants from Parks & Recreation greenhouse.
March 1999 - Took time off from job to get mulch from Bitters Road site.
Purchased supplies & planting mix, made temporary trail sign. Transplanted
with help of spouse, marked with fluorescent yellow stakes. Talked with park
official, who advised not to mark or plant with easily stolen material. Reported
the March 27th trail workday to the community association board members,
however, a park cleanup day was already scheduled for that date. The Park
Advisory Board had previously met and agreed to help out on the trail work.
Rained heavily on the 19th. Mowers came & mowed down most of the plants on
the 20th. Replanted some. Several stakes were missing in the following days.
Removed and replaced with taller tree stakes, one of which was later hit by a
car (It drove off the road that used to be a railroad track, hitting a stake and
a plant. The driver was still there the next morning). Native Plant Society
identified several plants. Reported progress to members. The trail sign was run
over. Obtained more plants from the Parks & Recreation greenhouse and
discussed the mowers again. They agreed to bring a few trees on the workday.
Submitted another grant request through the Bexar Audubon Society. Purchased
planting mix and made other preparations for the work day. Mulch depleted at
Bitters Road site. Forecast was for rain.
March 27, 1999 Cool, misty workday. Loaded up plants and supplies. Several
people from the San Antonio Forest came to help, plus two volunteers from the
north side of San Antonio, who were on their email list. Total was seven people,
including my spouse. Soil was hard. It started to rain. Planted a total of 15
plants and trees. Prepared front entrance near jogging track, with large rocks
and logs to help keep motorists out. Had a picnic and discussed how we could do
it better next time. Roped off entrance using stakes. Removed damaged sign.
March 1999 - More planting. One stake missing. It appeared that one tree had
been hit by a car and uprooted, but was intact, and was replanted. Another plant
had been pulled out and was replanted. Several families stopped to talk about
the trail. Marked area with more stones. Used tree branches for stakes.
April 1999 - Spotted the first sighting of a hummingbird at Salvia blossoms.
Transplanted and laid more rock. Repaired sign. Encouraged by conversations with
residents. Police drove by and inquired about project. Unusually cool weather
for April. Some drizzle. The mowers left trail alone this time. Received
information about a point-of-contact at an area school. Checked plants after
Easter holiday. Auto owners drove throughout the park, left trash, broken
pinatas, and burned charcoal. The plants were not disturbed. However, one tree
stake was stolen. Placed more tree stakes & connected with mason line at the
back section of trail. A jogger warned to watch out for rattlesnakes, and
reported killing two near the jogging track. Watered regularly with gallon jugs
and continued to plant until the end of April. Wrote up progress reports for
newsletters and reported to other organizations. Parks and Recreation
horticulturist expressed desire to add a boardwalk to the pond for viewing
wildlife and fishing.
May-August 1999 - Survival of plants was attributed to their native
hardiness, patience, and regular watering, combined with the grace of God's
little rain showers. How else could these plants survive the hot, Texas summer,
after many were mowed down in May and again in July? Holidays, too, continued to
be a problem, with careless motorists and picnickers. For the most part, summer
was vacation time for the trail, with little maintenance other than watering and
weeding. The Whitebrush, Lantana, Salvia, Mexican Hat, and Desert Willow
continued to bloom throughout the summer. These plants now require more than
watering by jugs, so water was siphoned from a 33-gallon garbage can.
October 30, 1999 - The weather was cold with light rain. Side-oats grama
grass was prevalent on the railroad slope. All stakes had been stolen from the
front section the previous night. Volunteers were few, including a man from the
Olmos Park area. We made quick work in pre-dug holes for some of the plants
donated by Parks and Recreation. The ground was dry and difficult for the
remaining plants. Less than two dozen native types were planted, including a few
transplants from the neighboring land. Large rocks were lined up to replace the
missing stakes. There was no free mulch available that week from the Camargo
Park site.
November 1999-April 2000 - Scrubland continued to be developed with three new
fast-food places opened next to the park. A fox was spotted as road-kill on Holm
Road, located about two miles inside Loop 410, not far from the park. A
roadrunner was seen between Millers Pond and the Sonic Drive-In. Other wildlife
spotted on the trail included birds, a rabbit, lizards and a large black snake.
Manuel, the first volunteer from the neighborhood, helped plant several shrubs
and trees. Six plants, mostly Blue-Bonnets, had been dug up and stolen during
the six months. Light freezes also took a toll on several plants.
April 8, 2000 - The Spring planting day was successful with 5 volunteers from
the Native Plant Society / Master Naturalists, one volunteer from San Antonio
Forest, and my spouse helping. Holes were pre-dug and soil sifted of rocks.
Members from the Southwest Community Association donated $63 towards plants that
were brought to the community meeting. Several volunteers brought plants, and
Parks & Rec. donated the remaining plants. During an inventory made at the
end of the day, two young women with baby strollers were caught stealing a
plant, while they were leaving the park. Forty new plants were counted that day.
May-July 2000 - Together with drivers taking side trips down the slope, and
with the scant rainfall and 100 + degree temperatures, a few plants were lost in
this season. However, the mowers were careful, and more people than ever stopped
by to pay compliments. One couple offered promise to work on the trail in the
future. A member of the Native Plant Society brought logs from Government Canyon
State Park to line the trail. Free mulch was finally available near the end of
July. Giant sunflowers were predominant this season. While watering the parched
wild petunias, a rapid release of seeds was observed, sounding much like having
breakfast with Rice Krispies cereal. Between 160 to 300 gallons of water was
used per week, now with several drums siphoned by a 12-volt RV pump.
Diary of Miller’s Pond Project to identify problems / trail duplication:
August 1998 - Submitted proposal for trail to San Antonio Parks &
Recreation, gave a copy to president of community association and president of
Master Naturalist organization.
OUR NEXT PLANTING DATE:
Contact Diane!
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