EAST HARDWICK, GREENSBORO BEND – Volunteers from the Greensboro Association and the Greensboro Conservation Commission planted 75 willow trees on Saturday, Nov. 9, in East Hardwick and Greensboro Bend as part of the Stream Wise program.
photo by Chris Steel
Stream Wise engages property owners to help them enhance and protect vegetated stream buffers, increasing flood resiliency and benefiting water quality and natural habitat.
Property owners Meredith Holch, Cindy Dailey and Pierrette Lyman volunteered their properties and stewardship to host the trees and help protect the Lamoille River and Lake Champlain watershed. The trees were purchased with funding provided by the Greensboro Association.
The program offers tools and resources for property owners that include how-to guides and information on stream restoration and planting, managing access, stormwater and invasive species.
photo by Chris Steel
Stream Wise recommends steps beginning with widening the vegetated buffer, then leaving what is there undisturbed. Planting diverse multi-layered native vegetation and removing or containing invasive plants is important because monocultures do not stabilize stream banks as well and do not support wildlife.
In managing human needs for a view and timber resources, Stream Wise advises to cut no closer than 15 feet to the stream and cut only selectively, limbing the bottom one-third of branches where possible, while leaving everything below three feet to protect streambank stability and prevent land loss.
While stream access is important to enjoy its beauty and benefits, wise access is even more important to prevent erosion and gullies created by straight pathways down a slope. Pathways can run across contours with switch-back paths and be made with impervious materials. Water runoff can be diverted with water bars.
Volunteers work along the bank of the Lamoille River in East Hardwick to plant willow trees, Nov. 9. They also planted trees along the river in Greensboro Bend that day.
photo by Chris Steel
Runoff from lawns, decks, patios, pathways and other impervious or semi-impervious areas in the buffer should be directed to vegetated areas that can slow water down, hold it and allow it to soak in slowly, thereby filtering it and preventing erosion and pollution from entering the stream.
Water runoff reaching the vegetated buffer should be dissipated into sheet flow and not concentrated to protect the buffer from erosion and maximize its efficacy.
Smith’s Grocery in Greensboro Bend provided lunch to the volunteers.
For more information, go to streamwisechamplain.org/ or contact Jed Feffer at [email protected] or Chris Steel at chrissteel4@gmail.com.
