Feeds:
Posts
Comments

Wetland Economic Benefits on the Upper Texas Gulf Coast: A Workshop

March 24, 2015 by Mary Carol Edwards

WEBenefitsFlyer_v5

Posted in Uncategorized | Leave a Comment »

New wetlands created for Pearland

March 11, 2015 by Mary Carol Edwards

Photo Marissa Sipocz

Families enjoy planting the floating wetlands. Photo by Marissa Sipocz

The Pearland Wetland Awareness event was a success!  We planted 1200 plants on the 20 floating wetlands, and made about 400 plant balls to set in the deeper water around the islands. We also made thousands of seedballs for future use on the slopes of the site. There were 17 species of native coastal prairie wildflowers and grasses in the seedball mix. Over ninety people joined us on Saturday.

Those were the numbers. Now if you take a look at the photos from the Pearland Parks and Recreation Department’s Facebook page, you will see how enjoyable it was to take part! See Planting the wetlands on Saturday and launching the floating wetlands on the following Tuesday.

These wetlands set the stage for improved wildlife habitat on the site of the future Pearland Nature Center, and demonstrate water quality improvement techniques for stormwater runoff. Stay tuned for Phase 2 of the wetland planting!

plant balls_SM

Volunteers make “plant balls” to weigh down and protect wetland plants that tolerate deeperconditions. Photos by Marissa Sipocz

seedballs_SM

These seedballs containing a mix of locally collected prairie species will be scattered on the banks of the pond at a future date. Photo by Marissa Sipocz

Posted in children in nature, native plants, stormwater wetlands | Tagged , , , , | Leave a Comment »

Pearland Wetland Awareness Day offers two unusual ways to plant a wetland

February 26, 2015 by Mary Carol Edwards

Volunteers can kick off a first phase of wetlands at the future site of the Pearland Nature Center, March 7 and 8. We are planting and launching a string of floating wetlands for water quality and habitat, plus preparing and placing “bulrush balls” (and other species) in the 12″ to 24″ depths around the pond’s islands. For more information and to register, go to http://www.pearlandtx.gov/wetland
PearlandWetlandPlanting_Flyer

Posted in stormwater wetlands | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment »

Natural mosquito control in the wetland nursery

December 11, 2014 by Mary Carol Edwards

Mosquito season is over for now, but even when it’s in full swing, we don’t get a lot of bites as we work in the wetland nursery.  I am often asked what we do to control mosquitoes in our wetland nursery at Exploration Green.

1280px-Gambusia_affinis

This little fish, Gambusia affinis, is our first line of defense against mosquitoes in the wetland nursery.

Mosquito fish, or Gambusia minnows, are by far the most efficient natural predators of mosquitoes. They are utilized by some mosquito control districts across the country. We collected ours in nearby ditches and set them loose in the nursery ponds, where they rapidly breed schools of hungry fish. Continue Reading »

Posted in environmentally friendly landscaping, stormwater wetlands, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , | Leave a Comment »

Back into the water at Clear Creek ISD schools

November 5, 2014 by Mary Carol Edwards

Two of the many stormwater wetland program events in September and October involved our partners at Clear Creek ISD and the University of Houston Clear Lake’s EIH. I can tell you a little about each one, but photos say it best! Check them out at the Flickr links below.

20141012_135423

Replanting the Floating Wetlands

To make up for the damage caused by the nutria invasion last year, we replanted the floating wetlands as an experiment to see which species nutria would avoid. We also planted test plots of these species along the shore, including some species we know they do eat, as experimental controls. Sixty nine students and community members came out to work on a gorgeous Sunday afternoon, October 12.

See all the photos and upload your own to the Flickr photo pool.

 

20140927_093728

Habitat Garden Day at Ed White Elementary

Much pruning, planting and raking was done to spruce up the garden after a long summer, and best of all for the stormwater wetland program,  plants were collected from the overgrown ponds. The plants are being propagated in the wetland nursery at Exploration Green, and can be reused on school and community wetland projects.

See all the photos and upload your own to the Flickr photo pool.

Thanks to all who showed up to help and made these events fun!

Posted in Bay-friendly, children in nature, Galveston Bay, native plants, science, stormwater, stormwater wetlands | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment »

« Newer Posts - Older Posts »