Wise’s Mill

Wise’s Mill Restoration Project 

This project is centered around the Wise’s Mill tributary that parallels Wise’s Mill Road, and which is perhaps most well-known as the main point of access to Valley Green Inn and the park on the west side of Wissahickon Creek.  The length of the tributary encompasses a diversity of habitats including a shrub / scrub upland, a marshy wetland, and a wooded riparian area. The stream originates as a spring in the lower (eastern) end of the upland area and is marked by the presence of an historic spring house which was recently restored by the Friends of the Wissahickon.

Wissahickon Restoration Volunteers worked with the Philadelphia Water Department and the Fairmount Park Commission to restore the vegetation along this corridor with the goals of increasing bird habitat, increasing plant diversity, and improvement of the infiltration of storm water runoff.

Beginning in 2004, WRV worked to remove populations of invasive plants in preparation for plantings. With funds secured from the USDA Natural Resource and Conservation Service, we installed more than 300 native plants adjacent to the stream to enhance the quality of the existing forest, including black willow, river birch, American sycamore, silver maple, box elder, elder, elderberry, northern arrowwood, red chokeberry, and winterberry.

Funding for this portion of the project was provided by the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation through their Delaware Estuary Grant Program.

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WRV is a member-supported nonprofit dedicated to protecting and improving the natural environment of the Wissahickon.

Please join us in keeping our beloved Wissahickon green and diverse for future generations.

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