Azalea Park - Manzanita Canyon Rescue!

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We have done a great job cleaning up trash and reducing illegal dumping in our canyons. The canyons are returning to their natural beauty. Now we have some time to devote to other environmental concerns.

The Enemy

This clean-up event was specifically focused on removing invasive plants. We picked up some trash too. Not as much trash as in past years, but still more than we would like. There are several invasive plants growing in our canyons. They threaten the native vegetation and can spread quickly. At this event we targeted:

Castor Bean

This nasty plant is poisonous to humans, animals and insects.

Fennel

Foeniculum vulgare or Sweet fennel is a beautiful but highly invasive plant.

Morning Glory

Another beautiful but invasive plant. Note on the bottom photo that the morning glory is covering the native bush. It will eventually kill the plant and continue to spread

Arundo donax

Or giant reed can out compete the native plants and trees. As the native plants disappear so do the animals that depend on them.

This event was sponsored by Project Clean, Sierra Club-San Diego, Friends of Azalea Park Canyons and the Azalea Park Neighborhood Association. We also had neighbors from the South Castle neighborhood, Price Charities and our friends at C.r.a.s.h.

Nobody thinks this is a one-stop solution. We will need to continue to be vigilant to protect our canyons from these plant invaders. But each effort helps to return our beautiful canyons to their natural state. If you would like more information about protecting our neighborhood canyons, please visit the link below: