{"id":44421,"date":"2025-04-17T17:05:29","date_gmt":"2025-04-17T21:05:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/dnr\/?p=44421"},"modified":"2025-04-17T17:05:29","modified_gmt":"2025-04-17T21:05:29","slug":"live-staking-how-to-plant-hundreds-of-trees-fast-using-branches-from-your-backyard","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/dnr\/2025\/04\/17\/live-staking-how-to-plant-hundreds-of-trees-fast-using-branches-from-your-backyard\/","title":{"rendered":"Live Staking: How To Plant Hundreds of Trees Fast, Using Branches from Your Backyard"},"content":{"rendered":"

Technique takes advantage of tree biology\u2014try it in these wet areas<\/span><\/i>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Volunteers<\/a>

Participants in an environmental workforce training program snap branches off a dogwood to create live stakes. Parts of the branches will be planted as new trees. Photo by Winn Brewer\/DNR<\/p><\/div>\n

Trees are a great tool for restoration\u2014they store carbon, provide habitat for wildlife, and prevent erosion with their root systems.<\/span><\/p>\n

But some types of trees hold a trick within their biology that makes them even more effective, a kind of shortcut that allows people to quickly fill an area with new plantings.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cTrees are expensive,\u201d said Zach Cline, live stake coordinator with the Chesapeake Conservancy. \u201cLive staking is a great way to get them really cheap, and plant hundreds of trees with only a few hours of time.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Rather than planting a seed or a sapling in the soil, live staking involves taking a cutting of a branch or stem and driving it into the ground. Each stake\u2014they must still be alive, hence \u201clive\u201d staking\u2014will then grow roots and eventually become an individual tree.<\/span><\/p>\n

Though there\u2019s something almost magical to full trees sprouting from stakes, the process is a longstanding technique that takes advantage of reproductive strategies of trees in areas of high disturbance. Cline said that trees such as willows and dogwoods evolved to propagate not only from seeds but also with stems and branches that take root when they fall off a tree.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Bundles<\/a>

Bundles of live stakes from willow trees sit ready to be stored and later planted. Photo by Joe Zimmermann\/DNR<\/p><\/div>\n

Live staking doesn\u2019t work everywhere. It\u2019s more successful with certain types of trees adapted to wetlands (willows, dogwoods, elderberry, buttonbush, alders, and sycamores) and in wetter areas where stakes can get a lot of moisture. Live stakes can be beneficial along streambanks, where they help against erosion, as well as for urban or agricultural areas.<\/span><\/p>\n

With the right conditions, live staking can be very successful. Chesapeake Conservancy carries out <\/span>live staking projects<\/span><\/a> throughout the region, and they\u2019ve had planting areas where 90 percent of stakes grow into trees, Cline said.<\/span><\/p>\n

In March, the Maryland Department of Natural Resources hosted a live staking training event at Pearlstone Retreat Center, an environmental education center in Reisterstown, Baltimore County. The Chesapeake Conservancy led the training, which brought in staff and volunteers from several local organizations.<\/span><\/p>\n

DNR and the Greater Baltimore Wilderness Coalition support a workforce development program called the <\/span>Climate Crew Network<\/span><\/a>. Emily Morrow, green jobs network coordinator with DNR\u2019s Office of Outdoor Recreation, said these trainings are aimed at helping people gain skills for green jobs, but they also offer other benefits.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cPart of that workforce development is getting exposure to a lot of different environmental fields,\u201d Morrow said. \u201cSo learning how to live stake might be environmental education and it might be community engagement, but it\u2019s also showing people the value of being outside and why that\u2019s good for your physical and mental health.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n