Stakes Alive!

Yes, the live stakes are still alive.

Yes, the live stakes are still alive. (Click for larger image.)

Back in March volunteers with the Countryside Homeowners Association in Henrico County planted some 500 live stakes along severely eroded sections of Westham Creek. We were rubes. We didn’t know what we were doing. Our hope was to establish thickets of Red Osier Dogwood and Black Willow along the waterline that would produce a dense mat of roots to hold the soil in place during major downpours. But for all we knew, we’d end up with 500 dead sticks in the ground.

I went back down to the creek a few days ago to check on progress. The good news is that most (not all) of the two-foot stakes are still alive. They’ve actually sprouted greenery. We didn’t kill them all (only some of them)! Hooray!

The stakes don’t look like they would hold up yet to a good gully washer, but give them time. I’ll check back in two or three months to see how they’re doing.

— JAB