A Check On the Seedlings

A quick check while I was working along the far west fence line took me to where we had planted seedlings along the riparian zone of the river. Dogwood, large leaf maple and fir were planted in an area that has been flooded on occasion as the river overflows the banks. The very large alder, cedar and maple trees that are already there are nearing the end of their lifespan and the seedlings are planted to be the next generation that will continue to support the stream bank from erosion and provide cooling shade for the water.

The seedlings were appropriated fairly late in the season and we spent the Easter weekend trying to get the bare root trees into the ground before they dried out. The weather turned very warm just days after planting.

The understory and groundcover brush under the big trees made finding the seedlings a challenge. Some of the  ferns, sudan grass, and buck brush have grown to 5 feet or more. It was like walking through a jungle to look for the seedlings. From the plantings that I could find, I was sad to see that many of the trees did not survive the transplant and weather change.

Since the planting schedule will be an ongoing project for many years, we will only miss out on one year growing season with the failure of this planting.

The fir and cedar that we had planted along the small creek seem to be fairing much better than the bare root trees, only one tree looks like it will not make it.