MONACA, Pa. — Transitioning from lawn to forest through a process of sheet mulching and native plant installation, aka The Patch, sites around Beaver County, including Penn State Beaver, are experiencing a fast way to grow new forest.
These clusters of native plants forgo conventional landscape aesthetics in favor of a look that closely resembles natural regeneration. Each forest plot is the carefully planned result of The Patch Project, a campus collaboration between Associate Professor of Biology Autumn Sabo and Jeff Karwoski, conservationist and founder of local non-profit Reforest Our Future.
The project aims to sustainably restore native plants to the area, provide a space for pollinators and teach the community about the value of native plants.
Biology students at Penn State Beaver are key drivers of the project. Through planting, maintaining and monitoring the patches, students study and develop native environments, giving them real-world experience in conservation work, resume building accomplishments and an opportunity to make the world a better place.
Sabo said the inaugural Commonwealth Campus Undergraduate Community-Engaged Research Award paid for the original 10 patches and the plants at an additional patch planted by Reforest Our Future at the Women’s Center of Beaver County. She said there were also enough funds to pay for a second patch at Penn State Beaver, which she will develop with students during the coming academic year.
Out of the classroom, into the field
The project has given students experience in various aspects of fieldwork including evaluating landscapes, soil sampling, data analysis of growth trends and presenting their results in papers and oral presentations, Sabo said.
“I envision continuing to use the patches with students to teach about plant identification, monitoring plant growth and soil change, and eventually some wildlife identification and monitoring as critters visit,” Sabo said. “In addition to the science-y aspects that students learn working on the patches, for some, getting their hands dirty and using tools like shovels is a new experience. Beyond teaching a range of ecological, communication and manual labor skills, I hope that students — and other visitors to the patches — are inspired to think more broadly about how to manage their properties to increase ecological benefits rather than only having lawn.”
Exceeding expectations
“The Patch Project exceeded my expectations on a number of different levels,” Karwoski said. “To my knowledge, this is the only project of its kind to take place in the United States and possibly worldwide. Of course, there are other people in America and other countries planting mini forests, but having 10 identical patches go in around the county and being able to see how these Patches evolve is very exciting to me.”
Karwoski said Reforest Our Future is continuing to develop patches at Bradys Run Park, and new patches are being planted at Stray Cat Studio in Beaver Falls and at the North Allegheny School District. He said there are also new patches on residential properties in Monaca, New Brighton and Gibsonia.
In addition to the trees, shrubs and perennials that were installed, all of the patches experienced natural regeneration in the form of new trees and other native species planted by nature, Karwoski said. “This influx of nature is what makes The Patch a sustainable method of regenerating tree canopy versus planting individual trees inside mulch circles, which is a method that rarely works as a long-term measure for restoring forest,” he said.
Key takeaways for the community
- The Patch is a Reforest Our Future planting system designed to restore natural elements to the landscape. The Patch can be any size or shape. From one small corner of a property to the entire property itself, there’s a Patch that’s right for the space.
- By selecting native plants local to your area, The Patch can support a diverse cast of pollinators and help create the type of ecosystem birds, bees and people can all thrive in.
- Trees, shrubs, native grasses and perennials grow together to form backyard habitats that mimic the ecological complexity found in nature.
- While it is recommend to remove highly aggressive invasive species, most weeds including dandelions will decrease naturally with time as the woody plants begin casting dense shade.
- Unlike conventional landscaping, which is labor-intensive to maintain, The Patch takes very little effort to curate its development.