December 5: Volunteers Plant Willows in Lower Meramec Park

On Saturday December 5, 2020 volunteers participated in a socially-distanced willow staking event at Lower Meramec Park. Volunteers planted 600 willow stakes in the bank along the Meramec River within the park. This was the third willow staking event hosted by the Open Space Council at Lower Meramec Park. Volunteers first planted willows at Lower Meramec Park in 2019. During Saturday’s workday, volunteers planted willows to fill in the gaps between existing willows that were planted in spring 2020 and spring 2019.

In spring 2020, volunteers planted 660 willows, almost all of which “leafed out.”  See photo to the left of the leafy willows taken by OSC partner Great Rivers Greenway during a site visit in July 2020. To learn more about the willow staking process and why willows are used for stabilizing banks, read our Willow Staking Best Practices report here.

Thank you to our volunteers and a special thanks to our Community Stewardship Alliance partners: Forest ReLeaf, Great Rivers Greenway District, Missouri Botanical Garden, Missouri Department of Conservation, Missouri Master Naturalists Great Rivers Chapter, the Robert J. Trulaske, Jr. Family Foundation, St. Louis Audubon Society, St. Louis County Parks, St. Louis County Parks Foundation and Open Space Council members for their support!

See photos from the volunteer workday on December 5, 2020 day below!