Arrrgh for some reason half the photos I took at the restoration site today, have vanished off the phone. This project is an experimental stream recharge pond facilitated by Sanctuary Forest, in one of the tributaries to the upper Mattole River in northern CA. The pond is adjacent to the creek, and the goal is for the pond to slowly discharge water into the creek during low flows in summer. Its a tricky balance to create a pond that leaks slowly. This pond was not holding water well, losing water too fast, so bentonite was added for a better seal. However if a pond is sealed too well, it won't discharge.
We seeded the site with two native CA grass species, CA #Brome and #Deschampsia (#tufted hair grass). Both species are suited to woodland sites. We also mulched the area with rice straw. Those fotos vanished from my phone. Im bummed that the Beaver Dam Analog, #BDA photos, in the creek adjacent to the pond vanished. BDA's are human made instream dams that mimic a beaver dam. They are functioning well, after repairing them in the summer using huckleberry for branch packing.
#WatershedRestoration
#CaNativeBunchGrass
#deschampsia #CaBrome
#BeaverDamAnalog
#BDA
#bioengineering
#branchpacking

Its Sunday and I sing praises to my one of my favorite neighbors, the marvelous
# Coyote Bush (#Baccharis pilularis,) native to ca coastal chapparal habitats.
Coyote Bush, the house on the block where everyone's welcome and everyone hangs out. A warm hearted Grandma and Grandpa that takes care of everyone. A reliable babysitter. A favored safe place for deer, to take a nap, give birth, leave fawns while mama has lunch. Quail do the same. Favorite place for small birds to build nests. Coyote Bush harbors and rears young hardwoods. An acorn or madrone berry, who lands under a coyote bush has a good chance of becoming a full grown tree. Coyote bush blooms in late fall, and winter, is an important food source for insects, at a time of year when food is scarce.
Coyote Bush cares for the soil too. She is one of the best erosion control plants in existence. The upslope, dry ground, equivalent of Willow.
She holds her ground,
on a landslide,
the one part that doesn't slide has Coyote Bush.
Coyote Bush can be propagated by cuttings. 18" long, thumb sized canes can be planted directly in the ground during the rainy season, leaving 4 -6 " above ground. Happily grows in poor soil, on bare bank road cuts, and landslides.
Coyote Bush is one of my preferred bioengineering resource plants, excellent for constructing brush dams and branch packing, to stabilize gullies caused by culverts, and class 3 watercourses.
Coyote Bush has a fire resistant waxy resin on the leaves. A great drought tolerant landscaping plant, that can easily be pruned into a hedge. Coyote Bush has male and female plants.
# ErosionControl
# bioengineering #DroughtRestistant
# BrushDams #BranchPacking
# fall/winterBlooming
# CaNativePlants
# CoyoteBush #BaccharisPilularis
# ErosionControlPlants
# Chaparral
# Landscaping
# NativePlantLandscaping
#landslides