Plants for Your River Home

Plants for Your River Home

Every inch of waterfront property along the Cacapon is a fragile treasure. What you choose to add to the environment is critical. From the groundcovers to the trees you need to select wisely, use native plants wherever possible and include a 100-foot wide buffer.

By maintaining a riverside "buffer" of trees, shrubs, or other vegetation, you create a ground mat of plant roots that help hold down the soil and prevent it from eroding away. River plants help filter, trap and break down pesticides, fertilizers and other pollutants before they run off the land and enter the river. A canopy of trees provides shade and shelter for fish and other aquatic creatures.

If you own waterfront property you may have wondered how you should care for it. The first rule is Don't Mow. This doesn't mean you can't have a lawn It means that you should not cut back vegetation from the river's edge. You need their roots to hold the soil. Conservation experts suggest a "buffer" at least 100 feet wide along waterways. Here are two scenarios.

If your riverbank is stabilized and covered with vegetation, leave this "buffer" alone, for the best natural protection for the river is to encourage native plants to thrive there. At a minimum this buffer should be at least 50 to 100 feet wide along the river, especially adjacent to farm lands. A 100-footwide buffer is ideal

2 - If the riverbank is not covered with vegetation and is bare and eroding, you can be causing problems to the river. The worst problem is sedimentation. When your bank is eroding, small particles of soil wash into the river where they can smother spawning beds of fish, kill aquatic insects, and ruin good water quality. Sometimes new riverfront lot owners like to clear a vista to the river, "tidy things up," "get rid of unsightly tangles" and "clear away the underbrush" Such enthusiasm for neatness removes the very things that stabilize the banks.

Your riverbank can be protected and repaired by planting various types of riparian (riverbank) plants: wildflowers like jewelweed; low plants like wild strawberry; shrubs and small trees like buttonbush and serviceberry; tall trees like river willow. The Friends of the Cacapon River offer this information because bank stabilization is a critical factor in protecting the health of the river.

PLANTS TO PROTECT YOUR PROPERTY

Groundcovers:

· Wild strawberry (Fragaria virginiana)

· Cinquefoil (Potentilla simplex)

· Native clovers (Trifolium ssp. )

· Ground ivy, gill-over-the-ground (Glechoma hederaceae)

· Virginia bugleweed (Lycopus virginicus)

· Wild mint (Mentha arvensis)

Taller plants, wildflowers:

·Jewelweed (Impatiens pallida) high value for wild life, medium fast growth, 3-6 feet tall

·Joe-Pye weed (Eupatorium fistulosa) medium value for wildlife, fast growth, 3-6 feet tall.

·Tall meadowrue (Thalictrum pubescens)

·Milkweed (Asclepias incarnata) valuable for bees, butterflies (especially Monarchs)

·Cardinal flower (Lobelia cardinalis) for humming birds, bees

Shrubs (7-15 feet high):

· Buttonbush (Cepalanthus occidentalis) low value for wildlife, fast growing

· Pussy willow (Salix discolor) high wildlife value, fast growing

· Maple-leaf viburnum (Viburnum acerifoliunt) high value for wildlife, medium-slow growing.

· Elderberry (Sambucus canadensis) very high wildlife value, fast growing

·Witch-hazel (Hamamallis virginiana) low wildlife value, medium-fast growth

·Shadbush!servicebush (Amelanchier canadensis) high wildlife value, slow growth

Understory Trees (15-40 feet high, branch out under tall trees):

· Pawpaw (Asimina triloba) very high wildlife value, slow growth

· Redbud (Cercis canadensis) low, wildlife value, fast growing

· Dogwood (Cornus florida) medium wildlife value, fast to medium-fast growth

· Persimmon (Diospyros virginiana)

Canopy trees (40-75 feet or more, provide vital shade and shelter):

· River willow (Salicacea sp.)

·River birch (Betula nigra) very high wildlife value, fast growth

· Weeping willow (Salicacacea babylonica)

·Red maple (Acer rubrum) very high wildlife value, fast to medium growth

·Sycamore (Blatanus occidentalis) low wildlife value, fast growth

·Black walnut (Juglans nigra) low wildlife value, fast growth

·Oaks-white (Quercus alba) very high wildlife value, slow growth

·Red (Quercus rubra) high wildlife value, slow growth

Grasses:

· For rapid but temporary groundcover on eroding banks, select Kentucky fescue grasses which grow swiftly, provide roots to stabilize the soil, and will give way to other plants as they become shaded out. They are, however, poor choices for wildlife.

· Other grasses, such as switchgrass, deer tongue, red top, big and little bluestem, have deeper, larger root systems that are excellent for holding soil on the top of the bank. These native grasses have high value for wildlife.

Native plants in transitional zones:

Several native shrub and vine species thrive in transitional disturbed, eroded conditions.

·Blackberry (Rubus spp.) thorny herbaceous shrub, high wildlife value

·Greenbrier (Smilax rotudifolia) thorny vine

·Poison ivy (Toxicodendron radicans) noxious vine, high value to wildlife

·Wild grapes or grape vine (hitis spp.) very aggressive sive vine, high wildlife value

·Spicebush (Lindera benzoin) aggressive shrub, savory to deer

·Fragrant sumac (Rhus aromatica) aggressive shrub, high wildlife value

EXOTIC, UNDESIRABLE & NON-NATIVE PLANTS

These plants are brought into or invade an area and thrive so well that they change the habitat and destroy native plants. These should be curtailed and certainly not planted.

Invasive species of plants:

· Garlic mustard (Alliaria petiolata)

· Purple loosestrife (Lythrum salicaria)

· Mile-a-minute (Polygonum perfoliatum)

· Japanese knotweed (Polygonum cuspidaturn)

· Sachaline knotweed (Polygonum sachalinense)

· Spotted knapweed (Centaurea biebersteini)

· Barren brome

Aggressive water plants:

· Hydrilla (Hydrilla verticillate)

· Eurasian water milfoil (Myriophyllum spicatum)

· Curly pondweed (Potamogeton crispus)

Aggressive vines:

· Oriental bittersweet (Celastris orbiculatis)

· Japanese honeysuckle (Lonicera japonica)

· Porcelain berry (Polygonum spp.)

· Trumpet creeper (Ampelopsis brevipen-diculata)

· Kudzu (Puerania montana var iobata)

Aggressive shrubs:

· Multiflora rose (Rosa multiflora)

Aggressive tree:

· Tree of heaven (Ailanthus altissima)