Live Stakes

Saturday I returned to a project area I talked about last Spring.  We had spent a fine Spring morning burlapping to supress Reed Canary grass.

Now is the time to get native plants placed in this area.  Fast growing plants to fill in this open side channel will help to further choke down the Reed Canary grass.  The cold, crisp weather continues and I ventured a look at the Mesonet weather report for the area.  Seventeen degrees Fahrenheit with no wind (thank goodness).  This is a terrific site and for planning a day out it cannot be beat.  Temperature Wind High/Low rainfall all in one handy place.

http://www.wrh.noaa.gov/mesowest/

Didn't need the Mesonet to tell me what my car window could.  Armed with a nice cup of coffee in my thermos mug I drove down to Yelm, enjoying a lovely clear blue sunrise.  I was early, as usual and wandered around the meeting area.

You know it is DARN cold out when a glacier fed river is warmer than the surrounding area and sending up wisps of warmer vapors.

The ground is covered in Big-leaf Maple leaves and samaras.

This one is a science experiment in the making as the seed is down in a hole in this post.  The surrounding moss guarantees that it will stay insulated and moist.  I wonder if it will sprout?

Today's group included 20 gentlemen from McChord AFB.  Young troops and their leaders, these helpers from the base are always eager to work and work hard.  One was from El Paso Texas and had never experienced woodlands like we have here.

The backwater area still has burlap in place and the grasses were tamed down.  The beavers who contributed to some of this side-channels construction appear to have moved out of the area in the last season.  They left behind an empoundment deeper in the woods that made out usual woodland trail no longer available.  We hiked about 1/2 mile along a service road to access the property area.

Today we are driving live stakes of three native Salix willow species; Pacific Sitka and Scoulers. These stakes were cut from growing plants.  The beveled end is plunged into the ground half the length of the stick, which was about 2 feet long.  Nodes that make contact with the moist soil will sprout roots, above ground the nodes will send out branches.

The ground is soft here and there are hardly any stones.  A drive bar starts a hole and you simply plunge it in.  A few good whacks with the mallet and the live stake is planted.  Charlie and I placed the stakes on the steep portions of the creek bank.

Charlies neoprene hip-waders made this pretty comfortable duty.

Others working in teams of 4 or 5 placed the willows along the top of meandering bank.  There are hidden pitfalls in this area thanks to the handy work of the beavers and the coverage of the Reed Canary grass.  Occasional jeering and hoots were heard from the troops when someone came afoul of a slippery place.  Happy to say there was only one soggy leg and I believe it was that of an officer which no doubt delighted the younger airmen.

The live stakes were driven then protected with the usual tubes and wooden stakes.  This keeps rodents from chewing and enjoying.  A further application of latex paint mixed with sand followed. This can be a good beaver deterrent.

It took about 2 hours to plant over 450 stakes.  What a treat to have such a good turn out of help on such a cold day.  No one really felt the cold, the sun and activity once again made this a pleasure.

Added bonus is that it is a pretty peaceful place.  It is going to be fun to watch this area quickly transform into a more complete habitat.  Willows grow fast and they are wonderful habitat for many of our native songbirds like warblers and flycatchers.  We will be returning in a few months to place transition plants like Salmonberry and roses as well as some tree species.

Within a few years this place is going to be totally transformed.

Back in my car, the thermos mug did its job and my morning coffee is still warm.  Isn't technology grand.

More Burlaping

Last weekend I spent a morning with the Nisqually Land Trust placing burlap on a riverside property in Yelm.  This long, thin property has a home on it and staff members of the Land Trust have lived here over the years.  In its former life it was a riding stable.  Most of the evidence of that past life has gone.  There is one clearing where the old sand arena has given over to soil and supports a healthy growth of young Cottonwood and cedar.

Today we hiked in about 15 minutes and fanned out, placing burlap over the invasive Reed Canary Grass.  After letting this grassy area die back a bit, native trees and shrubs will be placed.

This area was a bit tricky.  It is near the river and there are a few small water paths cutting through it.  In the thick grass it is a little challenging to see.  Also buried under the grass are many small fallen trees.  Some I assume are wind-tossed but I would not be surprised to find that some local residents did some of the cutting.

Beavers, this property has beavers.  They love hardwood; alder, maple and the like.  They will not eat conifer.  This does not stop them from damaging the trees however.  They will methodically girdle the conifers in order to kill the trees and increase the sunlight, boosting the growth of favorable trees.  The Land Trust has tried to protect as many of the conifers along the property as they could, but resources are limited.

These roots and trunk have been girdled.  Some smaller, recently planted trees at the front of the property have had their trunks painted with a pasty mixture containing sand.  This makes a sandpaper like coating and the Beavers avoid it.  For this old tree, it is too late.

The work was easy and fairly pleasant.  There was a lot of dragging sacks from the stockpile out to the patch being worked on and back and forth again.  Throw them down and piece the edges together like a huge quilt.  Hands and knees crawling about type work.  At one point I simply took a break and lay down and checked out the clouds.  Pretty comfy.

We had a ton of singing woodland birds.  Spring is clearly in the air.  I heard many mating songs and chases.  Brown Creepers wound up and down tree trunks in courtship and territory display.

Highlight for a few of us was a visit from a little charmer.  He was in the grass and hopped onto the burlap we were in the process of placing.  I cannot believe I was able to roll over grab my camera and sneak back for this terrific shot

A teeny , tiny Tree Frog, Hyla regilla.  He is not much longer than 2 1/2 inches nose to bottom.  He posed quite nicely for us.  Chris, the volunteer coordinator observed that the bug life under the burlap gets quite robust and these frogs make a good living.

Three hours passes quickly.  I can feel it in my hands they are simply not as healthy as they use to be.

The walk to and from the work sight was time to enjoy the first hints of Spring.

Early Blue Violet ; Viola adunca

Salmonberry ; Rubus spectabilis bringer of Rufus Hummingbirds.

Impossibly tiny puffballs.  I didn't know what they were, for sure and after getting the pictures ventured to touch one.  They dent slightly and did not puff any spores.

The prize of prizes

We spotted two Trillium ; Trillium oviatum .  I don't remember ever seeing one this early!

The rains continue and the river runs high.  Right now it is hailing, crazy start to Spring

Ah well.  Sit back, stay warm and have another cup of coffee.