MacDermid Alpha Employees Help out Birchbank

MacDermid Alpha employees at Birchbank

Employees from MacDermid Alpha Electronic Solutions took an Earth Day break from their normal routine to lend a hand at Birchbank Mountain. They pulled thousands of invasive Garlic Mustard plants, removed a dilapidated deer exclosure, and rebuilt a bridge approach that washed out in the big 2024 storm.

Rolling up the old deer exclosure fencing

The deer exclosure had done its job of demonstrating the impact of deer browsing, and some of the trees holding up  the fencing had fallen, so it was time to go. The hardest part about removing it was probably rolling up the fencing and dealing with all the wire.

What not to step on...Trillium and Dutchman's Breeches

But the main item on the agenda was pulling Garlic Mustard. Left unchecked, this invasive plant crowds out native plants and even emits a chemical that inhibits those natives. It also intrudes into our trails. The natives here include an assemblage of uncommon species for southwest Connecticut, including Dutchman's Breeches, Trillium, Cutleaf Toothwort, and others.  The tricky part was not to step on those plants while pulling the Garlic Mustard.

Garlic Mustard last year along the
Paugussett Trail at Indian Well

The only long-term way to control Garlic Mustard is to pull it out every spring before it can go to seed, and to do that every single year for about ten years. Eventually the seed bank is depleted. This has already occurred in the areas that were first addressed several years ago on the hillside near the parking lot. There was very little Garlic Mustard in that area this year. 

Pulling up the young Garlic Mustard was tedious work

Lunch along the cascades of Upper White Hills Brook

After a cold, damp morning pulling invasives, the crew took a lunch break along the cascades of Upper White Hills Brook. Some were then game to hike up to the Housatonic Overlook. 

Some of the crew hiked up to the overlook after eating

Another task that was completed was repairing the washout to the approach for a Scout bridge. The washout happen in 2024 during the big floods centered around Oxford. The north tip of Shelton receive between 10 and 14 inches of rain. At Birchbank, the trail bridges survived, but the brook jumped its bank and scoured the area around the bridge. Someone had stacked some stones to help out, but the rocks jiggled when you stepped on them. The approach was built back up with rocks, sand, and gravel and is much easier to walk on now. 

Washout repaired

 

Mayapple transplanted this year from Eklund Garden

After the work party, I headed back to the bridge to check out the work they had done. It was so nice to walk down the trail past the hillside now freed from Garlic Mustard and I was happy that the old deer exclosure was gone. A lot got done on Earth Day 2026! Many thanks to everyone who helped out from MacDermid Alpha!