Fall Greetings

The concept of gleaning plants prior to development to landscape one's gardens with resource-efficient plants, while digging on behalf of local habitat projects is one way to get ahead of the lagging economy. Thanks to continued support from Lee Fellenberg, our web manager. I am happy to welcome a number of new people to our event announcement outreach at the same time that we continue to reach nearly 100 program participants with salvaging opportunities.

We educate program participants about the identity and values of native plants.  Plants salvaged by NPSA volunteers are sometimes utilized in habitat restoration projects and education displays; others are used in commercial and residential landscapes.  We only ask that plants are re-installed in habitats that resemble the one from which they originated.

NPSA events are free to people of all ages*; kids under the age of 16 are welcome with adult supervision. Non-deductible donations are requested to defray travel expenses and promotional overhead.

NPSA provides tools, wheelbarrows, gloves and food.  Volunteers are invited to bring their own, if they prefer.  Volunteers should dress in layers to accommodate wet and chilly weather, and should wear heavy foot wear to trundle through the woods.  Volunteers must bring some means of transporting the plants they take with them from the site (truck, trailer, tarps, pots, burlap bags, nursery flats/pots, are all useful).

If your organization has a planting event and you wish to use salvaged native plant materials that will thrive in shade, consider a partnership with the NPSA.  You'll want to invite your volunteers to join us and to bring containers and vehicles with which to transport plants that volunteers dig.

For more information, please contact Anna Thurston,  Volunteer Coordinator:

Heavy, closed-toe shoes are a good idea as well. Don't forget to bring containers and drop clothes in/on which to transport the plants you dig!

Plastic crates, pots or tote boxes are all good. Plastic bags will work, but can suffocate your plants, especially if you don't replant what you have salvaged right away.

WHAT TO DIG: In addition to digging mostly ferns, look for plants that are no taller than your shoulders (or shorter). Avoid evergreen plants since they typically don't survive salvaging even in the winter months. This is often because they have leaves that dry out easily, and roots that are hard to find, and which don't readily grow back. Always aim to keep the SOIL around your salvaged plants's roots INTACT rather than exposing  plant roots to the air.

WHERE TO PLANT IT: Be thinking about re-installing whatever you salvage before air and soil temperatures freeze. Until you plant, be sure to keep your plants in cool shade, while keeping the roots / soil moist (but NOT wet!). SOME AIR in the soil is instrumental to root survival, but so is minimal disturbance. Be sure to note the environment from which you salvaged your plants. Was it a sunny or shady location? Was the soil wet, dry or mucky, sloped flat or buried under a healthful layer of forest moss and duff? When you become aware of these details and then copy or emulate them, you'll have greater success.

Add to your finished plantings a 1" layer of organic compost and then a 2-6"

layer of under woody mulch (better than bark chips) AROUND your planting holes (but not up to their stems, and barely over the roots to avoid rot and suffocation), and you'll have much better survival plus enhanced weed control, temperature moderation, improved water-holding, slow release fertility... the benefits are almost endless.

CARING FOR YOUR PLANTS: To further ensure plant survival (and your happiness), you will want to water your new plantings periodically through the entire first, and possibly through the second growing season, to keep plant roots moist, but not wet. Drip systems may be the way to go if you cannot personally apply water on a regular basis.

For more information, please contact Anna Thurston,  Volunteer Coordinator: