Armstrong Native Plant
Restoration Projects
by Krista Munger
With help from PRLC’s Summer 2014
Intern Team
PRLC’s Summer 2014 Intern Team
Ryland B.
Graduating senior at John Jay High School, Cross River NY
Nick D.
Graduating senior at Fox Lane High School, Bedford NY
Shawn D.
Sophomore at Stamford High School Agriscience Program
Chris M.
Graduating senior at Fox Lane High School, Bedford NY
Olivia P.
Junior at Marist College, Poughkeepsie NY
Kadijah S.
Junior at Manhattanville College, Purchase NY
Armstrong’s Hub: the Working Backyard
demonstrates how we can live lighter on the
land by using sustainable practices at home,
like growing organic food and landscaping
with native plants to feed wildlife.
Compost area
Native plant gardens
for sun and shade
Is it ok to collect plants from the wild?
Mayapple - Yes
Ladyslipper orchid - NO
Some plants will not survive transplanting because
they have fragile roots or are specially adapted to
their microenvironment. Start from seed.
Native Plant Seedlings
We attempt to replicate natural conditions for germinating seed, so we sow in
late fall and store the seed trays outdoors for the winter. In spring, we
separate the seedlings into individual containers and head-start them in a
simple homemade greenhouse. We plant in June and October.
Fencing is required to protect from deer.
Deer, like all wildlife, relish many of our native plants.
Even plants that are considered “deer-resistant” are
vulnerable to browsing until they are established.
Interns fenced and planted twelve
native habitats in 2014:
1. Edge garden ~ 100𝑓𝑡 2
2. Part sun garden ~ 30 𝑓𝑡 2
3. Shade garden ~ 375 𝑓𝑡 2
4. Silky dogwoods ~ 12 𝑓𝑡 2
5. Windbreak ~ 350 𝑓𝑡 2
6. Hillside house garden ~ 20 𝑓𝑡 2
7. Winterberry ~ 100 𝑓𝑡 2
8. Vernal pool ~ 440 𝑓𝑡 2
9. Meadow Silky dogwood ~ 58 𝑓𝑡 2
10. Meadow Willows ~ 36 𝑓𝑡 2
11. Meadow Berm ~ 78 𝑓𝑡 2
12. Deer Exclosure ~ 11,800 𝑓𝑡 2
Total area fenced ~ 13,400 𝑓𝑡 2
Sunny Garden Site
Plan for Native
Plant Garden
in Sunny Sites
Shade Garden Site
Planted in 2014: Christmas fern, Interrupted fern, Marginal wood fern,
Pennsylvania sedge, Broadleaf sedge, Solomon’s Seal, Mayapple,
Trillium, Wild Ginger, Tall meadow rue, Wood aster, Wild strawberry.
A Native Plant Garden for Shady Sites with Acid Soils
Looking forward to spring
ephemerals in
the Shade Garden
Interns installed a deer-proof fence at the vernal pool to protect native Spicebush and
new plantings. They also planted young trees in the green tubes pictured here.
Ryland’s rough map showing what focal plants survived our first planting (June 2014) at the
vernal pool. Planting resumed in the fall with the addition of Silky dogwood and Figwort.
Willow Plot in a wet section of the meadow:
Willow, Red osier dogwood, Swamp milkweed, Monkey flower,
Ironweed, Joe Pye weed, Woodland sunflower, Pokeweed
This photo was taken at planting time. Updates will be posted in 2015.
Dogwood and Bayberry along the Meadow Edge
We are working to replace non-native Japanese barberry with a mix of native shrubs along the
meadow edge. These plots hold Silky dogwood, Northern bayberry, Joe Pye weed, Wood aster,
Early goldenrod, and Woodland sunflower.
In the Armstrong meadow, we planted a Sycamore near a dying Ash tree, as a future
perch for birds using the nest box.
Our Work Continues…
Volunteers and interns are crucial to
the success of our restoration projects
in all phases.
Mile a minute
Disturbed soil is rapidly colonized by
invasive non-native species like those
pictured here. All planted zones, and
the areas around them, will be have to
be monitored and weeded to prevent
their establishment.
Stilt grass
Additional native species will be added
as they become available in our on-site
propagation lab and nursery.