Tree-protection fencing is in place at Southern Community Park. Work on the park is scheduled to begin Monday, July 9. Photo by Kirk Ross
Bright orange tree-protection fences have been strung throughout the 72-acre site of Southern Community Park near U.S. 15-501 and Dogwood Acres Drive — an indication that clearing and grading for the park is ready to begin.
But that work is on hold as per the town’s agreement to allow for a plant rescue in the areas to be cleared. Those interested have until Monday, July 9, when grading work is set to begin.
Bill Webster, Chapel Hill’s assistant director of Parks and Recreation, said he expects the coming weekend to bring a number of rescuers to the site. The town asks that people coming for the plant rescue use either the main entrance near the Southern Village Park and Ride lot or the main entrance off Dogwood Acres Drive. Plants should not be taken from outside of the areas intended to be cleared, Webster said.
If you’re interested in digging up a plant in the bulldozer’s path, it’s important to keep in mind that larger trees and shrubs won’t likely survive transplanting and it’s recommended that smaller plants no taller than a foot be taken.
A wide variety of ferns, mainly Christmas ferns and ebony spleenwort, along with maple-leaf viburnum and sassafras and dogwood seedlings and the occasional orchids are on the site, as is a good deal of poison ivy, so rescuers are advised to be well protected before they go beating the bushes for shrubs.
—From Staff Reports