Clearing invasives on the slope before planting. Photo by SA Ferguson

It’s been exactly a year since we planted native trees and shrubs near the LeSabre vernal pool. On November 1, 2025, we returned to do more planting.  Sixteen volunteers turned out for a beautiful fall day to plant 58 native woodies. We also started planting native herbaceous perennials on the steep slope near the bird blind. All of these natives were propagated from seeds collected at JK Black Oak, except for the Pawpaw (Asimina triloba) seeds that were collected nearby.

For most of our restoration projects at the sanctuary, we have protected existing tree seedlings with fencing or tree cages instead of planting seedlings. However, the area around the LeSabre pool is so overrun with invasives that there are no seedlings to protect. When the invasives are cleared, the seedbank is full of invasive seeds that will germinate and quickly overwhelm any natives that might emerge.

Planting the Silky Dogwood (Cornus amomum) and Buttonbush (Cephalanthus occidentalis) shrubs came with some challenges.  The dogwoods were going in near where we planted in November 2024, and we had learned the ground is very hard to dig.  So we brought along pickaxes to help with digging the holes. The Buttonbush needed to be planted along the edge of the vernal pool. Volunteers had to avoid sinking into the muck in the bottom of the pool, while planting the shrubs where their roots would be wet when the pool fills up this winter.  This was especially tricky at the bottom of the steep slope where there was a very narrow, muddy strip to walk.

Planting Pawpaws. Photo by SA Ferguson

After the dogwoods were planted, we installed fences to protect them from being eaten by White-tailed deer. Pawpaws and Eastern Redcedars (Juniperus virginiana) are usually not eaten by deer, so we did not fence them in.  Given where the Buttonbush were planted, protecting them was not possible. However, since there were already several Buttonbush growing in the pool, we’re hoping that the newly planted ones will also be ignored by the deer.

Next year we’ll continue to remove invasives and plant more native trees and shrubs to create habitat for amphibians and other wildlife that rely on the LeSabre vernal pool.

Funding for this vernal pool restoration project and other projects at JK Black Oak is provided by a grant from Microsoft in collaboration with the Society for Ecological Restoration.

To protect the environmentally sensitive habitat and rare species, JK Black Oak Wildlife Sanctuary is not open for general public access.

The post Back to the LeSabre Vernal Pool at JK Black Oak appeared first on Loudoun Wildlife Conservancy.