BUFFERS: The Penn State Extension has written a reminder to take care of riparian buffers.

As spring starts to warm the air, it also warms the water and soil. It’s time for trees to start another season of growth. That includes young trees and shrubs planted in riparian buffers . These increasingly popular streamside plantings need a little maintenance attention this time of year. In order fulfill their role protecting and improving our local water quality, these young plants need to survive and become a mature, healthy forest. They face a lot of stress from their surrounding environment; competitive weeds, hungry predators, and simply being knocked over by weather and trampling.

In late winter and early spring, these young riparian buffer trees are particularly vulnerable to being uprooted and unprotected by the cycle of freezing and thawing soil. This is an ideal time of year to do a little buffer maintenance. Take a walk through your young buffer and look for evidence of trees that have been pushed up out of the ground. If you use tree tubes or shelters, the tubes and their stakes may be loose or leaning (or even completely fallen). Once spring is in full gear, weeds will start to grow quickly, and it will make your walk and your view of the trees that much harder.

As you walk, replant any young trees that now have exposed roots. Hammer loose stakes back into the ground and tighten their fasteners. Right any fallen or leaning tubes, as they are pulling your trees down too. Give the tubes a little twist into the soil to make a tight seal and keep hungry rodents out. Need a little more help with tree tube maintenance? The new Growing Great Buffers video series from Penn State Extension offers a convenient 2 minute video on maintaining tree tubes and shelters in your riparian buffer.