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Vincentown Agricultural Riparian Forest Buffer
Project
Location:
Tributary of Southwest Branch, Rancocas Creek, Eyerstown Road (south of
Church Road), Southampton Township near Vincentown, NJ
Date Planted:
April 2000
Land Use:
Agriculture
Buffer Composition:700
native trees and shrubs - 8 species (seedlings)
200 native trees and shrubs - 14 species (containerized)
Buffer Size:
650 ft X 60 ft - west side of stream and 250 ft X 60 ft - east side of
stream
 Site
Preparation and Start of Planting
Stream
and Agricultural Buffer
Design Components
- Riparian forest buffer
- Pasture to wetland reversion
- Combination of row and randomly-spaced planting
- Species for future products and income (see
below in species list)
- Electric fence and tree tubes for protection from
animal damage
Electric
Deer Fencing
Dominant Native Plant Species
Listed in descending order of frequency of occurrence
Product-producing species
Trees - Overstory
White ash - Fraxinus
americana - timber, tool handles
River birch - Betula nigra
Pin oak - Quercus palustris
- firewood
Sycamore - Platanus occidentalis
Swamp white oak - Quercus
bicolor - timber, firewood
Trees - Understory
Flowering dogwood - Cornus
florida - florals/greenery
Gray birch - Betula populifolia
Black gum - Nyssa sylvatica
Red cedar - Juniperus
virginiana - fence posts
Shrubs
Elderberry - Sambucus
canadensis - jellies, drinks
Silky dogwood - Cornus amomum
Arrowwood - Viburnum dentatum
Buttonbush - Cephalanthus occidentalis
Native
Cedar for Fence Posts
Organizations
Rutgers Cooperative Extension
USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service
New Jersey Forest Service
Pasture
Reverting to Wetland Buffer
Funding
United States Environmental Protection Agency 319h Grant Program and New Jersey
Department of Environmental Protection
Official
State Watershed Designation
Income-producing Tree and
Shrub Species for Riparian Areas
The Vincentown Project demonstrates how a riparian forest buffer can
be designed and implemented on a working farm to provide environmental
benefits and product/income potential to the farm.
Government cost-share programs and incentives encourage farmers and landowners
to plant riparian forest buffers on their property. Properly designed,
these buffers can be managed as a productive part of the farm or woodlot.
Planting trees and shrubs with product-and income-producing potential
in riparian areas not only protects waterways from sedimentation and other
non-point source pollution but also keeps these areas as viable, productive,
contributing parts of the farm or woodlot.
While the following lists are not exhaustive, they provide examples of
income-producing riparian species.
Trees - Overstory
Sugar maple - Acer saccharum - syrup, timber,
firewood, charcoal, honey
Sweet birch - Betula lenta - essential oils
Hickory - Carya spp. - nuts, timber, tool
handles, firewood, charcoal
Ash - Fraxinus spp. - timber, tool handles,
firewood
Black walnut - Juglans nigra - nuts, timber,
firewood, dyeing
Tuliptree - Liriodendron tulipifera - timber
Black cherry - Prunus serotina - timber,
firewood
Oak - Quercus spp. - timber, firewood, charcoal
Linden - Tilia americana - honey
Eastern hemlock - Tsuga canadensis - floral
products, essential oils
Slippery elm - Ulmus rubra - herbals/medicinals
Trees - Understory
Alder - Alnus spp. - smoke/flavor wood, honey,
dyeing
Shadbush or Serviceberry - Amelanchier spp.
- fruits, jellies, honey
Pawpaw - Asimina triloba - fruit, jellies
Redbud - Cercis canadensis - floral products
Persimmon - Diospyros virginiana - fruit
Flowering dogwood - Cornus florida - floral
products, firewood
Witch hazel - Hamamelis virginiana - herbals/medicinals
American holly - Ilex opaca - floral products
Red cedar - Juniperus virginiana - fenceposts,
essential oils
Sweet-bay magnolia - Magnolia virginiana
- floral products
Blackhaw - Viburnum prunifolium -herbals/medicinals,
jellies
Shrubs
Black chokeberry - Aronia melanocarpa - dyeing
Redosier dogwood - Cornus stolonifera - floral products
Hazelnut - Corylus spp. - nuts
Winterberry - Ilex verticillata - floral products
Northern bayberry - Myrica pennsylvanica - essential oils
Common ninebark - Physocarpus opulifolius - firewood, herbals/medicinals
Rosebay rhodododendron - Rhododendron maximum - floral products
Pussy willow - Salix discolor - floral products
Common elderberry - Sambucus canadensis - fruit, jellies
Steeplebush - Spirea tomentosa - floral products
Highbush blueberry - Vaccinium corymbosum - fruit, dyeing
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