It has been two years since the east side of the stretch of Little Swamp Creek that flows through our yard was re-planted with a riparian zone of native streamside plants, and one year since the west side was planted. It's about time for some before and after photos to show off the success.
Here's what's happened on the east side of the stream -
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| The south half of the eastern bank, right after planting in 2009 |
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| The south half of the eastern bank, two years later |
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| Looking in from outside the front fence in 2009 |
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| Looking in from outside the front fence now |
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| Looking north from mid-yard in 2009 |
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| Looking north from mid-yard today |
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| The back corner in 2009 |
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| The back corner in 2011 |
And the west side of the stream -
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| Looking north right after planing in 2010 |
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| Looking north in 2011 |
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| Looking south in 2009 |
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| Looking south today |
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| Northwest section right after planting |
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| Northwest section now |
We added some new mulch on the west side of the stream earlier this spring, both because it was a little thinner over there and because we lost some mulch in one particularly dramatic flooding event this winter.
Some of the plants are starting to spread out via runners -
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| Thimbleberry runners |
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| Salmonberry runners |
Unfortunately the deer that periodically pass through like to nibble on the red-flowering current and the red twig dogwood plants, but they haven't done too much damage -
