Silvoor Stories: Risks and rewards

Ecosystem restoration is not glamorous.

Social media feeds and garden magazines reel us in with gorgeous blooms and pollinator prairies buzzing with life. But what they often don’t show are the risks and mishaps of outdoor work. With careful preparation, many injuries can be avoided. Slather on a thick layer of sunscreen and don a wide-brimmed hat to prevent sunburn. Wear long sleeves and tuck your pants into your socks to block ticks from attaching to your skin.

Long sleeves and pants can also reduce your chance of contact with poison ivy. Some people claim to be immune to the plant’s irritating urushiol oil, like a “husky wheelbarrow operator” named Bruce who assisted stonework construction in Silvoor Biological Sanctuary in the early 1930s. According to Dr. Robert Hefner’s notes, when Bruce was alerted to a patch of poison ivy near his work area, he grabbed a handful and rubbed it all over his own face. Apparently, Bruce did not break out into a miserably itchy rash, and Hefner noted that he “used this gift to good advantage later in construction.”  

I wish my students and I shared Bruce’s luck. We remain on high alert for poison ivy, stinging nettle, thorny multiflora rose and other vegetative hazards as we work about 50 yards south of the area where Bruce and Hefner toiled nearly a century ago. With the help of Miami University’s natural areas field manager, committee chair and the Institute for the Environment & Sustainability, EnviroCorps members Areej Mirza and Evan Usher have pulled and treated invasive ground ivies, installed deer fencing and planted over a dozen species of native spring ephemeral wildflowers in test plots across the northern side of the sanctuary. 

Evan and Areej also installed a bench and planted sun-tolerant perennial flowers and woody shrub species at the end of the trail where Silvoor’s annual wildflower walks conclude each spring. Now, hikers have another spot to rest where they can enjoy the deep red blooms of Cardinal flowers, salmon-colored Wild columbine, Butterfly weed as orange as monarch butterfly wings and the sunny yellow petals of Brown-eyed Susans.  

Native woody shrub plantings include two varieties of Buttonbush and a Serviceberry tree. Buttonbush are commonly recommended to replace non-native invasive Amur honeysuckle as their height and spread provide ample privacy for property owners while also providing shelter and food sources for birds, butterflies and bees. Serviceberry trees provide similar benefits, and this particular tree will be a special addition to Silvoor. 

Long-time residents of Oxford will remember John Blocher, Silvoor’s first curator following Hefner’s establishment of the sanctuary. John cared for Silvoor for 25 years. He raised his family there and, in honor of his late wife Phyllis, John planted a serviceberry tree at a gentle bend in the trail just past a small meandering stream.    

A few years passed, and the serviceberry languished. I don’t know why, exactly. Local conservationist Donna McCollum suggested a tree that might like “wet feet” since the ground was slow to drain. We planted a native Swamp White Oak, and it is thriving. But John chose a serviceberry, so it seems fitting that we restore this tree to the sanctuary near the house where the Blochers lived, just behind a bench where it will shade those who come to rest there. 

Ecosystem restoration is not glamorous, and it sometimes involves some mishaps, but it certainly is meaningful and rewarding work.

Amanda Bentley Brymer is Assistant Director of the Institute for the Environment & Sustainability at Miami University, where she also serves as Curator for Silvoor Biological Sanctuary, part of Miami University’s Natural Areas.