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Wetland restoration

Wet Meadows

If the water table is at or just below the soil surface, the hydrological conditions are appropriate for the formation of wet meadow species. Removing topsoil and then allowing meltwater to flood the low lying depression will provide the framework for wet meadows. New meadows adjacent with ponds are ideal leopard frog foraging sites. At the earliest successional stage toads will exploit the warm shallow water.

The preservation of wet meadows require management of invasive woody shrub species such as dogwood or willow. These can form dense stands that shade out the meadow understory.

Cutting by hand or with mowers will reduce, but not eliminate, the spread of these species. A shrub layer is an important component of many meadows and you can plan to confine shrubs where they can be maintained and managed without invading the whole meadow. However, meadows are transitional and will likely form shrub thickets, and eventually forests over time


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