in Charlottesville, Va

By Jordan Bennett, James River Association

On Tuesday, July 21st, a group of 14 practitioners, landowners, and volunteers gathered at three different locations to check-in on live stake plantings that were installed this past winter. All three of the locations used live stakes provided by the Upper and Middle James Riparian Consortium’s (Consortium) Live Stake Program. The Consortium launched its live stake program this past winter, modeling it after the Chesapeake Conservancy’s Live Stake Collaborative in Pennsylvania. The goal of this program aims to increase the knowledge of the practice, increase the use of locally harvested live stakes, and to explore the potential for sales to support the Riparian Action Fund. 

What are live stakes?

Live stakes are branch cuttings from wetland trees or shrubs that can be planted directly into the soil. This low-cost, low-engineering technique can be a beneficial tool in streambank stabilization and a great supplement to riparian forest buffer plantings. The live stakes are planted in areas with access to the watertable, usually within 30 feet of the stream. The buds of a live stake that get planted below the ground turn into roots, and the buds above ground grow into branches, quickly adding stability and vegetation to streambanks and other bodies of water. 

Where did we go?

Location One: Totier Creek A farm along Totier Creek in Esmont ordered 500 live stakes from the Consortium – 250 Alder, 200 Black Willow, and 50 Elderberry – that were planted in drainage ditches that flow into the creek. The Totier Creek Watershed Association held a volunteer event in late March to plant them. 15 volunteers were able to get all 500 stakes in the ground in less than an hour! 

Location Two: Morven  UVA’s Morven Sustainability Lab (Morven) has been a huge partner in the success of the live stake program. Around 1,200 live stakes were harvested from Alders and Black Willows on their grounds. Morven also hosted the live stake planting training at the pond by their kitchen garden. Over 30 volunteers gathered in February to learn about the technique of live staking and to install 1,500 stakes along the pond. 600 Alder stakes harvested from Morven were planted. The other 900 came from Mid Atlantic Natives: Silky Dogwood, Silky Willow, and Buttonbush.

Location Three: Woodbrook Lagoon Woodbrook Lagoon in Charlottesville was an old wastewater settling lagoon that was transformed into a stormwater management area. One of the restored streams is in the process of streambank stabilization and ordered 400 live stakes from the Consortium to supplement the project. 250 Alder, 100 Buttonbush, and 50 Elderberry were planted along the stream. 

What did we learn?

When we first arrived at the sites, it was hard to find the live stakes – everything pretty much looks the same. However, once we started searching through the grasses, we were able to uncover the live stakes and find them thriving! At the Totier Creek site, Black Willow seemed to be growing the best. Elderberries were growing best closest to the creek. At Morven, everything was growing very well, but the Silky Dogwood and Silky Willow seemed to be the happiest. The Buttonbush were doing the best at Woodbrook Lagoon. We are excited to see how much they grow over the next year!