Volunteers Keep Wilde Lake Beautiful and Sustainable
Drivers in Wilde Lake may notice green ivy covering many of the trees lining Governor Warfield Parkway. While it may look harmless at first glance, the plant — English Ivy — is actually damaging the trees.The invasive English Ivy vines “quickly spread along the ground and vertically up walls, trees, and cliffs—sometimes as high as 90 feet,” according to Potomac Conservancy.Bess Caplan, chair of Wilde Lake CARES (Community Action and Resources for Environmental Stewardship), said the vine eventually “chokes out” the trees. English Ivy can also survive through colder temperatures.
“The ivy will prevent leaves from sprouting in spring, which is how trees get their nutrients (through their leaves). It will also weigh down limbs, so trees that are covered in English Ivy tend to lose limbs,” said Caplan. “Eventually, the tree will die because it’s lost its limbs. It doesn’t have enough leaves that are producing energy food for the tree through photosynthesis.”
Caplan said the lack of natural consumers of English Ivy is one of the biggest issues, allowing the vine to grow out of control.
Wilde Lake CARES, a local grassroots environmental group, is working to address the ivy throughout the neighborhood. The group is 100 percent volunteer-based, focusing on environmental issues and sustainability within the village boundaries. Columbia has CARES environmental groups in a number of villages, including Harper’s Choice CARES, Long Reach CARES, Owen Brown CARES and Kings Contrivance (KC) CARES.
Weed Warriors, a program run by Columbia Association (CA), works in tandem with Wilde Lake CARES members to address environmental tasks. When volunteers become certified as weed warriors, they are allowed to do environmental work in CA open space, including removing invasive species such as the English Ivy.“The program gives us the training, the certification and the permissions to go and do work in open space in our village,” said Caplan.
Wilde Lake CARES works in partnership with CA, particularly when it comes to planning larger events in open space. “They provide us with tools, trash bags, other necessary equipment, safety vests, gloves,” she said.
CA offers Weed Warrior training throughout the year. Anyone interested can email OpenSpace.ResourceRequests@ColumbiaAssociation.org for scheduling details.
“That’s what makes Weed Warriors through CA so great — they make it easy to get the training and then easy to go in and do the work that we really want to do in those parcels,” said Caplan.
She remembers her training including a classroom day and a field day. “We went out to a site and actually practiced how to remove certain invasive species,” she said. “The classroom day was learning technique, identification and safety.”
As for the English Ivy, if left unattended, there’s potential it could turn into a safety issue.
“I drive [Governor Warfield] Parkway every day – there’s this one limb where I’m like, ‘Oh, let me drive past it really fast because it is covered in ivy and it will probably fall at some point,’” said Caplan. “It’s definitely a reason for the snapping off of trees.”
Volunteers can also get involved with Adopt-A-Spot at one of several locations in Wilde Lake. Adopt-A-Spot projects must have a trained Weed Warrior to lead volunteer projects.
“The Adopt-A-Spot program also provides Weed Warriors with the opportunity to work with CA staff and select new spots to begin the process of removing unwanted non-native invasive plants and replacing them with more desirable native plants,” according to the Columbia Association website.
Beyond organized volunteer opportunities, Caplan encourages residents to learn more about the environment in their own backyards.
“It’s really important for people to take a look in their own yards and see if they have English Ivy growing, because we can’t go onto private property and do anything,” she said. “We really want to empower homeowners and property owners to take a look at their spaces and, if they have ivy or other invasive species growing, to remove them. Because if they don’t, then eventually their trees are going to be killed. And we’ve noticed that when people lose trees in our community, they don’t replace them.”
When trees are taken down and not replaced, the thinning tree canopy can result in higher electricity bills, decreased shade, declining wildlife habitat and problems with stormwater runoff.
“Communities are becoming hotter and trees are our biggest defense,” said Caplan.
Families are welcome to volunteer together on Wilde Lake CARES projects, as long as a trained project leader is present and there are no relevant safety concerns on the particular project.
“I like to say if everything we do is family friendly, there’s always a job for any age, even if it’s just watering the tree after we plant it or filling in the dirt after we dig a hole,” said Caplan.
New volunteers are provided with instruction including information on plants to watch out for and tips for Poison ivy identification.
“I really want to commend Columbia Association and their open space team for having the vision and the foresight to bring community members into this partnership where everybody benefits,” said Caplan.
Wilde Lake CARES plans to celebrate their 10 year anniversary in summer 2025. In the meantime, area residents can enjoy a host of spring events and involvement opportunities.
Wilde Lake CARES Spring 2025 events
- April 5 — Columbia Cleans Day. Participants will meet at the Running Brook neighborhood center at 9 a.m. Trash bags, gloves and trash pickers provided. Family friendly.
- April 19 — Bryant Woods ES Clean Up. Join the Bryant Woods Elementary P.T.A to help them clean up the schoolyard and surrounding community at 10 a.m., Bryant Woods Elementary School.
- April 26 — Plant Exchange. Join the 8th annual Wilde Lake plant exchange outside Slayton House at 12 p.m. Donations to the Plant Exchange must be dropped off by 11:30 a.m.
- April 27 — Adopt-A-Spot. Meet at the bottom of Snowy Reach, off of W. Running Brook Rd., at 9 a.m.
- May 4 — Adopt-A-Spot. Meet at the Rouse Rock in Wilde Lake Park, 9 a.m. Park in the mian lot at Wilde Lake Park.
- May 11 — Adopt-A-Spot. Meet at Faulkner Ridge Circle near 10738, 9 a.m.
- May 18 — Adopt-A-Spot. Meet on Wilde Lake Terrace near 10297, 9 a.m.adopt a spot. Meet on wilde lake terrace near 10297 at 9am. and take the pathway to the left.
This article was written by freelance reporter Sarah Sabatke.