Seed Growout Stations
A watershed conservation and education program

Riparian Buffers are an important part of stream health.  Composed of native trees and shrubs along water courses, they serve to trap pollutants from entering streams, prevent soil erosion, and provide habitat for wildlife.

Seed Growout Stations Provide schools with a way to enhance riparian buffersa by supplying a stock of trees and shrubs for streambank restoration projects.  Classes will learn about and design micro-nurseries where trees will be raised to eventually transplant along streams in the Catoctin Creek an Monocacy River watersheds of Maryland.

The Growout Stations will enable educators to teach hands-on environmental education without having to leave school grounds.  The values of environmental stewardship and community involvement will be instilled in students through the experiences if planting seeds and maintaining the Growout Stations.

A number of schools will be selected to plan and build a Seed Growout Station on campus.  Each site will yield approximately 250 seedlings.  Community Commons will assist teachers in preparing curricula or lessons that support the Growout Stations.  A spring and fall newsletter will be published and distributed to participating schools to give both teachers and students the opportunity to work in partnership and communicate regularly with one another.

Participants in the Seed Growout Stations Program will take part in native seed collection events in the fall.  The seeds will then be planted in containers in the schoolyard where they will be maintained and allowed to mature for 2 1/2 years.  Once they reach this age, they will be planted as part of streambank restoration projects.

The species of native trees and shrubs that will be raised in the micro-nurseries at each school may include:

To learn more about these plants,    

visit the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service Plants Database at http://plants.usda.gov