Native Plants Community Workshops

Native Plant Propagation Class with Rose Roberts

On Saturday December 10, 2005 the Navarro Watershed Working Group partnered with the Center for Ecological Restoration and Stewardship (CERS) and hosted a workshop on Native Plant Propagation. Rose Roberts, the manager of CERS at Circuit Rider Productions, Inc. in Windsor came up and taught the class to over 20 participants who came from all over the North Coast, even as far away as Petrolia in Humboldt County. The morning session of the class was held at the Boonville Firehouse. Rose gave a great power point presentation on Native Plant Propagation for Ecological Restoration. She talked about the importance of choosing appropriate plant material for restoration projects as well as the methods of acquiring the appropriate plant materials and how to best process those materials for successful propagation. She defined appropriate plant material on three levels. Ecologically appropriate: give careful consideration to the project objectives and site conditions. Genetically appropriate: use genetic material adapted to local site conditions. And, genetically diverse: gather and choose a plant lot that contains a lot of genetic diversity.

The first rule of thumb out of the gate seems to be the Hippocratic Oath of Ethics, Do No Harm, in particular, to existing plant communities (i.e. the collection site and plant populations surrounding the project site) or to the project itself. At the same time Be Pragmatic: Do What Works to maximize the chances of project success, both in the establishment and survival of installed plant material as well as the restoration of ecosystem structure and function. For the afternoon session we headed out to the native plant nursery of the Anderson Valley Nursery at the AV High School. We also toured the Restoration Demonstration Site behind the High School, above the confluence of Anderson Creek and Robinson Creek. Rose talked about specific species, techniques for gathering (for seed as well as for cuttings), processing, storing and planting seeds, as well gave us detailed information on materials for successful propagation and planting in the field.

All and all, it was a great class and beautiful day! It was an incredibly informative workshop. Everyone was engaged and interested in the material being offered. There was lots of room for questions and discourse. Rose is clearly passionate about her work and conveys it well in how she led the class both indoors as well as in the field. This workshop is one that the Center for Ecological Restoration and will be offering regularly on the North Coast. For more information on classes and the topic check out their website at http://www.crpinc.org.

Native Plant Workshop with Ken Montgomery

Watershed Restoration is More Than Fish

The emphasis in watershed restoration is fisheries--steelhead and salmon. The problems are much broader than the instream influences and must include the upland regions. The watershed runs from the top of the ridges down to the creeks. Watershed restoration needs to consider water quality and wildlife habitat, as well as fish.

Riparian Zones and Plant Succession

Anderson and Robinson Creeks are part of a 200-year floodplain. There are three zones in the riparian. The wet areas--including the ten-year floodplain, the 30 year floodplain, and the hundred year floodplain. Each zone has different plants which correspond to different water levels. For example, Alders, which grow up along sandbars, are part of the plant succession process. The plant succession "clock" runs from disturbance or "pioneer'" stage to climax stage--there can be several seral stages, and the succession might not actually reach the climax stage. A climax redwood forest is actually a monoculture. There is actually more diversity in the ecotones, or earlier seral stages. Fire can be the disturbance that rewinds the clock--or even a bulldozer. There can be a patchwork effect of different stages across the landscape--and that's where nature operates best, and with the most diversity

Plant Communities in the Riparian Zone

Plants that grow closest to the water, include willow, alder, and sedges. Redwoods are associated with periodic flooding. Eubanks Grove, or Hendy Woods are examples of redwood grove--the area down near Dimmick Park are prime examples of where redwoods are found--they're water-loving plants and tolerate more frequent inundation. Shrubs like Toyon or Manzanitas--or Sycamore all trees seek out water but are usually out of the 10 or 30 year floodplain. Black Oak and Douglas Fir are also upland species. A lot of plants have a large range of tolerance, such as Toyon--which can grow most anywhere except in the inundation zone. The plant communities are influenced by more than just the surface water flow, there are underground springs, confluences where hill slopes come together--confluence is a term that applies more than just watercourses. Plants are susceptible to drought conditions--the plant becomes stresses then becomes susceptible to insect infestations, disease, maybe even Sudden Oak Death. Insects are connected to Sudden Oak Death, and stress, and drought. Drought is one of the most stressful conditions that plants are confronted with. Development and drought are changing the aquifers; the water table is being interrupted by our over use of water. Soil, slope, aspect all describe plant communities, form assemblages.

