Planting Services
Good planters can make or break a large restoration project. In addition to proper planting technique, appropriate planting layout is also key to project success.
Planning
Deploying large numbers of professional planters takes plenty of planning. Coordinating the arrival of plants, setting up storage locations, and getting the planters acquainted with the site requires a great deal of oversight and strong organizational skills.
High-volume planting teams are accustomed to travel and working in new locations. Some teams travel from planting site to planting site throughout the planting season.
Technique
High-volume planting should be performed by experienced professionals. The work is hard and requires both focus and stamina to maintain consistent planting quality. Correct planting technique can have a major impact on the survival rate of the planted material. Even sensitive young bareroot plantings can have survival rates in excess of 90% if carefully and correctly planted.
The role of the lead ecologist or project manager is critical to coaching and maintaining good planting technique from the first day to the last.
Teamwork
The best high-volume planting teams are accustomed to working with each other and can rotate themselves through the high-intensity and low intensity roles, keeping everyone fresh and safe.
Several support roles are normally part of a high-volume planting team, including runners, counters, and quality control. The project manager has the overall responsibility for planting quality and often splits their time between planting and managing.
Layout
Perhaps the most important role on a high-volume planting team is the lead ecologist, who can also be the project manager. The lead ecologist’s role is to personally lay out most of the plants into the exact spot they should be planted, to maximize their habitat potential, their natural aesthetic, and their survivability.
Layout follows the contours of the land and the moisture content of the soil. The lead ecologist has the master plan for what the site will become clearly in their mind at all times.
Quality Control
Even the best planters can get tired or make mistakes. Therefore, each day, a team leader will audit the day’s work, replanting any plant that doesn’t meet our planting quality standards. It is far less costly to build quality into the initial planting than to return and replant under warranty.
Precision Planting
Some contexts, such as wetland planting, require particular awareness and precision. Wetland species are highly sensitive to water depth and should be planted in bands representing each 6″ elevation change.
High-volume wetland plantings require surveying equipment to clearly delineate each planting depth, appropriate species selection for each elevation change, and the planting team to be constantly aware of the depth that they are working in.
