Bright Leaf Invasives Removal

Nandina's red-hued leaves
Photo by me

Last Saturday, February 25, I helped to remove invasive plants from Bright Leaf Preserve in Northwest Austin with LBJ Cares, a club from LBJ High School that organizes volunteering opportunities.

In the morning, the weather was pleasant, making the work enjoyable in addition to the fulfillment of caring for the environment.

The two invasive plants we primarily focused on were Nandina and Ligustrum.  Nandina, also known as Heavenly Bamboo, is recognizable by its red-tinted leaves and bright red berries.  Due to the recent rains, there were many small Nandina trees that needed to be cut down.  The Ligustrum, or Japanese Privet trees were still small, with trunks about two inches in diameter, but already very tall, probably 10 to 12 feet in height.  These were marked by pink ribbons so that we would not remove any native trees, and I cut down two Japanese privets while I was at Bright Leaf.

Bright red Nandina berries
Photo by me

Bright Leaf is a small, beautiful, privately owned preserve that hosts guided tours and works to protect native endangered species.  I thoroughly enjoyed my time there and I hope that you will consider visiting.  I also look forward to helping to remove invasive species at other locations.

Enjoy the cool weather while you can to plant your gardens and remove any invasives that are present.

-Frankie