Case Study: Doty Ravine Restoration
Last year we contract grew nearly 6,000 plants—all natives—for a restoration project in Placer County. In November, 2008, we installed the plants on 20 acres of land. The land is owned by Placer Land Trust, and the project was done by Westervelt Ecological Services, whom we are providing our products and services to. During the previous winter, we started collection seed on-site for some of the trees. We propagated and grew the plants during this past growing season.
The project utilized all RPM® grown plants. RPM®, or Root Production Method, is a growing process that develops a plant with a high fibrous root system that is vigorous and establishes very quickly. High Ranch is the sole licensed grower on the West Coast that uses this process. In the Midwest, where RPM® grown native trees are specified for restoration projects, success rate from plantings are almost 100%, as opposed to less than 40% survival for conventionally grown plants.
4,200 trees in squat 3 gallon, 500 shrubs in squat 1 gallon, and 1,000 Carex barbarae (Santa Barbara sedge) were planted. The RPM method of growing the high fibrous root system requires the use of containers with a squat shape to accommodate the wider root system.
The installation took nineteen days with a crew of five. The system of installation included installing tree mat weed barriers and protective tree tubes. Only the grasses, which were from 4” pots, did not get the mat and tube. Before we started the installation, Mark Nitta, our Facilities Manager, rigged a watering system consisting of a 1,000 gallon tank mounted on flatbed truck, along with a generator/pump setup, to water the plants. This provided a way to thoroughly water in the plants, which is the important first step in plant establishment.
Photos from Doty Ravine Restoration
