Welcome to my beloved little plot of land, which I like to call the future 8th wonder of the world, but others might commonly know it as “Somewhere on the Winooski River”. I can’t wait to revisit this lil slice of heaven throughout the seasons and drag you along with me! Grab your binoculars and your best hiking boots because things are about to get ABSOLUTELY wild! (wild as in ‘growing in nature’, because I doubt this river gets lit)
Where is this mysterious location? Where are any of us really? Apparently along the Winooski River! I’m not really sure how and why I picked this plot of land, I just started walking along the trail at Salmon Hole and chose a small riverbank with the best vibes and prettiest landscape (and apparently a nearby sewage treatment plant). If you want to share in the wonder of Winooski River, simply hitch a ride over to Salmon Hole (about a 30-minute walk from UVM campus) and walk a bit over a mile of the Riverwalk Trail. When it feels right (or you can smell the barbeque joint), you have arrived…
Description of Vegetation
I hope you guys like Boxelder trees because we have LOTS of them here. If you’re looking for rich tree species diversity, you should probably keep looking… because the most common woody plants close to the riverbank area are mostly Boxelders, Sugar Maples, Red Maples, and Silver Maples. If you venture further away from the bank, you may find the occasional basswood or green ash, but the maple family takes the cake for the most abundant. There aren’t a whole lot of woody plants, since a decent chunk of my plot is a riverbank.
The vegetation along the bank is comprised of scattered medium-height grasses, aster flowers, goldenrod, dogbanes, and other short/shrubby plants that can tolerate flooding (they are right in the floodplain after all) And beware of the notorious and very invasive Japanese knotweed! Don’t let their pretty white flowers deceive you; these guys are no joke when it comes to driving out the native species. Check out the iNaturalist links below if you want the full inside scoop.
INaturalist Links!
And that’s all for now folks! Here is a little preview of my little corner of Winooski River but expect many more digital camera pictures coming soon! I can’t wait to revisit this place and track its changes throughout the phenological year. Until next time!
–M