On Tuesday, April 18th, Franklin County NRCD teamed up with students from Bellows Free Academy – St. Albans and Northwest Career and Technical Center and a fantastic group of community volunteers to celebrate Earth Month by planting native trees and shrubs alongside Stevens Brook in Houghton Park, St. Albans City. The goal of this planting day was to support biodiversity, water quality, and natural beauty in this public park. It was a beautiful, cool spring day – perfect for planting trees!
In total, over 50 people installed three bird boxes and planted 410 trees and shrubs (both bare root plants and live stakes). This planting effort established 0.3 acres of native riparian vegetation along 550 ft of Stevens Brook.
Species planted at this site included Arrowwood Viburnum, Winterberry, American Elderberry, Downy Serviceberry, Red Osier Dogwood, Buttonbush, American Cranberry, Nannyberry, Speckled Alder, and Shrub Willow. These plants were chosen to “fill in” a native riparian understory and complement the canopy trees that the City of St. Albans has already planted along the stream. Enhancing the riparian buffer along Stevens Brook can improve water quality in the stream by stabilizing streambanks and naturally filtering stormwater runoff before it reaches the stream. Many of these species also support pollinators and provide food for birds.
The group also got a head start on Green Up Day by picking up trash throughout the park.
Thank you to all of the volunteers who made this day a success! If you are interested in participating in one of our upcoming tree plantings, please visit this link for more information and to RSVP: https://www.franklincountynrcd.org/post/volunteers-needed-2023-franklin-county-tree-plantings
This event was supported by an Earth Month grant from One Tree Planted. Thank you for making this event possible!