Plant Material - Project Planning and Management for Ecological Restoration - page 122

FIGURE 8-1. Plastic tube propagation in flats; from here, depending on species, the plants are planted at sites
or put into larger containers. Tree of Life Nursery, San Juan Capistrano, California. (Photo by John Rieger.)
ing. A dibble or similar device is used to provide a small planting hole. The advantages of using
plugs are the quantity that can be handled at one time (fig. 8-1) and the number that can be plant-
ed per given time. Also, plugs have a wider planting window than seeds, using plugs permits pre-
cise spacing, and the plants can produce seed in the first season following planting. Many plants
are grown in this manner.
Prevegetated mats are used in areas where erosion control and soil stabilization are concerns.
Mats are also used where unstable substrates, waves, and currents limit the establishment of aquat-
ic vegetation. They are composed either of a plant mix grown on a soil medium that is in the top
layer of a netting material or of plant transplants that are inserted into the soil medium in the
upper layer of the mat. The mat is generally made of polypropylene and plant fiber layers but may
also be constructed entirely of fiber (e.g., coconut fiber mats). Prevegetated mats have been used
to establish submerged aquatic vegetation (Boustany 2003) and wetland vegetation.
Stem Cuttings
Many species of plants can be propagated by stem cuttings (i.e., vegetative propagation). Some
species require more care because the growing tips of stems are not always amenable to cutting