Pratt's Brook

Pratt's Brook Conservation Area encompasses 59 acres in South Acton around Pratt's Brook, which drains under the railroad tracks and River Rd. on it's way to Fort Pond Brook. There is a nice little mowed area with a picnic table (the "Senior Park" in the old map) next to the Brewster Lane parking area.

One obnoxious, yet native, plant that you will find in the area west of the Senior Park, and around the Yellow trail there is Common Greenbriar. It should be left alone unless it is growing near/into the trail or meadow.

Glossy Buckthorn

Buckthorn Removal 2015

Glossy Buckthorn is a problem in just about all parts of Pratt's Brook.

There has been some attempt to control it in various areas between 2014 and 2023, but all areas need lots of work removing this invasive before it becomes more entrenched.

Area A

When the developer built the senior housing on Audubon Hill (1991), they dumped all the tree stumps and large rocks in one area, piled some dirt on it, and created a "Senior Park" off the parking lot at the end of Brewster Ln. In the early 2000s, the parking lot was ringed with Autumn Olive and Asian Bittersweet. The southern edge of the Senior Park was an impassable tangle of Multiflora Rose, Bush Honeysuckle, and Bittersweet, with Buckthorn and Japanese Knotweed mixed in, overshadowed by two very tall (50+ ft) Tree of Heaven.

The parking lot was largely cleared of invasives in 2015/2016. Continuous revisiting is still needed as of 2023.

There was an American Elm tree planted in the Senior Park in the early 2000s. It suffered ice damage several years in a row and died in 2022. It lost half of its top in late 2023, but still has a standing trunk in Mar. 2024.

Removal of the invasive plants along the southern edge of the Senior Park started in 2015, in preparation for removing the Tree of Heaven (ToH). Smaller ToH saplings were pulled starting in 2018. The large trees themselves were felled in Jan. 2019. Once the overgrowth of the large trees disappeared, the huge number of seeds in the seed bank exploded in summer of 2019 (2 to 5 per sq. ft.) These were pulled in 2019 through 2021 and gradually got less dense.

Unfortunately 2022/2023 was skipped so there are a large number of larger ToH saplings and Asian Bittersweet growing which needed removing in 2024. A first pass was made early in the spring, girding many of the larger ToH saplings and pulling smaller ones. In late July 2024, another pass was made cutting larger ToH saplings and removing the new growth from girded ones. Girding is ineffective with Tree of Heaven as it quickly concentrates all it's growth to below the gird.

There is still a very large Autumn Olive tree in the southern edge (and several along the northern edge) which needs to be removed. It is being left to help shade the area until the ToH seed bank dies down. There is also a European Privet Hedge "tree" on the southern edge which needs removing.

There is a patch of Garlic Mustard along the southern edge (of course!) which has been worked for years. It still needs yearly checking and pulling as of 2024.

Warning: When the developer created the edges of Senior Park they used large rocky fill, with a shallow layer of dirt on top. Over the years, the dirt has washed down into the fill in places leaving numerous deep (5+ ft.) holes capable of swallowing a leg. This unstable nature extends to the edge of the mowed area (it is one reason why they don't mow farther over.) When working here, beware these holes, especially ones hidden by leaves and debris.

Area B

There is a Low Bush Blueberry Barren at Pratt's Brook, which in good years produces huge numbers of tasty treats around late June and early July. It is unclear how it started --- one story is that it was fire started by sparks from a railroad engine, but intentional cutting by settlers is more likely. It has been maintained by the Land Stewards as an open area for decades, but it is being slowly encroached due to no long term management plan/effort to clear saplings out from the edges.

The Glossy Buckthorn in this area has been targeted heavily, as the lack of overgrowth leads to rapid growth. There are also Oak saplings in the Barren due to the Oak trees in the area, which need regular chopping back.

The eastern edge of the Blueberry Barren has a nice glen of Pitch Pine, which isn't very common in Acton.

Area C

This is the area on the south and east borders of the small pond there. In the early 2000s, this was the home of a small beaver. The edges have become thickets of Glossy Buckthorn (and some MF Rose).

It was cleared a couple of times around 2015, but hasn't seen much clearing since.

Area D

This is the bank to the west of the driveway into the Brewster Lane parking lot.

The biggest problem is a small (but growing) patch of Japanese Knotweed. It has been whacked back repeatedly to keep it from spreading (and an older birdwatcher passing by one day confided that they sometimes used herbicide on it). It should be smothered sometime soon.

This area also has multiple large Autumn Olive growing on that bank which need removing.

This area was completely cleared in June 2024, and revisited in late July 2024.

Dump

There is an old dump area in the Pratt's Brook Conservation Area which is hazardous to work, due to lots of broken glass. It is downhill from the Yellow trail, along the bank and going into the marsh there. Dean Charter remembered hauling several junked cars out of there when Pratt's Brook was being started, and also that there was a dirt-bike race track there (one of the jumps is still there).