Invasive grass is growing in the wetlands. The grass is able to grow in the sunlight. We wish to create a shady area so the invasive species is not encouraged to grow. We are continuing to plant the trees in order to keep the invasive grass from the wetland. Provide shelter for wetland birds.
Walk to the wetlands and cut willow twigs from existing trees and plant them throughout the area of wetlands that the sun is especially reaching.
Students worked hard to cut twigs from the tree and dig holes to plant the twigs. While this was a one day Roots & Shoots project in the spring, it is also an ongoing project for JGEMS’ students to keep up on the wetlands and keep out invasive plant species.
We learned that you can propagate a willow by cutting off a twig and immediately putting it into the moist soil. We also learned that creating a habitat that is not suitable for non-native plant species is a tactic to help keep it from growing. This project also created opportunities to learn to work together as a team. One person would cut the twig and the other would dig the hole. They would switch roles and trade off who planted the twig into the ground.
We did this a bit late in the spring. We would want to do multiple days and start earlier in the season to have the most success.
We enjoyed working with our founder and getting to know him better through this project, as many of the students were sixth graders and had not had an opportunity to work with him.
The biggest take away for most of the participants was learning that you could simply remove a twig from a willow tree and plant it in the ground and you would actually grow a new tree!
