Northside Greenspace Inc.

Our friend and colleague Greg Torres, Natural Resource Specialist for Cincy Parks west region, spent much of the past week walking the trails of Buttercup Valley, Parker Woods, and Badgley Run, clearing storm debris and checking for hazards along the way. Thanks, Greg!

Hi everyone! Our friends at Parker Woods Montessori have a cleanup day planned for this Saturday, August 15th from 9-1pm. All are welcome!

On a recent foray into Buttercup Valley we found this rather impressive American hophornbeam (Ostrya virginiana). Hophornbeams are in the Birch family (Betulaceae) and are generally a small understory tree in our eastern deciduous forests.

We’d like to thank those volunteers who joined us this past Saturday for our July forest restoration event. We searched for and removed invasive Japanese stiltgrass (Microstegium vimineum) from the creek areas in Buttercup Valley. We went over ways to identify this plant, and how to tell it apart from native whitegrass (Leersia virginica) and other lookalikes. Our next forest restoration outing will be Saturday, September 19th in Parker Woods. More details here! https://www.northsidegreenspace.org/event-details/forest-restoration-5

We think it’s safe to say everyone enjoyed our screening of “The Extraordinary Caterpillar” last night at the Northside Tavern. We had a great time! Thanks to all who joined us for a fun and educational evening.

*****UPDATE*****

The large, downed catalpa that was blocking the trail in Badgley Run has been cleared by Cincy Parks Conservation and Land Management staff! The trail is once again navigable.

Photo: catalpa seed pods which give the tree its nickname, “cigar tree”.

We are aware of a large catalpa tree down over the trail in Badgley Run near the bridge in the middle of the preserve. The trail is currently impassable. Cincinnati Parks Department of Natural Resources is aware of it and it will be cleared as soon as the conservation team or tree crew can get to it.

Thanks to those of you who joined us for our Native Gardens Walk this past Sunday. We hope you had as much fun as we did! Special thanks to Adam, Mary, Sam, and Brendan for their efforts in organizing the walk. To those interested in the local native plant propagation network, DM us here or email us at nsgs45223 at gmail dot com and we’ll put you in touch with Adam.

Updated flyer!

We’re getting very excited for our Northside Native Gardens Walk on Sunday, June 14th from 12-2pm. We’ll walk a pre-planned route stopping at some wonderful examples of native plant landscaping. Our tour guides - and in some cases the resident gardeners themselves - will discuss the native plants that have been incorporated into these yards as well as answer any questions.

We’re also getting excited for our movie night on Tuesday, July 7th at the Northside Tavern in the back room. We’ll be screening “The Extraordinary Caterpillar”, a one hour documentary with some incredible footage of these wonderful creatures.

Both events are free but we do ask that you please RSVP so that we know how many people to expect and so that we may communicate any changes, should they arise. RSVP here: https://www.northsidegreenspace.org/upcoming-events