To protect the trees and shrubs! These five foot tall tubes protect trees and shrubs until they grow out of range of most hungry deer. Without this protection, most if not all trees and shrubs would not survive. The tubes also prevent rabbits, mice, beavers, and woodchucks from chewing on bark or eating very young plants. An additional benefit is that the plastic tubes act as a mini-greenhouse often being slightly warmer inside and extending the growing season of trees and shrubs.

Tubes protecting shrubs are blue OR green with a blue painted stake. These tubes will be removed soon after the shrubs are 6-12 inches above the top of the tube. At this point, shrubs should be established well enough to tolerate deer browse, and over the period of a few years, will transition away from the unnatural columnar shape from growing inside of a tube.

Tubes protecting trees are green and have no marker or paint on the stake. Tubes will remain on trees until trunks are large enough to break the shelter. The shelter provides some protection against beaver, as well as protecting against bucks rubbing antlers and damaging young trees.

The black fencing is a temporary feature primarily to protect planted wildflowers, grasses, and other herbs while they establish. All species selected to be planted or seeded in this project have some level of deer resistance, if not being outright poisonous or unpalatable to deer. Despite this, deer will often sample new plants that they’re not familiar with. This sampling pressure alone could be enough to kill young seedlings and thwart planting efforts. Once plants are established within these fenced areas, it is hoped that many of these species will be able to expand their range outside of fenced areas over time. These temporary fences will stay in place for 3-5 years depending upon establishment success.

Six fenced areas distributed throughout the project site were decided upon versus one large fence surrounding most or all of the site to reduce visual impact, and to keep trails unobstructed for visitors.

We employ Integrated Pest Management (IPM) tactics at Tifft Nature Preserve, which use herbicide only when other control options are impractical or when they would cause more harm than herbicide. Targeted treatments of Phragmites, buckthorn, and other invasive species are often the only successful way to control these plants, especially when they cover large areas and have long been established.

Other treatment methods have been considered including covering plants with fabric, excavating rhizomes, or cutting Phragmites below water level and drowning stems and rhizomes. However, all of these methods have insurmountable problems at the mosquito site, or would have harmful implications to other aspects of the marsh and swamp ecosystem.

When herbicides are used anywhere near trails or other public spaces, marked orange flags are always used to delineate treatment areas. While our rules require visitors to stay on trails, it is particularly important that visitors stay out of areas with orange flags marked for herbicide treatment.

We are planting a variety of tree and shrub species native to our region. Tree species are selected considering their appropriate fit in a seasonally flooded swamp community, their success in previous planting projects at Tifft, their wildlife value, and their tolerance of high pH conditions and polluted urban soils. Shrub species take into consideration the same factors, but deer browse resistance also carries more weight for this species. Species include, but are not limited to the list below:

• Quercus bicolor (swamp white oak)
• Quercus macrocarpa (burr oak)
• Acer rubrum (red maple)
• Acer saccharinum (silver maple)
• Tilia americana (American basswood)
• Salix nigra (black willow)
• Celtis occidentalis (hackberry)
• Sambucus canadensis (common elderberry)
• Ilex verticillata (winterberry holly)
• Cornus sericea  (red-osier dogwood)
• Zanthoxylum americanum (prickly-ash)
• Lindera benzoin (spicebush)
• Cephalanthus occidentalis (buttonbush)

Most of the plants in this project are being produced in a greenhouse at Silo City. Many of the plants are being grown from seed collected at Tifft or other local sites with permission. Silo City is using this greenhouse space to grow plants exclusively for their own use, or for this project. They are not growing plants for individual or retail sale.

Please spread the word about the importance of ecological management and restoration work! Additionally, we could always use volunteer help. Head to our volunteer webpage to get involved. We host volunteer workdays once or twice per week year-round.