Appendix B: Handling Plant Materials; Harvesting, Storing, and Installing Cuttings

Handling Plant Materials

• Collect plant materials and seeds within the watershed or local drainage basin at roughly the same elevation as the restoration site. Do not introduce nonnative or native plant materials and seeds from different gene pools.
  
  
• Know the genus and species of deciduous plants that grow well from cuttings before cutting.
  
  
• Collect cuttings when the plants are dormant.
  
  
• Plant dormant cuttings the same day or within 2 days after harvesting. Store cuttings in water or moist soil in a shaded area to prevent dehydration. (See Harvesting and Storing section.)
  
  
• Track where plant material was collected, the vigor of the material, and its survival rate. Manage good collection sites. Let personnel in other program areas know that this is a harvest area and that the plants have special uses.
  
  
• Transplant herbaceous plants from nearby banks immediately. Be careful not to take too much from any one spot.

Harvesting and Storing

Cuttings can be used within a day or two or stored through the winter.

• Harvest cuttings from branches that are at least 1 year old, but not older than 12 to 15 years. Do NOT cut branches with old, heavily furrowed bark, diseased or insect-infected growth, dead or broken branches, basal shoots, or suckers (Hoag 1994).
  
  
• Preserve the esthetics of the plant when taking cuttings. Do NOT cut off more than one-third of a single plant's branches. Avoid public-use sites, such as campgrounds, picnic areas, fishing sites, roadways, and so on (Hoag 1997).
  
  
• Cut dormant material for live stakes ¾- to 1- inch in diameter and straight. It is not unusual for a willow cutting to be 4 to 6 feet long (Hoag and others 2001).
  
  
• Shield cut branches from the sun at all times and keep them as cool as possible.
  
  
• Remove the apical bud at the top by cutting.
  
  
• Dip the top 1 to 3 inches of each post in a mixture of equal parts latex paint and water or paraffin to seal it. This decreases desiccation and identifies which end is the top (Hoag 1992).
  
  
• If necessary, store cuttings in a cool, dark place, such as a walk-in refrigerator, at between 34 and 45 degrees Fahrenheit, for several months. Wrap cuttings in burlap or peat to keep them damp.
  
  
• Move cuttings outside and soak the basal ends for at least 24 hours, and up to 14 days, before planting. This leaves cuttings well hydrated and causes the root buds to swell. Keep them moist and in the shade.

Installing Live Cuttings

• Install the basal end, not the top; the buds always angle upward.
  
  
• Insert the cutting into the ground without tearing the bark. The bark shields the cambium layer, the vascular system for the plant. The cutting will not survive if it is damaged when the bark is torn.
  
  
• Use a hydrodriller, or waterjet stinger, to install the cutting (live stake or live post) into the dry-season water table. A dead blow hammer can be used to install the cutting 3 to 5 feet deep if the soil is soft. Avoid splintering or mashing the top of a cutting with the hammer. There are several advantages to using the waterjet stinger (see appendix C). The waterjet saturates the soil so the cutting has moisture; the soil settles around the cutting, eliminating air pockets; and its use ensures that the bark and cambium layer on the cutting remain intact.
  
  
• Ensure good soil-to-stem contact or the cutting will dry out and fail to sprout.
  
  
• Work with a soil specialist to better understand limits and opportunities within the project area. Soil types and textures determine what vegetation will thrive in a particular area.

Resources for Appendix B

Hoag, J. Chris. 1992. Use of willow and cottonwood cuttings for vegetation shorelines and riparian areas. Riparian/ Wetland Project Information Series No. 3. Aberdeen, ID: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Natural Resources Conservation Service, Plant Materials Center.

Hoag, J. Chris. 1993. Selection and acquisition of woody plant species and materials for riparian corridors and shorelines. Riparian/Wetland Project Information Series No. 2. Aberdeen, ID: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Natural Resources Conservation Service, Plant Materials Center.

Hoag, J. Chris. 1994. How to plant willows and cottonwood dormant pole cuttings for riparian rehabilitation. Riparian/Wetland Project Information Series No. 4. Aberdeen, ID: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Natural Resources Conservation Service, Plant Materials Center.

Hoag, J.C. 1997. Planning a project. Aberdeen, ID: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Natural Resources Conservation Service, Plant Materials Center; Riparian/Wetland Project Information Series No. 2. (ID# 1194). 13p.

Hoag, J. Chris; Simmonson, Boyd; Cornforth, Brent; St. John, Loren. 2001. Waterjet stinger: a tool to plant dormant unrooted cuttings of willows, cottonwoods, dogwoods, and other species. Riparian/Wetland Project Information Series No. 17. Aberdeen, ID: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Natural Resources Conservation Service, Plant Materials Center.