Hello Spring 2013

Indian Plum (Oemleria cerasiformis)

Has it really been almost a year since posting on here?  Time to get back in the groove.  Suddenly watching the flora and fauna come alive around here has inspired me to get my blogging act together.



Just as a brief reminder - I started this blog in April of 2009 when Adopt A Stream lead a project to restore a native growth buffer along the banks of Little Swamp Creek where it travels through our yard.  Students from the Leaf School at Edmonds Community College helped plant and mulch the buffer here in two phases and helped install large woody debris in a couple places along the stream bank.  This work took place between April 2009 and April 2010. Adopt A Stream and The Leaf School also completed an additional restoration project in our neighbor's yard where the stream continues behind our property.  The plants in our yard are doing fabulously, with only a few becoming victims to varying degrees of deer and beaver.



Back to what is happening now.  Indian plum is one of the first native plants that we see blooming along Little Swamp Creek, but it's not the only native plant currently blooming here.  Skunk Cabbage is also popping up like mad.  I hadn't smelled it yet, but I sure saw a lot of blossoms in the wetland behind our fence.

Skunk Cabbage (Lysichiton americanus)

Little Swamp Creek in Swamp Creek Wetland #3

Another view of Little Swamp Creek in Wetland #3

A few spots of bright pink Salmonberry blossoms suddenly appeared along the stream,

which prompted me to share the signs of spring showing up in the native plantings along our little stretch of Little Swamp Creek.

Wild rose (maybe Nootka but not sure)

Salmonberry (Rubus spectabilis)

Twinberry (Lonicera involucrata)

This chokeberry is one of the first plants that we planted next to the stream. That was back in 2000.  It is now sporting a beautiful collection of lichens. 

This little nettle start and mushroom were part of the plant community on and around a huge, old tree stump that was left behind after this area was logged years and years ago.  There are several old stumps like this in the woods around us.

Red-flowering Currant (Ribes sanguineum)

I didn't realize how readily the Red-flowering Currants will multiply by establishing a new plant with root growth off of a branch that remains in contact with the ground.  Here's an example in our yard -

I took a picture of this willow next to the stream on one day, and the next day it was chopped down by a beaver.  More on the beaver issue in a future blog post...

Streamside Planting Update

Here is a loooong overdue update of how the planting in the stream buffer behind our fence is doing.  Our friends at Adopt-A-Stream gave us some biodegradable surveying tape to mark the plants so they show up a little better in photos.  I marked everything I could find that is still alive, so here you go ---

Before - 11/2010

11/2011, a year after planting

These next three shots are basically a panorama, starting with looking south across the large area next to the stream and ending up looking west toward the stream, which you can't see, but it is on the other side of the group of trees in the middle of the third shot -

Here is a view of this same area but looking northeast, right after planting last year -

...and here it is now - 

The reed canary grass is obviously still here, and the plan for our neighbor to mow between the beds to keep it down didn't pan out, mostly because it is so sloppy wet in this area.  Eric went back there with a string trimmer periodically, and I pulled grass runners out of the beds this fall.

Here are shots of various planting beds.  Unfortunately the live stakes are loosing their leaves due to fall and a bunch of the willow leaves have been nibbled by deer, so it will be hard for you to tell how well they are doing.  Keep in mind that everything marked with orange tape is living - 

Here's an example of what these beds started out looking like a year ago -

Here are some of the live stakes that were poked in along the stream bank.  And a peak-a-boo shot of the stream -

This is looking toward the southern boundary of the planted area.  There are a lot of surviving live stakes here -

 Here is the view standing uphill and looking west.  I'm concerned about the blackberry vines from the neighboring property overwhelming this area -

Same area right after planting

Poor little Douglas Fir being surrounded by blackberries

These next three shots are of the part of the project that is the furthest away from the stream - 

Right after planting

The blackberries are definitely returning to this area, too, which is the only bummer I see back there behind the fence.  I know from the way the new plants have grown along the stream in our yard that this project is going to look incredible in another year or two.

And speaking of which, I have a bunch of pictures to share of how amazing the stream-side restoration in our yard looks now.  I will share those in a separate post.  Soon!  

An Amazing Planting Day, thanks to The LEAF School & Adopt-A-Stream!!

Today was the big day - Adopt-A-Stream and The LEAF School from Edmonds Community College came for the afternoon to plant and mulch the east side of the stretch of Little Swamp Creek that flows through our yard.  We are so thoroughly impressed with the wonderful students who spent their afternoon  here.  I did not think that the whole job would be done by the time they had to leave, but it sure was!  Thanks so much, guys!  

Here are some of our pictures, from the beginning of the process to end - 

The Adopt-A-Stream elves (thanks Loren, Sarah, Jennifer, CK, & John!) had placed all of the 100+ plants where they needed to be, so we started the afternoon with a lesson on how to properly plant the plants and then got down to it!  The plan was to plant the plants by digging their holes in the existing lawn/sod and covering all of the sod around the plants with a layer of coffee bags as a weed block and a putting a mulch of coarse wood chips on top of that.

This is looking toward the back of our lot, with the planting just about finished.  (The circles of sod removed for the planting holes were used to make a ring around the plants...)  Eric and I had marked the border of the planting/mulch area with wood stakes.

Just the other day Eric happened upon a man at the garbage/transfer station who was trying to get rid of literally a ton of unused, flat cardboard boxes that were in a storage unit that this man had recently purchased.  The transfer station wouldn't take all of this cardboard, but Eric took a BUNCH.  Luckily we ended up using almost all of them as a weed block under the mulch, because it ended up being a LOT of boxes to use up any other way.  The flat boxes looked like large puzzle pieces being laid out on the ground.

The cardboard box weed barrier.

The coffee bags (made out of coconut fiber) were laid out on top of the boxes.  I am glad that we had the box layer, because it makes me even more confident that the sod will get smothered!  This is again looking toward the back of our lot.

This is looking towards the street/front of our lot.  The coffee bag layer was going on top of the cardboard boxes.

Another view of the weed barrier in progress.  The trick, of course, was to make sure that the weed barrier (and mulch) didn't end up too close to the individual plants.

Here it is, the front half of the planting area,  DONE -

And the back half - 

And here is our amazing LEAF School planting crew along with the Adopt -A-Stream folks! 

Their instructor, Thomas Murphy, is in the middle, back row.  What a great group of people!  Thanks again to all of you!!

Tomorrow is Planting Day!

The idea of a blog to record the trials, tribulations and wonders of living with a suburban stream has been on my mind for quite a while, and now is the perfect time to FINALLY get the blog started.  Tomorrow students from The Leaf School at Edmonds Community College (see link on sidebar) are coming in the afternoon to plant native wetland plants and lay mulch along the eastern side of the portion of Little Swamp Creek that runs through our yard.  The amazing Adopt-a-Stream Foundation are who we must thank for the plants, the mulch, and the coordination of the much appreciated LABOR!!  

That is a great picture of all of the plants that are going to be planted tomorrow along the east side of the stream.

Here's a view looking north before the Adopt a Stream folks staged the plants where they need to go...

And after the plants were arranged....

(We marked out the edge of the planting/mulch area with stakes ahead of time.) 

Here's a view of the back half of the yard, looking north, with just the stakes marking the edge of the planting area - 

And the plants laid out in that same back area...

One of my goals for this blog is to record the evolution of this restored riparian zone along the creek.  So here's the starting point!  Later this year the plan is to re-grade (I don't think that's the proper term - more on that later) and plant the western side of the stream, which may be even more exciting to record and share.

One last picture.  

One of two loads of mulch being delivered today.  45 cubic yards all together.  Whew!