Reed Park restoration fact sheet

Tarrytown Park restoration fact sheet

For more information, please contact

Mateo Scoggins
Environmental Scientist
Ph:(512)974-1917
Note – Effective August 15 , 2011 my email address will change to mateo.scoggins@austintexas.gov

Who: Home Depot and Scott Johnson

What: The Central Texas Electric Lawnmower Program

When: Saturday, April 7th from 8:30am-2pm

Where: Only at the Mueller Home Depot at 1200  Barbara Jordan at 51st St. (Next to Best Buy)

Why: To help folks save money when they upgrade their polluting gas-powered mower for an exhaust-free electric model. Also, to help reduce ozone-forming emissions, CO2 emissions (that are changing our climate)and to eliminate the spillage of gas/oil from gas-powered lawnmowers.

Trade in your gas-powered mower and save up to 25% off the cost of a new Homelite corded electric mower.

Quantities are limited and are based on a first-come, first-serve basis.

To reserve an electric lawnmower please call Scott Johnson at

(512) 389-2250 (O) by Friday April 6th at  3pm.

By: Wizzie Brown

Butterfly gardening can be a wonderful way to invite nature into your backyard.  With a little knowledge on local butterflies and the correct plants, you can create a garden that allows you to watch butterflies in various life stages.  Adult butterflies feed on nectar, gathering it from flowers.  Larvae, or caterpillars, feed on plant foliage, so if you do not like to have your plants eaten by insects, butterfly gardening may not be for you.

Some larvae feed only on particular plants.  The following is a list to help you with your plant selection:

Butterfly                                                          Plant

Monarch butterfly                                           milkweed, butterfly weed

Queen butterfly                                               milkweed

Viceroy                                                            cottonwood, poplar, willow

Black swallowtail                                             parsley, dill, fennel

Spicebush swallowtail                                     spicebush, sweet bay, sassafras

Pipevine swallowtail                                        Dutchman’s pipevine

Giant swallowtail                                             citrus, Hercules club

Brazilian skipper                                              canna

Brush-footed butterflies                                  nettles, thistles

Hairstreak butterflies                                       pecans, walnuts

Gulf fritillary                                                    passionflower vines

Giant purple hairstreak                                   mistletoe

Gray hairstreak                                               legumes

Question mark                                                            hackberry, elm

Texas crescent                                               shrimp plant, dicliptera, ruellia

Painted lady                                                    hollyhock, thistles

Buckeye                                                          plantain, snapdragon

Adult butterflies need a source of nectar in the garden.  The following is a list of plants they might like:

Plant name                                                      Flower color

Asters                                                              lavender, pink, purple, white

Blazing star                                                     lavender

Butterfly bush                                                  lavender, purple, white

Butterfly weed                                                 orange, yellow

Cone flower                                                    fuchsia

Flame bush                                                     red-orange

Goldenrod                                                       yellow

Ironweed                                                         pink, purple

Lantana                                                           combinations, lavender, orange, pink, white, yellow

Loosestrife                                                      lavender

Mexican heather                                             lavender

Mexican milkweed                                          red-orange, yellow

Mexican mint marigold                                   yellow-orange

Mist flower                                                      blue, white

Phlox                                                               pink, purple, red, white

Salvia                                                              blue, lavender, pink, red

Verbena                                                          blue, lavender, pink, purple, red, white

Zinnia                                                              orange, pink, red, white, yellow

For more information or help with identification, contact Wizzie Brown, Texas AgriLife Extension Service Program Specialist at 512.854.9600.  Check out my blog at www.urban-ipm.blogspot.com

The information given herein is for educational purposes only.  Reference to commercial products or trade names is made with the understanding

that no discrimination is intended and no endorsement by Texas AgriLife Extension Service or the Texas AgriLife Research is implied.

Extension programs serve people of all ages regardless of socioeconomic level, race, color, sex, religion, disability, or national origin.

http://www.austinparks.org/itsmypark.html

Due to recent rains & great planting conditions, the Austin Parks & Recreation Department has changed the date for the “Ready, Set, Plant” event at Red Bud Isle.

The event has been moved up to Saturday, December 17th, from 9 am – Noon.
If you are already signed up you don’t need to do anything.