Native Plant Propagation

Supplemental Workshop Materials
Kenneth R Montgomery, MS
Ecologist/Horticulturalist November 2001

Soil Media and Fertilizers

Basic Mix # 4A (Anderson Valley Nursery)

• 5 parts - coarse redwood shavings 42%
• 2 parts - sand (or sandy loam) 16.5%
• 3 parts - yard waste compost 25%
• 1 part - volcanic rock (1/4" minus) 8.25%
• 1 part - fir bark (1/4" minus) 8.2

Basic Mix "E" (Mendocino Natives Nursery)

• 2 parts - redwood shavings (or chips) 25%
• 2 parts - blow sand (coarse sand) 25%
• 2 parts - yard waste compost 25%
• 1 part - volcanic rock (1/4" minus) 12.5%
• 1 part - fir bark (1/4" minus) 12.5%

"Light" Mix (for plug trays, seed flats, styroblocks):

• 2 parts - fine redwood shavings
• 2 parts - blow sand (coarse sand)
• 2 parts - peat moss
• 1 part - horticultural perlite

Preplant Fertilizer Amendment

• 25% Triple 15 fertilizer
• 25% soft phosphate (CaPO4)
• 5% ferrous sulfate (FeSO4)
• 20% dolomite lime (MgCO3 + CaCO3)
• 25% oyster shell lime (CaCO3)
• Add 1 lb. per 2.5 cubic ft. of medium

Postplant Fertilization

Top dress, slow release fertilizer @ 1/4 tsp. per 5" band, 2 tsp. per 1 gallon can, etc.

• Apex Blue 14-14-14 (3 to 4 months), or
• Sierra 17-6-10 (8 to 9 months), or
• Shasta 6-7-5 (organic nitrogen)

Cutting Medium No. 1

• 4 parts - horticultural perlite (80%)
• 1 part - peat moss (20%)

Cutting Medium No. 2

• 1 part - fine redwood shavings (16.66%)
• 1 part - coarse sand (blow sand) (16.66%)
• 1 part - peat moss (16.66%)
• 3 parts - horticultural perlite (50%)

Native Plany Propagation Source List

Technical Information

Ken Montgomery
Anderson Valley Nursery
18151 Mountain View Road
P.O. Box 504
Boonville, CA 95415
(707) 895-3853 FAX: (707) 895-2850

Karen Gaffney
Circuit Rider Productions, Inc.
9619 Old Redwood Highway
Windsor, CA 95492 (707) 838-6641

Rick Storre
Freshwater Farms, Inc.
5851 Myrtle Ave.
Eureka, CA 95503-9510 (707)444-8261 (800) 200-8969
Fax: (707) 442-2490
www.freshwaterfarms.com

California Native Plant Society
c/o Lori Hubbart, President
Dorothy King Young Chapter
P.O. Box 577, Gualala, CA 95445 (707) 882-1655

Supplies

Albion Landscape Supply -- wholesale/retail
attn: Steve Huber
30500 Middle Ridge Road
Albion, CA 95410 (707)937-3733
soil media, compost, forestry sand, bark, mulch

Anderson Valley Nursery -- special order retail
18151 Mountain View Road
P.O. Box 504
Boonville, CA 95415
(707) 895-3853 Fax: (707) 895-2850

Harmony Farm Supply -- retail
3244 Highway 116 North
Sebastopol, CA 95472
(707) 823-9125 Fax: (707) 823-1734

McCalif Grower Supplies -- wholesale
2905 Railroad Ave.
P.O. Box 310
Ceres, CA 95307-0310 (800) 234-4559 Fax: (209) 538-2086
www.mccalif.com
containers, propagation equipment, fertilizers

Sparetime Supply -- retail/wholesale
208 E. San Francisco Ave.
Willits, CA 95490 (707) 459-6791 Fax: (707) 459-1505

Stuewe and Sons, Inc.
2290 S.E. Kiger Island Dr.
Corvallis, Oregon 97333-9461
(800) 553-5331 Fax: (541) 754-6617
www.stuewe.com
seedling containers