{"id":6665,"date":"2016-03-15T13:05:22","date_gmt":"2016-03-15T18:05:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/treefolkstest.wpengine.com\/?p=6665"},"modified":"2016-03-15T13:05:22","modified_gmt":"2016-03-15T18:05:22","slug":"new-project-takes-root","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.treefolks.org\/es\/2016\/03\/15\/new-project-takes-root\/","title":{"rendered":"New Project Takes Root Along the Blanco River"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Volunteer

Volunteer Donovan Epps plants saplings to reforest the Blanco River at Five Mile Dam – Feb 2016 – Photo by Moses Leos III<\/p><\/div>\n

By Nell Newton<\/p>\n

What will it take to reforest the Blanco River successfully? Only Nature knows for sure, but TreeFolks reforestation staff Matt Mears and Andreina Alexatos are\u00a0trying\u00a0to mimic her methods and observe\u00a0which strategies\u00a0work best.<\/p>\n

As part of our initial work along the Blanco, TreeFolks is conducting ongoing pilot projects to test the logistics of our plans. We held our first Hays County volunteer event in late February at Five Mile Dam Park where 57 volunteers planted over 900 saplings along the river and upland banks. Among the many species planted that day were bald cypress, roughleaf dogwood, sycamore, and cedar elm.<\/p>\n

These four are the primary\u00a0species we\u2019ll use in all of our plantings along the river because they are readily available from nursery growers and are native to the Blanco River habitat. We’ll also plant a variety of other species to ensure a diverse, bank-stabilizing, river habitat. Still, the vast majority of the trees we plant throughout the project will be the majestic bald cypress that give the Blanco its unique character and soft shade.<\/p>\n

Over the summer we\u2019ll experiment with watering some of the saplings and letting Nature water the rest of the test plots. We\u2019ll track their survival and determine if watering\u00a0significantly increases survival rates.<\/p>\n

The\u00a0big planting events won\u2019t begin until October when cooler temperatures blow in. In the meantime, we\u2019ll host a handful\u00a0of volunteer events to water the pilot sites, and continue educating and consulting with land owners who want to participate in the\u00a0Blanco River Reforestation Project.<\/p>\n

If you are a land owner waiting for replanting to begin, you might be asking yourself, “What\u00a0can I do in the meantime?<\/em>” Well\u2026 don\u2019t just do<\/em> something, sit there<\/em> and let the grass grow! Grass roots are nice and deep and dense and do an excellent job of catching and holding soil in place. Without grass you won\u2019t have soil and without soil you can\u2019t have trees, so the best thing to do is let the grass grow up along the river.<\/p>\n

For more information about the Blanco River Reforestation Project, to apply for reforestation services, or to make a donation to buy trees to help the river heal, visit BlancoTrees.org<\/a>.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Nell Newton What will it take to reforest the Blanco River successfully? Only Nature knows for sure, but TreeFolks reforestation staff Matt Mears and Andreina Alexatos are\u00a0trying\u00a0to mimic her…<\/p>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"inline_featured_image":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[68,58,57],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6665","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","category-blanco-river-reforestation","category-dcg","category-news"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t