Spring is sweeping in, bringing warm weather and lots of great stewardship happenings with it! Kicking off along with Spring is the second cohort in partnership with PowerCorpsPHL, Tookany/Tacony-Frankford Watershed, and RNP. These great partnerships all work together to tend to 18 miles of urban watershed parks and provide direct experience in urban forestry to 18-30 year olds who are currently un- or underemployed. They’re already off to an incredible start doing lots of great work in the parks. Recently and notably, they’ve been out collecting and installing live stakes.

So, what’s a live stake? In short, they’re cuttings from live plants that are then put back into the ground to combat erosion and aid in soil restoration, reintroducing plant life to critical areas in the process.

The team has recently harvested and reinstalled over 50 of these live stakes (Redtwig Dogwoods, to be specific) that will eventually grow into 6 to 8 foot shrubs, absorbing excess water and keeping the edges of ponds intact for longer.

This is just the latest project that these partnerships have worked on – they can often be found out in the parks planting new trees, shrubs, and tons of general maintenance to keep our beautiful spaces beautiful. Thank you to PowerCorpsPHL, Tookany/Tacony-Frankford Watershed, Philadelphia Parks & Recreation, and the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation. Working together is working toward a healthy shoreline and recreational spaces for the community!