Watershed Texas

Creating a wetland from what looks like a construction site has been a lot of fun. We began with the planting of water lilies, and there were some full-body immersions as we planted in 3’-4’ feet of cool groundwater on a hot day.

Danny indicates the depth where he is planting water lilies. Photo: Jerry Hamby

We came back and planted the margins Saturday,  June 18, with 40 community volunteers. 2000 plants of 8 species were planted to establish the margin of the wetland.

Volunteers of all ages get right down to work. Photos: Jerry and Susan Hamby

Then we were at it again Saturday June 25 with plants for the intermediate areas of the wetland. A sudden storm with amazing gusts of wind soaked us and had us picking up the wreckage of some of our pop-up canopies.  But we cooled off in the rain and wanted to keep planting when the sun came out. Soon after, we saw the stormwater basin in action as about 6” of stormwater flowed in as we were planting, transforming a bare field into a wetland.

As the volunteer who traveled the furthest to join us, Cindy got to release one of the buckets of mosquito fish. These native fish, Gambusia affinis, eat mosquito larvae before they can become adults. Photo: Jerry Hamby

There were still some plants left waiting to go into the ground, so the following day Jerry Hamby, the driving force behind the tree nursery at Exploration Green, diverted his tree volunteers into planting in mud.

Would-be tree nursery volunteers get into the wetland. Photo: Jerry Hamby

Last Thursday, on the regular stormwater wetland workday, volunteers planted several hundred more plants, and we will do it again this Thursday until the rest of the remaining plants are in the ground.

Thursday volunteers. Photos: Danny Walton

The 4000 plants of 18 species provide a basic, fast-establishing wetland. On a smaller scale, we will continue adding species that can provide interest and habitat value, such as the aquatic milkweed/Asclepias perennis we are raising. We’ll also be checking for invasive species and making plans to monitor water quality.  We are looking forward to the next big planting event, when the second of the three sections of this first lake are completed.

Spider lilies bloom as if celebrating their release from a pot into the free range of the wetland. Photo: Jerry Hamby

Join the mailing list for more opportunities to plant stormwater wetlands: