Native Plant Salvage & Propagation

Two nursery sites were prepared in the spring of 2009 by the Skagit River System Cooperative. The Thomas Creek site has 6800 sq ft and located across from 21072 Kelleher in Burlington, WA. The Wiley Slough nursery has 5000 square ft and located on Moberg Road, near Conway, WA. Both nursery sites required leveling and existing vegetation control. Heavy landscaping fabric was placed to reduce competition with nursery plants. 9655 plants were transplanted in our combined Thomas Creek and Wiley nurseries. 2950 of these were purchased as 1 or 2-gallon potted stock. The other 6705 originated from bareroot stock. An additional 310 plants were propagated from cuttings and 500 individuals were started from seed collected from the now breached dike at Wiley Slough. Plants were arranged in groups of 100 on the landscaping fabric. Bareroot stock was planted in May and potted stock was transplanted into larger pots in June. The work required 48 yards of soil. Since May, 250 lbs of 16-16-16 fertilizer has been applied to the plants.
In the fall of 2009, 4076 plants of the nursery stock were planted into the Bryson, Thomas Creek and Wiley Slough restoration sites located in Darrington, Sedro Woolley and Fir Island, Washington (Tables 1, 2 and 3), using funds from other grant sources. . The rest of the nursery plants will be planted in the spring of 2010. Planting efforts were conducted using project specific grants funds, separate from the this PCSRF award.

By stockpiling and caring for this material at our nursery site we are able to produce a potted plant tailored for site specific requirements and that is healthy and ready for year around planting. Materials would also have the advantage of being larger and more mature than most plants available for riparian projects. These plants upon arriving at their final destination, will allow for the reestablish of riparian plant communities resulting in more complex habitats that will be utilized by salmonids.