Education

FOPOS Summer 2023 Newsletter

FOPOS Summer 2023 Newsletter

Each year, Friends of Princeton Open Space (FOPOS) provides internships for young people actively pursuing a degree or career in ecology, natural resource management, environmental education, or related fields. FOPOS’s 2023 Land Steward Interns – Nick Cento, Tina Kulick, and Esteban Mendez – are college students and recent graduates from across the mid-Atlantic region. Working with Anna Corichi, FOPOS’s Director of Natural Resources and Stewardship, they are helping to restore our local forests and native habitats here at the Billy Johnson Mountain Lakes Nature Preserve. The interns have also led engaging nature walks and volunteer stewardship events for the public. Learn more about our intern program online: fopos.org/landsteward-intern.

Read on for more programming and event highlights…

Springing into Action with Friends of Princeton Open Space

Springing into Action with Friends of Princeton Open Space

We’re thrilled to have partnered with the Municipality, the Watershed Institute, the Ridgeview Conservancy, Mercer County, the State’s Green Acres Program and the New Jersey Conservation Foundation to preserve a 153-acre mature forest in the northwest corner of town.

Spring Has Sprung with Friends of Princeton Open Space

Spring Has Sprung with Friends of Princeton Open Space

In 2020 volunteers helped to plant nearly 3,000 native trees and shrubs within the 18-acre Forest Restoration Project site located at the Billy Johnson Mountain Lakes Nature Preserve.

Springtime with Friends of Princeton Open Space

Springtime with Friends of Princeton Open Space

In this difficult time, it’s been wonderful to see how many people have found a place for outdoor activity and mental solace at the Mountain Lakes recreation area.

Leave the Leaves! A Message from Sustainable Princeton

Fall Foliage Lake.jpg

Reprint from Sustainable Princeton

What’s more beautiful than the fall colors that adorn Princeton each autumn? Leaving those leaves where they can do some good. Consider them an asset to the soil and plants. The Princeton Environmental Commission (PEC) recommends 6 things you can do to take advantage of leaves:  

  • The simplest thing to do is to rake or blow leaves into your woodlot, if available, or in an obscured portion of your yard such as behind shrubs.

  • Mulch leaves with a mower so they can disappear back into the lawn. The fragmented leaves can also be raked onto flower beds as a mulch—a technique particularly appropriate for owners of small lots. Some leaves, like those of silver maples, crinkle-up and all but disappear into the lawn on their own, even before mowing. For thick, persistent leaves like those from a red oak, a corral or the mulch mower approach will keep them from blowing back into the yard. Though a mower with a mulching blade would be optimal, all power mowers should do an adequate job.

  • Spread leaves on garden and leave them there to hold in moisture, suppress weeds, keep the soil cool in the summer, and slowly release nutrients. Planting tomatoes, for instance, requires nothing more than parting the leaves to put the new plants in. The leaf mulch reduces rotting of any tomatoes that touch the ground.

  • Create a leaf corral. A corral or circle of wire fencing will help contain the leaves and keep them from blowing around. A readily available fencing is 3 feet high, green, and comes in rolls at the local hardware store. The corral is essentially invisible when tucked in a back corner of the lot. A U-shape may be preferred so that leaves can be raked right into the enclosure rather than lifted over the fencing. The leaf pile quickly reduces in size over the winter. The leaves can be left to decompose, acting like a sponge to catch the rain, and releasing nutrients to benefit the health of all trees and other landscaping in the vicinity. Contrary to popular notions of composting, it is not necessary to laboriously turn the pile. Leaf piles do not create odors.

  • Use leaves to control weeds by raking them towards the fence line where they can serve as a mulch to keep down weeds that often dominate there. Dump leaves on any other weeds or groundcovers that are getting out of control. A thick layer of leaves discourages weeds. For weeds or groundcovers strong enough to push up through the leaves, first place overlapping pieces of cardboard on the undesired plants, then use the leaves over top to hide the cardboard. Both will decompose over time.

  • If the leaves must leave the property, bag them.

Taking these steps will reduce flooding, water and noise pollution, energy consumption, and municipal costs to pick up and transport the leaves.

Here is information from the Municipality of Princeton’s brush, leaf and log collection, including Princeton Environmental Commission’s guide to composting and mulching leaves.

For information about Sustainable Princeton, please visit sustainableprinceton.org.