Springtime means a lot of things at the Pittsburgh Parks Conservancy.
It means that after lots of hard work and help from our sponsors and our friends at the City, we recently held the tenth anniversary celebration of the Spring Hat Luncheon in Frick Park. Once again the Hat Luncheon raised hundreds of thousands of dollars that will find their way into the parks through projects such as the re-visioning and rebuilding of the Environmental Center at Frick Park.
More photos are here; you’re already thinking about what kind of hat you’d look good in next year, right?
It’s also the season for rides on the PNC Carousel. The animals have had their annual day of free-range roaming around Schenley Plaza and are polished and ready to work. Pitt the Panther, in particular, could barely contain his enthusiasm.
But while a spin on the PNC Carousel is a good way to ring in spring, there’s also a lot of work to be done in the parks. One of the Parks Conservancy’s top priorities this and every spring is removing this familiar plant:
Garlic mustard is one of the most insidious invasive plants in our parks. Look almost anywhere in the woodlands and you’re likely to see a patch of garlic mustard, which outcompetes native plants because of its lack of local predators and because of chemicals it releases into the soil through allelopathy. Luckily, springtime also means lots of volunteers helping to pull this plant before it has the chance to go to seed.
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All that in addition to tree planting, planning for a summer of programming at Schenley Plaza, and progress on our other ongoing projects, and it’s another busy season at the Pittsburgh Parks Conservancy. So we decided we’d like to share everything we have going on. This blog will allow us to keep in better touch with all those who love our city’s parks (or are just interested in parks in general!). We hope to be able to take you through our ongoing projects as they happen and let you know how you can be a part of them.
We hope you’ll visit often!
What a sustainable organization! There are even free range carousel animals! Munching on that Emerald Lawn and native Coral Bell ground cover must keep them nice and healthy for a summer of carrying around the kiddies!