Setting free the trees in Merry Oaks

About 10 neighbors plus three workers with the Mecklenburg County Parks and Recreation Department showed up with loppers, clippers, gloves and rain jackets in the rain Saturday at the Briar Creek Greenway to liberate some trees from invasive vines.

Invasive plants were strangling some valuable trees of various ages and species at the Briar Creek Greenway between Arnold Drive and Masonic Drive. The Park and Recreation workers provided some tools and information about which trees were most worth saving, and they dove into thick woods to rescue some of the most valuable trees near a wetland area.

Volunteers chose specific trees or clusters to liberate. The trees were identified earlier, photographed by freelance photographer Nancy Pierce and shared with the neighborhood with a flyer about the project.

Entrance to the greenway from the Merry Oaks neighborhood is near 1950 Arnold Drive.