To sign-up to participate, click the link below:

http://connect.austinparks.org/site/GetTogether?cal_event_id=105570&gettogether=event_main&page=event_main&cal_invitee_id=&cal_activity_id=1080
Ready Set Plant RedBudIsleProposed

T-Shirt Fundraiser Flyer

From the TxDOT MoPac1 website (http://www.dot.state.tx.us/project_information/projects/austin/mopac1/):

Crews will work Monday through Thursday nights the week of June 20, and Sunday through Thursday nights thereafter.  TxDOT says the night work, which will be done between 9:00 PM and 5:00 AM, is necessary to avoid interfering with heavier daytime traffic on Loop 1.  The $3.5-million project is scheduled to be completed in late September.  Motorists are reminded that work zone traffic fines are doubled when crews are present.

Early July Update:  Some good progress was made this week , but the rain has slowed things down.   TxDOT is still working on the concrete removal on the northbound lanes and needs a few more nights to finish.  The plan at this time is to start hot mix operations next week on the southbound side.  This work should take most of July to complete and then we will work on the northbound side.

Here are a few helpful tips to protect your property:

Before Freezing Weather

 •       Wrap all exposed pipes located outside or in unheated areas of the home.

•       Remove garden hoses from outside faucets. Insulate outside faucets with Styrofoam cover, rags or paper.

•       Make sure that your property owner’s water cut-off valve is accessible and operational.

In Sub-Freezing Weather

•       Drip outside faucets 24 hours a day (roughly 5 drops per minute; faster if a hard freeze is expected).

•       Open cabinet doors under sinks adjacent to outside walls.

•       In unheated garages, shut water off to washing machines. Turn off both the hot and cold water lines and disconnect them from the back of the washer. Place both lines in the drain pipe behind the washer and drip the faucets.

•       In sustained sub-freezing weather, let water drip slowly from inside faucets (steady drip).

•       Take extra precautions to protect pipes that have frozen in the past.

•       Businesses and homes that operate landscape sprinkler systems are urged to shut their systems off to prevent run-off water from freezing on sidewalks and road surfaces.

If You Are Not Going To Be At Home

•       Cut water off at the property owner’s cut-off valve.

•       Drain all outside water faucets if your house will be unoccupied for several days (leave outside faucets open and return water flow to then gradually when you return home).

•       Or, leave home heating system on at a low setting.

•       Open cabinet doors under sinks adjacent to outside walls.

•       Renters and tenants may be responsible for personal property damage caused by broken water pipes during severe weather conditions.

Residents should contact property management, landlord or maintenance personnel to locate the property owner’s cut-off valve and find ways to avoid pipe breakage during a freeze.

The City of Austin submitted a drawdown request to the Lower Colorado River Authority (LCRA) in October, hoping that fall rains would increase water storage in lakes Travis and Buchanan and allow for an effective drawdown. However, as of Nov. 30, the combined water stored in the two lakes is around 1.1 million acre-feet — about 55 percent of their capacity.

Over the past decade, the lake has been lowered several times to control the aggressive non-native aquatic plant hydrilla. The last time the lake was lowered was in January 2008. The introduction of sterile grass carp into the lake by the City of Austin has had a major impact on controlling this weed. However, the carp have been less effective against other aquatic vegetation such as Eurasian watermilfoil.

“The lack of a drawdown is not the best case scenario for either property owners or lake users, but unfortunately, the persistent drought conditions are determining the situation,” said Mary Gilroy, Environmental Scientist with the City’s Watershed Protection Department. “While a drawdown would help minimize the impacts from the nuisance aquatic vegetation in shallow water, it would not have much effect on the aggressive hydrilla, which grows in much deeper water.”

“Reduced environmental flow requirements as a result of low lake levels and reduced winter water releases would not be enough to effectively draw down Lake Austin,” said Mark Jordan, Manager of LCRA River Management Services. “Even a very limited drawdown would not be effective for either vegetation control or dock maintenance and repair.”

The City of Austin continues to work with its partners (the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, LCRA, and citizens’ group Friends of Lake Austin) to combat the invasive hydrilla, which showed resurgence to more than 320 acres this fall. Because sterile grass carp proved successful in reducing the aquatic weed in the past, the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department granted approval to stock an additional 4,400 fish. In mid-November, 2,200 fish were stocked, with the remaining fish scheduled to go into the lake later this year.

Contact: Krista Umscheid, LCRA, (512) 473-3365; Lynne Lightsey, City of Austin Watershed Protection Department, (512) 974-3538