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The Whale Pond Brook Watershed Association Awarded American Water Charitable Foundation 2024 Water and Environment Grant

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We are excited to share that a 2024 grant from the American Water Charitable Foundation is helping us launch new green infrastructure projects to reduce local flooding and filter stormwater entering Ross Lake.

Continue reading The Whale Pond Brook Watershed Association Awarded American Water Charitable Foundation 2024 Water and Environment Grant →
Storm Water Mgmt

STOP FLOODING AND POLLUTION NOW!

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Please register for the event on the Urban Coast Institute’s website Attendees will be provided a link to the webinar upon registering.

Please join us for a free expert panel discussion on how stormwater pollution and flooding affects the health of local water bodies. The event is being hosted by the Whale Pond Brook Watershed Association in partnership with Clean Ocean Action, the Long Branch Green Team, the Monmouth University Urban Coast Institute, and the New Jersey Chapter of the Sierra Club.

Sophie Glovier, municipal policy specialist for the Watershed Institute, will discuss steps residents can take to combat stormwater runoff pollution in their towns.

Dr. Jason Adolf, Monmouth University endowed associate professor in marine science, will share observations from current research on the linkages between rainfall and microbial pollution at surfing beaches near outflow pipes and storm drains in Asbury Park, Deal and Long Branch.

For more information or questions, contact Faith Teitelbaum at faithteitel@gmail.com.

Ross Lake Park Garden Journal

Ross Lake Volunteer Job List – May 2020

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Saturday, May 2 and Sunday, May 3 are expected to be beautiful days.  Now is the time to prepare the gardens for even more beautiful days in the future.  Routine garden maintenance is a great way to get out of the house, enjoy the weather and lift your mood.  So, head to Ross Lake with a sharp pair of bypass pruners and your favorite weeding tools.  Come when you feel like it.

 

Even though there is no volunteer time schedule, a logical sequence of work is important to think about.  The following tasks are listed by seasonal importance.  In other words, these are the things that need to be done at this particular time of the year.  They are listed in order of most important to least important.

  1. Finish pruning the Red Twig Dogwood at the east and west entrances to the trail.The ones at the west end are in the most need of pruning.  Start by removing some of the “runners” that grow horizontally along the ground.  Then, remove all dead stems.  These are easy to spot now.  The stems are brown or grey, without buds or leaves.  Nothing else on the dogwood should be pruned.  They are getting ready to bloom!
  2. Remove all leaves, grass and weeds underneath shrubs.Clear the area to about one foot past the outer branches, especially around those shrubs that are nearest to the street.  Long Branch DPW mows the grass between the curb and the garden.  Most maintenance crews like to have a “margin of error” so that the they don’t have to bring their mowers too close to the shrubs.
  3. Remove any invasive vines or plants growing in the grasses between the path and the lake.They are easy to spot now, but they will be hidden soon.

4.  Remove all plants growing in the path.

 

 

Butterflies lay their eggs on the dead flower stems in the pollinator garden.  They also serve as markers for emerging plants we want to keep.  Let’s leave them for now.

 

If you want to do some digging, some of the grasses need to be replanted at the end of Red Oaks Drive, across the lake.  The soil around the roots may have eroded during the winter, exposing the root ball.  They are beginning to grow, however, in spite of root exposure.

 

 

Please be considerate of any visitors by wearing a face covering.

Practice social distancing while gardening.

 

The Ross Lake Garden Committee

Ross Lake Park Garden Journal

March Transitions: Pruning Tips and Habitat Protection at Ross Lake Park

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Ross Lake Park Garden Journal Entry

The garden in late March shows the stems and seed pods of last summer’s perennials. Dried leaves helped to protect plant roots during winter, returned nutrients to the soil and provided a home for moths and insects.

Last summer, we planted grasses on the opposite bank of the lake, seen in the distance.  These prevent erosion and are the are the beginnings of another garden requested by the neighbors.

After surveying the garden,  we decided it was time to prune summersweet clethra now, before new growth appears. These plants bloom only on new shoots. Pruning stimulates new growth.

Spent hydrangea blooms need to be removed. Cut back to the first new bud on the stem.

March is the time to prune shrubby dogwoods such as blood twig and red-osier. Remove some or all of the brown stems.  Young stems are bright red.

As we leave, we need to think about saving the brush removed from the butterfly garden, since  butterflies lay their eggs on and inside the hollow stems. Caterpillars will emerge if we pile the brush together in a separate part of the garden.