The Lay of the Land | Autumn Stewardship Newsletter 2021

THE LAY OF THE LAND STEWARDSHIP FOR ALL

WILLISTOWN CONSERVATION TRUST | AUTUMN 2021 ANNUAL STEWARDSHIP LETTER TO CONSERVATION EASEMENT LANDOWNERS

Greetings From forests and wetlands to meadows and farmland, Willistown is a beautiful oasis of open space and critical habitats for birds and wildlife. And by working together, we can protect and enhance these resources for our community. This winter, we are launching a new homeowner habitat initiative. Our goal is to help you enhance your properties to help pollinators, plants, and wildlife in general. We are compiling great information from wonderful organizations to get you started on thinking about stewarding your property and creating wildscapes that will attract birds, bees, butterflies, and the wildlife we all love.

At the Trust, we believe in practicing what we preach!

Protecting land is always the first step, and enhancing it for nature, wildlife, and ourselves is the next. Last year, we began a master planning process at Rushton Woods that is nearly complete. It provides our organization the chance to reflect on what elements of the Preserve are most important to our visitors: trails, birds, community supported agriculture, and a chance to having meaningful experiences in nature in vibrant and healthy ecosystems. This road map will guide our efforts to create the best possible experience for visitors and a true refugia for wildlife. That’s why we are inviting you, as our conservation easement landowners, to engage in the process of creating habitat plans for your own property.

Having a plan will enhance the health and vitality of the ecosystems that are unique to your home.

For your reference, we have inserted our brief summary of some of the more frequently encountered questions and topics we hear from all of you as members of our valued conservation easement landowner community. As always, please feel free to contact us with any questions concerning your easement. We extend our continued thanks for the commitment you have made to the perpetual preservation of our local open space.

Andrew Kirkpatrick Director of Stewardship 610-353-2562, Ext. 34 ajk@wctrust.org

Michael Cranney Preserve Manager 610-353-2562, Ext. 14 mjc@wctrust.org

THIS IS THE PERFECT TIME TO START PLANNING FOR YOUR HABITAT!

PLANTS

B IRDS

M AN AG E

FOREST & WOODLANDS HABITAT GUIDE The best action you can take for your forest or woodlands is to remove any invasive vines from trees. English ivy, bittersweet, kudzu, mile-a-minute, and porcelain berry are all invasive species that damage trees. Remove invasive trees, shrubs, and flowers, as they can outcompete native species that are better suited to provide food, forage, and cover for birds and other wildlife. Replace invasive species with native ones immediately after removal to protect soil from erosion and discourage new invasive species from filling the gap. Fence new plantings to protect them from deer browsing and buck rub.

A healthy forest provides habitat for a variety of birds, including wood thrush, veery, vireo, scarlet tanager, and ovenbirds. To support birds, reduce the amount of edges in your woodlands; intact interiors are better for birds.

Replant any gaps in the canopy. Continue planting new trees to promote a diversity of ages and species in your stand.

Choose native shrubs that produce berries for birds.

Plant trees, shrubs, and woodland flowers, ferns, and grasses to fill every layer of the forest, from the canopy to the floor.

Oaks, hickories, and maples are all excellent canopy trees.

Serviceberry, red bud, and ironwood are great understory trees. Shrubs like spicebush, witch hazel, and viburnums are important bird habitat. Wild geranium, bloodroot, sensitive fern, and Pennsylvania sedge can round out the floorfeeding pollinators.

UNDERSTORY TREES

WOO DY PLANTS

SHRUBS

H ER BA CE OUS P LA NT S

Adrian Binns

Alternate-leaved Dogwood (Cornus alternifolia) Black-haw (Viburnum prunifolium) American Filbert (Corylus americana) Witch-hazel (Hamamelis virginiana) Spicebush (Lindera benzoin) Ninebark (Physocarpus opulifolius) Meadow Sweet (Spirea alba) Maple-leaved Viburnum (Viburnum acerifolium) Bush Honeysuckle (Diervilla lonicera) Eastern Sweetshrub (Calycanthus floridus)

WILDFLOWERS Black cohosh (Actaea racemosa) Solomon’s seal (Polygonatum biflorum) Jack-in-the-Pulpit (Arisaema triphyllum) White wood aster (Eurybia divaricata) Blustem goldenrod (Solidago caesia)

Serviceberry (Amelanchier laevis) Ironwood (Carpinus caroliniana) Red Bud (Cercis canadensis) American Holly (Ilex opaca) Sweetbay Magnolia (Magnolia virginiana)

CANOPY TREES Red Maple (Acer rubrum) Black Gum (Nyssa sylvatica) American Sycamore (Platanus occidentalis) Swamp White Oak (Quercus bicolor) Hackberry (Celtis occidentalis)

Monica McQuail

SOIL REQUIREMENTS

Dry Dry to Moist Dry to Wet Moist Moist to Wet Wet Rich

FERNS Lady fern (Athyrium filix-femina) Hay-scented fern (Dennstaedtia punctilobula) Marginal wood fern (Dryopteris marginalis) Ostrich fern (Matteuccia struthiopteris) Christmas fern (Polystichum acrostichoides)

GRASSES Bottlebrush-grass (Elymus hystric) Northern sea-oats (Chasmanthium latifolium) Pennsylvania sedge (Carex pensylvanica) Path rush (Juncus tenuis) Appalachian sedge (Carex appalachia)

Lauren McGrath

W C T S TA F F FAVO R I T ES PLANT LIST

The plant list below includes a few Trust staff favorites. There are many available options when it comes to selecting native trees and shrubs, perennials, grasses and ferns. This plant list is intended to provide you with a starting point and inspiration as you enhance your landscape.

TREES & SHRUBS Aesculus pavia (Red Buckeye) GA Native Plant Society

Diervilla lonicera (Bush Honeysuckle) Prairie Moon Nursery

Euonymus americanus (Strawberrybush) Arkansas Native Plant Society

Calycanthus floridus (Eastern Sweetshrub) Andrew Kirkpatrick

Ilex glabra (Inkberry Holly)

North Carolina Native Plant Society

Clethra alnifolia (Summersweet) Andrew Kirkpatrick

Taxodium distichum (Bald Cypress) Tree World Wholesale

PERENNIALS Eurybia macrophylla (Bigleaf Aster)

Andrew Kirkpatrick

Heuchera villosa (Hairy Alumroot) Andrew Kirkpatrick

Phlox subulata (Moss Phlox)

Geranium maculatum (Wild Geranium) R.W. Smith

Hydrastis canadensis (Goldenseal)

Andrew Kirkpatrick

Alan Cressler

R.W. Smith

Porteranthus trifoliata (Bowman’s Root) North Creek Nursery

GRASSES & FERNS Carex appalchia (Appalachian Sedge) North Creek Nursery

Danthonia spicata (Curly Grass) Pinelands Nursery

Onoclea sensibilis (Sensitive Fern) Andrew Kirkpatrick

WILLISTOWN CONSERVATION TRUST | 925 PROVIDENCE ROAD NEWTOWN SQUARE, PA | 610-353-2562 | WCTRUST.ORG

FRONT COVER: BLAKE GOLL

Agastache foeniculum (Anise Hyssop)