Plants for Wetlands

If you prefer to establish plants, you can achieve a natural look by using a mix of native trees, shrubs, and herbaceous plants. Select plants based on the duration and amount of soil saturation, light exposure, soil pH, and climate. Most wetland plants do not require standing water to grow successfully; in fact, many will thrive in areas that appear dry most of the growing season. Plants that are naturally found along water edges, such as river birch, are especially adapted to fluctuating water and moisture levels and can survive in conditions that range from flood to near drought.

We have provided a list of native perennial plants that will grow in moderately wet to wet soils. If the species tolerates periodic flooding in natural conditions, equivalent to inundation or standing water for several days at a time, it is noted in the remarks. The plants were selected based on their ornamental characteristics, wildlife value, and commercial availability. It is always best to buy locally grown nursery stock because it will be adapted to your climatic conditions.

Watch Out for Invasives

Whether you are establishing plants or allowing natural regeneration to occur, invasive plants can be a problem and should be immediately removed. For more information, consult the guide by SRS research ecologist Jim Miller, Nonnative Invasive Plants of Southern Forests at www.invasive.org/eastern/srs/.

Buffers for Your Farm or Ranch

Also referred to as vegetative filter strips and barriers, contour strips, field borders, and riparian zones, buffers are generally accepted management practices to improve water quality on cropland. Buffers effectively reduce water pollution from agricultural runoff by trapping sediment and dissolved pollutants, and interacting with ground-water pollutants. Although all buffers perform these functions, their individual effectiveness may differ considerably from site to site; in fact, SRS scientists have recently found that a buffer may not function equally well in all locations. Characteristics of the land—soil type, slope, and hydrology—impact the efficiency of a buffer.

Get the Biggest Bang for Your Buffer

SRS scientists developed a method that uses soil surveys to identify better locations for protecting streamwater quality with vegetated buffers. Soil surveys were chosen because they contain the topographic, soil, and hydrologic characteristics that determine the function of a buffer.

Three separate models were developed: (1) a surface runoff model for sediment, (2) a surface runoff model for dissolved pollutants, and (3) a ground-water model for dissolved pollutants. Each model uses the soil map unit information in soil surveys, and translates it into estimates of how well a vegetated buffer would perform in each soil map unit. If you’re considering installing a buffer on your farm or ranch, these results can guide you to locations where buffers are likely to have a greater impact on water quality, and steer you away from those where impact is likely to be small. Stay tuned: SRS is using this research to develop “A Buffer Rating Tool” for landowners that will soon be available online. (See page 34 for the article cited.)

Don’t Know Your Soil Type?

Soil surveys are comprehensive reports that contain detailed information on all of the soils found in your county or parish. They are available online at www.websoilsurvey. nrcs.usda.gov.