Eco-Restoration Journey Week 11: Here come the plants!

It’s planting time at Harwich Conservation Trust’s Hinckleys Pond — Herring River Eco-Restoration Project. Hundreds of plants in one-gallon buckets are expected to arrive at the site next week, and work crews with shovels will get busy finding them new homes.

“The wetland plants are going in next week and the week after,” said Nick Nelson, Senior Geomorphologist and Northeast Regional Director for Inter-Fluve, the engineering firm that helped craft the design of the project. “We’ll be planting native species that can survive in the soil and hydrologic conditions we have here.”

Nelson said the roster of plants will be similar to those used at HCT’s recently-completed Cold Brook Eco-Restoration Project in Harwich Port.

Plants await planting during Harwich Conservation Trust’s Cold Brook Eco-Restoration Project in Harwich Port in 2024. Similar plants are headed for the ongoing Hinckleys Pond — Herring River Headwaters Eco-Restoration Project. Photo by Gerry Beetham

Different plants for different areas

The Hinckleys Pond project includes the restoration of two retired cranberry bogs. These former bog areas are headed for a future as a shrub fen wetland.

Fen isn’t a word that most folks are familiar with, so we turned to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency for this definition:

“Fens are peat-forming wetlands that receive nutrients from sources other than precipitation: usually from upslope sources through drainage from surrounding mineral soils and from groundwater movement. Fens differ from bogs because they are less acidic and have higher nutrient levels. Therefore, they are able to support a much more diverse plant and animal community.”

Plants destined for the shrub fen wetland areas include highbush blueberry, sweet pepperbush, winterberry holly, elderberry and mountain laurel.

Other areas in the project site include upland, forested wetland and a transitional zone.

In the area to become forested wetland, Atlantic white cedar saplings will be planted, along with shrubs that include highbush blueberry and sweet pepperbush. Upland transitional zone plantings include pitch pine, northern red oak and scrub oak, as well as bearberry, black huckleberry and bayberry.

Wetland plants are slated to be put in the ground over the next couple of weeks, while upland planting will take place in the fall. A total of 1,080 plants are expected to be planted at the project site.

A potent native seed bank

But there are other things “growing on” in the former bog areas. When sand was removed and the ground was turned over (a process called microtopography), a native seed bank dormant for over a century was exposed to the light and moisture conditions needed for germination and growth.

Evidence of this growth, referred to informally as the “green fuzz” by design and construction staff, is beginning to overspread the restored wetland surface.

In a recent appearance on WCAI-FM’s “The Point” radio show, Chris Neill, Senior Scientist at the Woodwell Climate Research Center in Falmouth, elaborated on how the seed process works in ecologically restored former cranberry bogs. “What we’ve found is that there’s this enormous already-buried seed bank in the soil,” he said. “All you have to do is mix them up a bit and make them a little wetter and you get this flush of native and wetland adapted plants.”

Once unleashed, the variety of this new plant life is considerable. “That moist soil system is just sort of this magic formula for producing this enormous diversity of wetland plants,” said Neill on WCAI. “In terms of plant diversity, these recently created restored wetlands are some of the most diverse plant communities we have in the entire state of Massachusetts.”

The powerful combination of the seed bank and upcoming plantings should transform the site quickly. “By August you should see a pretty consistent greening,” said Jonathan Gawrys, Team Lead for SumCo Eco-Contracting, who is working at the site.

Planting underway during Harwich Conservation Trust’s Cold Brook Eco-Restoration Project in Harwich Port in 2024. Photo by Gerry Beetham

Project refresher

The Hinckleys Pond – Herring River Headwaters Eco-Restoration Project includes the restoration of two retired cranberry bogs that bookend 174-acre Hinckleys Pond in Harwich, at the headwaters of the Herring River estuary and immediately downstream of river herring spawning habitat in Long Pond and Seymour Pond.

By the late 1990s, much larger off-Cape bogs were producing an extra supply of cranberries that caused the price to fall. This shift in the industry made it more difficult for some local growers to continue farming.

In 2021, thanks to generous donors, HCT was able to purchase the 31-acre retired bog area from the Jenkins family. If not preserved, the forested upland along Headwaters Drive and Rt. 124 could have been converted into a subdivision which would have impacted pond health and closed off the popular spot to the public.

The project also seeks to improve shoreline habitat of Hinckleys Pond, which is a herring spawning pond. The Brown family, who owns a retired bog on the other side of the pond, is also partnering with HCT on the project. The partnership eco-effort aims to increase biodiversity, restore freshwater wetland habitat and enhance recreational opportunities.

The eco-restoration project was funded by HCT donors, the Brown family, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Southeast New England Program (SNEP) Watershed grant, EPA National Estuary Program Coastal Watershed grant under cooperative agreement with Restore America’s Estuaries, Massachusetts Department of Conservation & Recreation MassTrails grant, foundation funds through the Association to Preserve Cape Cod, and a Transformational Habitat Restoration & Coastal Resilience grant through the National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration.

—Click here for more on HCT’s eco-restoration projects.

—Sign up for HCT eNews, a great way to stay in the loop about exciting HCT events, guided walks and other interesting news.

—Your tax-deductible contributions help fulfill the mission of the Harwich Conservation Trust to preserve land that protects woods, water, wildlife and our shared quality of life. And your land-saving financial support helps us preserve beautiful properties that can become stellar trail destinations. Find out how to donate by clicking here.