Linganore Watershed Benefits from
Native Trees and Shrubs
-Submitted by Kay Schultz
Community Restoration Coordinator
Frederick County Watershed
Management Section
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Mt. Airy friends and neighbors came together on Saturday, November 3rd to continue the work begun in March, adding 109 native trees and shrubs to Village Gate Park along Woodville Branch of Linganore Creek. In March, more than 100 volunteers planted 2.2 acres in Village Gate Park and 3 acres in East West Park. The Fall planting included 24 replacement trees for those lost during the summer drought.
Phil Pannill, DNR Watershed Forester provided instruction for families in the best methods for tree planting and made sure that each species was planted in the portion of the site best matched to its need for moisture and sun. The group planted native trees and shrubs including Northern Red Oak, Pin Oak, Red Maple, Tulip Poplar, Sugar Maple, American Hazelnut, Sycamore, River Birch, Winterberry Holly, and Gray Dogwood.
Earlier in the fall, the Watershed Management Section and Frederick County Weed Control partnered with Mt. Airy to treat invasive plants in Village Gate and East West Parks. A large grove of mature Ailanthus trees was treated at Village Gate. In East West Park, a number of invasive species were treated upland including Autumn Olive, Multiflora Rose and Ailanthus. Others, including Mile-a-minute weed, were treated along the stream corridor.
Woodville Branch is a small stream that begins in Mt. Airy and flows north, eventually becoming a part of Linganore Creek, Lake Linganore, the Monocacy and Potomac Rivers and the Chesapeake Bay. Small streams (sometimes called first order streams) are especially prone to impacts from development. Hard surfaces such as roofs, roads and parking areas prevent water from soaking into the ground, thus reducing the base flow of such streams. Small streams are healthiest when the area draining into them is forested.
The fact that Mt. Airy has three parks through which Woodville Branch flows gives the town a great opportunity to improve the health of the stream by planting native shrubs and trees.
Another community also added considerable vegetation to help improve water quality in its small streams. Long Branch flows through the property of the Holly Hills Homeowners Association (HOA) and Golf Course. Partnering with Frederick County’s Watershed Management Section and Frederick County Weed Control, the HOA and Golf Course treated invasive plants that were undermining the health of a portion of the Long Branch watershed.
Combining forces, staff of the golf course and the HOA planted 290 native trees and shrubs along the stream and around the large irrigation pond on the property. A diverse mix of native tree species were planted including Red Oak, Red Maple, Tulip Poplar, Sweet Gum, Swamp White Oak, Pin Oak, Hackberry, River Birch, Bald Cypress, and Sweet Bay Magnolia. In addition, a diverse mix of understory trees and shrubs were selected including Redbud, Serviceberry, Eastern Red Cedar, Flowering Dogwood, Silky Dogwood, Hazelnut, Arrowwood Viburnum, Virginia Sweetspire, Elderberry, Winterberry Holly, Red Chokeberry, Red Twig Dogwood, Spicebush, and Witch Hazel.
Pictured here are the new native plantings at the confluence of two tributaries of Long Branch. Large Willow trees at the stream convergence are aging. The new trees will help to further stabilize the stream and absorb rain water and pollutants, being well positioned to replace the old willows when age and wind remove them in the future.
