By Jenevra Wetmore & Kelly Stettner
The Stewardship Action Project class students pose for a photo after planting (photo by Janis Boulbol)
On a rainy day this May, Sustainable Woodstock, the Ottauquechee Natural Resources Conservation District (ONRCD), and students from the Woodstock Union High School & Middle School planted thirty shrubs and trees at Riverside Mobile Home Park. We planted native cottonwood and viburnum species, and will come back in the fall to plant willow stakes. These plants will create a root system that will stabilize the bank and help with erosion, create wildlife habitat, and provide flood resilience and drought resistance.
The planting is on the top of the riverbank on the west side of the park. This site has been eroding for years and was badly affected by floods in the summer of 2023. The water main providing drinking water to all residents of the park runs directly underground along the bank. If the bank erodes further, it could expose this important infrastructure. Vermont State Housing Authority, which owns and manages the park, worked with Two Rivers Ottauquechee Regional Commission to create a riprap rock wall that helped stabilize the area in 2024.
The goal of this year’s planting project is to protect the lower end of the Riverside and strengthen the riparian area naturally through the roots, trunks, stems, and leaves of native shrubs and trees. Many of the species used will provide important berries for birds and other wildlife, while the vegetation itself will better hold soil in place and slow down the impact of falling rain during storms. A more absorbent soil will soak water into the landscape and retain it, providing both flood resilience and drought resistance.
Cottonwoods grow rapidly but not too tall, and the viburnum species selected will be berry-bearing and provide a variety of flowers, foliage, and stem types for visual interest throughout the seasons. This is a great opportunity for residents, visitors, and volunteers to monitor and lightly maintain the buffer area as well as conduct simple nature walks to observe and even record the species of flora as well as fauna that make this area home in the months and years to come.
Kelly Stettner, District Manager of the Ottauquechee Natural Resources Conservation District, demonstrates how to plant a tree for students. (Sustainable Woodstock photo)
Kelly Stettner, District Manager of the ONRCD, organized the planting and secured funding for the trees from a Trees for Streams grant. Students who are part of the Stewardship Action Project class–a capstone class for the CRAFT (Community and Climate Resilience through Agriculture, Forestry, and Technology) Program–volunteered to plant the trees. Students Sophia Rosenbach, Sophie Hendee, Katie Keown, Miette Jennings, and Eleanor Williams braved the rain to help plant, along with their teachers Janis Boulbol and Abbie Castriotta. Sustainable Woodstock helped plant and communicated with residents about the coming planting.
ONRCD and Sustainable Woodstock will return in the fall to stake the top of the riprap stone with shrub willows and red twig dogwoods to try to help hold the bank more. We will be back in the fall with 50-100 stakes for the top of the bank. Shrub willows and red-twig dogwoods grow rapidly and have impressive root systems to hold both soil and stone in place. The folks at Vermont State Housing Authority, which owns the park, have enthusiastically supported this project and are committed to maintaining and watering the new vegetation to help these shrubs and trees have the best chance of success.