https://padlet.com/daintree1/8ayag3zi6aeuzx7e Active ongoing restoration at the Lakeside en-us 2022-02-08 02:21:43 UTC 2022-02-08 02:35:32 UTC hello@padlet.com daintree1 https://padlet.com/daintree1/8ayag3zi6aeuzx7e/wish/2034478023 The Tohickon Boat Launch is one of the access points to Lake Nockamixon in Nockamixon State Park. The area is busy year around with fishing, boating and other water activities.

The Google maps link below identifies the location.

https://www.google.com/maps/place/Tohickon+Boat+Launch,+Haycock+Township,+PA+18951/@40.4763658,-75.2087645,738m/data=!3m1!1e3!4m5!3m4!1s0x89c41a7b24d40853:0x5a99b3a25a2b94ce!8m2!3d40.4765466!4d-75.2096481

The goals of the project are:

1. Halt erosion on the lake side in one area of the access point
2. Provide habitat for native insects, birds and mammals
3. Improve the quality of the stormwater runoff from some of the blacktop surfaces into the lake

The activities to support these goals are:

1. Convert a large, mowed turf grass area adjacent to the lake to a lakeside buffer

2. Naturalize swales that carry stormwater runoff from blacktop areas to the lake

Restoration Areas at Tohickon

There are three areas that have be the focus of restoration efforts. Our names for these areas are:

1. The meadow - technically this area will be a forest one day but for now it is a meadow with some young trees

2. The sunny swales - there are two swales that carry stormwater from the parking areas to the lake near the meadow

3. The old road - an old pre-lake road was covered with soil and contains two swales that carry stormwater from the
access road to the lake.

Images of the locations referenced in this document can be found at 

https://photos.app.goo.gl/ncByBadruA7AAfpYA

Preliminary Results - successes and failures

The sunny swales are doing very well. The original sedges, rushes and grasses we planted in spring 2020 are fully mature and have gone to seed. The other species we planted for diversity are also doing well including swamp milkweed, ironweed, wild senna and cup plant. We have seen two invasive annual grasses in the swales each year, namely stilt grass and small carpet grass. A late summer weeding will be an ongoing maintenance activity for the sunny swales.

The meadow is a mixed bag. While we have had a low mortality rate with the trees plantings which is the most important long-term aspect of the restoration, the seeding of the meadow was mostly unsuccessful with a low germination rate of the seeds that were installed with a split seeder. There is a healthy population of Indian grass in the meadow, but the four other species are largely absent. We have a very significant invasion of stilt grass and small carpet grass in the meadow. We have a plan to deal with this invasion which is described below.

In addition, in 2021 we notice a number of native woody species have volunteered into the meadow. This is a very good sign and indicates that the seed bank in that area still contains some native species.

We are hopeful that we will continue to see this happening in the meadow. The woody species appear to be dogwood and willow species. 

The old road swales and "garden" area are doing well. Hurricane Ida had a small effect (washout) on one of the swales, but in general the sedges and grasses we installed have held up well and should go to seed in 2022. The garden area is a bit of an experiment as the soil over the old blacktop is shallow and very compacted after many years of mowing. We have installed a variety of species in that area including ground covers, ferns, some milkweed species. We have also installed some hardy part shade shrubs at the back of the garden area including Shrubby St. John's Wort and Coralberry.

The Future

The restorations we have made will need to be maintained to ensure we meet our goals. 

The sunny swales will require an annual late summer weeding of stilt grass and small carpet grass before it goes to seed. Any gaps in the area can be planted with plants like wild senna and common milkweed.

Our plan for the meadow is first and foremost to protect the trees. This will include weeding the tree cages
each year in late summer.

We plan to divide and conquer the invasive grasses using the following approach. Each year in late fall after the invasive grasses have gone to seed, we will clear management sections (200 square feet) and install plugs and seeds, experimenting with species we think will do well in this area. This will be an ongoing activity with the hope that over time we will establish "mother" zones of species that are aggressive and can compete with the invasive grasses.

The old road will require weeding for the very same annual invasive grasses we see everywhere else in the area. This will be a late summer weeding task. In addition, we will continue to test species we think will work in these tough conditions until we find enough of them that work well. We anticipate that this will resolve to an annual weeding task.




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