Choose a place you know to be wet
already.
Observe your property/restoration
area during all seasons, watching for standing water in winter. Mark the
high-water line. Decide how large your planting will be.
An alternate way to determine a
wetland boundary in even a dry season is to dig soil test holes (~12-18”
deep). Look for black organic soil/peat, or gray soils interspersed with
red mottling. These are indicators of saturated soil conditions where
wetland plants thrive.
Order wetland plants, bare root or
potted, for delivery in fall. Match species to your conditions: emergent plants
for sites with year round standing water, or species tolerant of summer drought
for seasonal wetlands. Sun and shade also affect species choices.
To remove existing undesired
vegetation, spray with Roundup (Glyphosate) during the dry season when grasses
and weeds are actively growing. Use Rodeo, the formulation for use near water,
for sites with permanent standing water. For small just-soggy areas, sheet
mulching with cardboard and wood chips can kill lawn plants. This will
take a longer time, for instance over a fall-winter-spring, for the cardboard
to rot.
After the grass has died, you may
see regrowth of mosses (as rains begin), and taprooted weeds like dandelions.
Dig deep to remove weed roots. Be glad for surviving moss, as it creates
a ground cover and prevents weed seed germination.
Plan your plantings, creating
blocks of the same species, rather than a scattering of different plants.
Make a network of paths to access the area, marked with wood chips or
straw. These will help in maintenance and enjoyment.
In the fall, plant new plants into
the dead vegetation and moss, or through the wood chip mulch. Space generously,
as wetland plants will spread via clump enlargement or runners. Tall plants can
have lower groundcovers planted underneath.
Mark very small or dormant plants
with flags, as they can be easily walked on or planted on top of.
During the winter, frost may heave
small new plants out of the ground - gently replant them after each thaw.
In spring, begin watching and
weeding. The seedbank from previous vegetation can be infinite.
Choose your battles. Perhaps remove only the larger weeds that threaten
desired plants. Depends on the time and energy you can devote, and your
goals. Adding wood chip mulch can suppress many weeds. Annual weed seedlings
can be knocked back with a spray of white vinegar, but roots of more vigorous
plants will not be killed this way. Hand weeding is often the best
method.
Observe the new plant community, as
it sorts out which species will dominate. “Edit” the species to suit your
goals. Aggressive species can be dug out, or sprayed in the dry season
with Roundup, protecting surrounding vegetation with a shield of cardboard,
etc.
Add new species among your
plantings, especially shade tolerant herbaceous plants, such as lady ferns,
under shrubs. Watch for interesting volunteers, appearing from dormant
seeds from historical wetland communities on site, or from water transport from
upstream. If unsure what something is, allow it to grow until you can ID
it and decide if you want it. Cattails will appear! Probably not a
good idea in a small wetland planting, as they will take over everything. Dig
them when small, as they quickly start spreading by rhizomes. Willows also
arrive by air and grow fast.
As the wetland fills in with
plants, your paths may be overrun. You can either dig and move plants
crowding the path, or relocate or abandon that path. Weeding maintenance
sometimes requires wading through thick plants anyway, “off-trail” so to speak,
and this is not that hard.
Enjoy your new ecosystem,
especially as it changes over the year and with the passage of time. As it
(hopefully) requires less work, you can think about an upland native plant
buffer to enlarge your natural area.
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