Native Trees Planted in Two Preserves along Valley Creek
One of OLC’s especially valuable partnerships is its association with Center for Families, a Malvern-based organization that provides teens with the guidance, support, and education they need to live a successful life. Teams from Center for Families in 2018 helped build the trail that connects Cedar Hollow Preserve to the Atwater residential development and in 2019 planted the first trees in the restoration area at the foot of the entrance trail to Cool Valley Preserve.
This year, in recognition of Earth Day 2021, the partnership stepped up its game! Both partners joined to secure funding to acquire 30 three-to-four foot tall native trees plus the fencing needed to protect them from deer and - our new threat! - beaver. Cedar Hollow and Valley Creek Preserve Managers Tim Magee and Ray Clarke picked out open areas in their Preserves along Valley Creek in need of addition riparian buffer protection. We selected a mix of native trees especially suited for wetland environments: river birch, smooth alder, silky dogwood and red maple.
Our friends at Trout Unlimited loaned their shovels and Tim and Ray had the plants and fences ready to go when the two Center for Families teams arrived at their Preserves on the beautiful Spring afternoon of April 23rd. There was plenty of work to be done in addition to the planting, though: plants and fences had to be carried to their planting spots, navigating around the pestilent stinging nettles that are just beginning to emerge (unfortunately before the natural antidote, jewelweed, makes its appearance! (Top Tip: Jewelweed is good for poison ivy, too!)).
The photos above show the team arriving at Valley Creek Preserve, careful planting of a smooth alder, the finished sites at both Preserves and Cedar Hollow Preserve Manager Tim Magee alongside a silky dogwood. The last photo shows that even though Center for Families team worked hard throughout - hauling, digging, planting, hammering and watering - they also found a few moments to enjoy the fresh air, the clear waters of Valley Creek and the bright Spring colors. “It was so good to be outside and do something for environment.” “Being outside on a beautiful day was just what I needed.”
The trees should grow quickly, and the current shrubby areas, with more than a few ash trees impacted by the Emerald ash borer, will flourish with diverse native species that also will help protect the banks, keep the water cool for its aquatic inhabitants, and help control the rate and quality of stormwater flows.
The Conservancy is so grateful for all its volunteers, who do so much to sustain our precious open space and make it accessible for visitors to enjoy.