By Ryan Neuman, Upstream Conservation Leader
In Spring 2022, we offered a hands-on, two-part training series for our dedicated Streamkeeper volunteers to learn a powerful restoration method: live staking.
Live staking involves inserting cuttings from native trees and shrubs directly into streambanks during early spring. These cuttings, or “stakes,” then grow roots and eventually develop into mature plants. It’s a simple, low-cost method that helps stabilize eroding streambanks while restoring wildlife habitat.
💡 Why do we do this?
We installed live stakes just upstream of the Conklin Pool in Tacony Creek Park. This site had a particularly eroded bank that was slumping into the creek. Sediment from erosion is one of the largest pollutants in our watershed, and it’s often caused by unstable streambanks. Live staking offers a cost-effective, low-disturbance way to combat this issue. You can read more about this series here.
During our site visits, we noticed a particular area of the bank was slumping into the creek. It needed attention, and live staking was a low-cost, low-disturbance solution. (see photo below).
🌱 What did we plant?
The stakes we used came from native species like:
-
Buttonbush (Cephalanthus occidentalis)
-
Silky dogwood (Cornus amomum)
-
Black willow (Salix nigra)
These species grow well along waterways and provide multiple benefits:
-
Their roots stabilize the soil and prevent further erosion.
-
Their foliage shades the stream, helping to reduce water temperatures.
-
They create habitat for birds, insects, and other wildlife.
We harvest all of our live stakes from some of our restoration sites. Therefore, they are locally sourced, we can harvest each year, and they are significantly more cost-effective than planting containerized trees or shrubs. In addition, they also limit the amount of disturbance on unstable streambanks.
📈 Do they work?
We are circling back on this 2022 event to show you the success of this practice. As the shrubs grow, their roots form a dense network, holding in the streambank and helping to slow down the rate of erosion. In this photo, you can see the same streambank three years later after live stakes were installed. The shrubs have grown in nicely, holding in the streambank and providing a rich habitat for native species.
We installed about 165 stakes during the spring of 2022, and when we stopped out in the spring of 2025, we were blown away by the size of some of these live stakes. Some of these stakes are now 5–10 feet tall, with a spread equally as large. We counted at least 50 mature shrubs on site now in the summer. They are helping to slow the tide of streambank erosion along this section of stream and reduce stormwater velocity as it makes its way downstream.
🙌 Thank you, Streamkeepers!
A special thank you to all of our streamkeeper volunteers who helped install these stakes. The work that you have done is helping to make a difference!
📬 Want to learn more?
Interested in live staking or other restoration techniques?
📩 Email Ryan at ryan@ttfwatershed.org—we’d love to share more or help you get involved in the field.
