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permaculture - Re: [permaculture] Edges - Re: permaculture and science || need recommendations for plantings at edge of pond

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  • From: Paul Cereghino <paul.cereghino@comcast.net>
  • To: permaculture <permaculture@lists.ibiblio.org>
  • Subject: Re: [permaculture] Edges - Re: permaculture and science || need recommendations for plantings at edge of pond
  • Date: Sun, 04 Feb 2007 17:38:05 -0800

Some thoughts on pond edge guilds:

In general early spring inundation levels are a strong theshold that controls community composition... it seems that there is a dividing line between those species who can and can't live in low oxygen soils while their buds are breaking.

Visual inspection of soil in pits can provide lots of information about growing regime, and zoning your landscape (not permaculture zoning, but hydrologic zones.) Google: redoximorphic (AKA soil characteristics that result from low RedOx conditions (i.e. lack of oxygen).

Find a pond with similar hydrology and emulate the patterns you see there.

Generally the deeper in the pond you get, composition is driven by tolerance of low oxygen soils, while higher up composition is controlled by competition.

long spring inundation followed by summer drawdown creates an opportunity for annuals (wild rice?) particularly where accompanied by sediment deposition.

Get familiar with you inundation patterns, establish markers to help you keep track -- some categories from my region:
1. only flooded in winter.
2. periodic flooding during early growing season (no more than a few days)
3. frequently flooded during early growing season (enough duration to create low oxygen spells).
4. long term early growing season flooding (only true wetalnd plants.)

when in doubt plant starts perpendicular to these bands of increasing inundation from dry to wet and watch for mortality.

Many wetland plants can tolerate more inundation stress once established then when recruiting... particularly from seed or cutting. Time planting to minimize inudation stress to give'em a chance to establish before the next inundation spell.

Checkout the wetland indicator species rating on the USDA plants website http://plants.usda.gov/ .. it is a useful way of classifying plant species based on the frequency with which naturalized populations are observed in wetlands. http://plants.usda.gov/wetland.html for searching and http://plants.usda.gov/wetinfo.html for interpretation. This approach doesn't pick up on subtleties but it is a great start -- then cross reference with your local ethnobotany.

In addition to cattail, there are sedges (Carex basketry) and bullrushes (Scirpus, mats) that provide good fiber. There are Iris' that have carbohydrate roots. Osiers (thin pliable branches) can be from willow but also dogwood (Cornus sericea; spring flooding but only once established). Crab apple (Malus; some spring flooding). Nettle (Urtica; capillary fringe).

A secondary cash product from a wet area may be cuttings from coppiced native shrubs that root well from stem cuttings that may be sold as 'live stakes' for restoration work... if you have a local 'conservation district' they should be able to familiarize you with local demand and species. By controlling stem age through systematic harvest, you can produce higher quality cuttings for field propagation than are available from wildcrafters (young stems are more likely to root than old stems in many species, and wildcrafters have a hard time controlling stem age.)... many species that are potentially field propagated from unrooted cuttings are not in the market.

I'd really like to hear folk's wet edge favorites... I'm starting in on my wet zones this winter.

Paul Cereghino



Lawrence F. London, Jr. wrote:

Lawrence F. London, Jr. wrote:

I would like to crenelate the pond's edge and install a variety of plantings that are native to my locale and will work well in an edge zone with nondescript plant material that may drift in and out, airborne, waterborne or waterborne. The water in the pond is high in nutrients and duckweed growing there now is flourishing even in this cole weather we are having.


That should read:

I would like to crenelate the shoreline of the pond and install a variety of
plantings that are native to my
locale that will work well in an edge zone with nondescript plant material
that may drift in and out, airborne,
waterborne or animal-borne. The water in the pond is high in nutrients and duckweed growing there now is flourishing even in this cold weather we are having.









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