Starlie Scarborough

Yes, the cottonwood is for shading purposes and habitat.  No lumbering involved.  They are chosen because they grow well next to a river.

The cooling of the river isn't what I'm analyzing, just the soil remediation, cottonwoods, and cottonwood sumbiotic relationship organisms.

Hi, sustainability student back again for some wisdom.
I have a Big Important Project analyzing how best to propagate trees along a river to shade and cool the water, with a focus on cottonwood trees.  I'm hoping to cover soil rehab with compost and cottonwood's plant and animal allies.  Covid-19 busted my plans of visiting relevant researchers and sites, so I have to restructure my project D:
The academic journals are a bit thin when it comes to this topic, so I wanted to know if anyone has any experience with planting trees along a river to lower the temps (or other reasons honestly), planting cottonwoods, soil rehabilitation, who gets along best with cottonwoods... tangentially related humorous anecdotes, I'll take anything at this point.
Thank you so much for reading.  I hope you're all staying safe and healthy.

Thank you Ms Reed!!  I'm feeling less anxious already

Hey, thanks Julie!  
I had taken cuttings from larger trees because I wasn't sure I could identify small trees with all the leaves off.   I checked the cuttings this morning and nothing has happened yet.  It's been almosyt two weeks, I've been keeping them in potting soil with a bag over to contain moisture--but I moved a few over to a glass vase.  Tomorrow I'll grab some more.  Do you know how long cottonwoods usually take to root?  That's really cool about willow boiling--if I have any, I'll grab some

Hi folks!  Y'all were so helpful when I had a hugelkultur project that I thought I'd post again for my capstone
There is a project in my city to plant cottonwoods and willows along a river, in order to cool the river down, since the temps are very high and stressing the fish and there's almost no shade.  My capstone project is about enhancing that re-treeing project since the success of their saplings is low.
I'm interested in anything from companion plants to composting techniques to mulching techniques to important riverside ecosystem considerations.... I've got a vermiculture started in my apartment and I'm taking cuttings from adult cottonwoods and trying to root them in potting soil (did the dilute honey/acv dip).  I was wondering if anyone had any particular insight into this type of project, whether it's a book or article or an old traditional way of doing things?  I've never tried to root cuttings before and never tried a vermiculture either.  
Thanks so much for your time <3

Shawn - thank you for the encouragement!  It's much better to start now that I'm sure I know what I'm doing.

Mike - thank you so much for the warm welcome 😊

TJ - that is so cool, thanks for the info!  It's also really funny because one of the teachers of this class talked EVERY day about a drywall project he was doing and never mentioned this.  I'll be able to teach him something.

Pearl - thank you!! I was curious about the red wigglers because someone else had said they weren't strictly native, but I didn't think it would hurt to add worms because... Worms good right??  I'm going to get some today.  

Caleb - thanks for the tip!  Sounds like they're mowing the grass outside and they always trash the grass clippings so I'll have a bunch.

Jincy - good tips, we're in this together.  It sucks we have to hide what we do -.-  I do have a little bird feeder but I haven't had any takers yet.  The hummingbird feeder gets way more action.  Maybe they'll come with the flowers.

Josh - it's more of a pale grey or white clay... I bought tons of white clover and they didn't come up until months later when I was spot composting/coffee grounds scattering.  Hopefully they keep coming.  I don't think I can get away with tilling but I have had luck whacking it with a claw hammer!  


So thank you to everyone, your advice and encouragement really got me off the couch and into the ground.  I picked up a bunch of sticks on the road, mushy blossoms in gutters, and grass clippings.  I dug a hole with a claw hammer, screwdriver, and finally shovel... Did the water test to show it is mostly clay, partial sand, and almost no organic matter.  I also buried some ripped cotton fabric, compost, and watered it with half full water bottle litters I found.    Then I covered it up and it's almost flush with the ground!  Today I think I'll look for flowers to transplant or try to find seeds? However that happens?  I'll keep you updated!

hi folks!  I'm a student who has been lurking this forum for ideas and tips.  I have a Permaculture project that is very open ended and I was hoping to get some guidance.

I have a similar situation to https://permies.com/t/26116/Heavy-Clay-Soil with medium dog activity, erosion, and patchy grass, on a hill.  The soil is so hard that I resort to stabbing it with a screwdriver to make a break and that sometimes doesn't work.  I am composting but I'm not sure if the nutrients are getting in past the hard crust... If that makes sense.

 I'm trying to do a hugelkultur type thing, but in a subtle way since the landlord is allowing but suspicious of gardening activity.  (so I'm thinking, a deeper dig but less rise, coffee grounds covering all the compost, etc)  I don't have a lot of money so my idea is scavenging fallen branches, grass clippings, and compost, putting them in the ground, adding bait shop worms, and transplanting wildflowers on top from the nearby field.  My goal is to restore this area for bees and small animals.

Do you think this would improve the nutrients in the soil?  Is this Permaculture? Any ideas?  Thank you so much for reading, my class wasn't really thorough and I don't feel sufficiently informed 😥