Watching Lily's Prairie develop this season (second year) was a lot of fun, mainly due to the anticipation I've had in reconstructing a prairie in it's location. Lily's Prairie is located along the road at the base of the driveway where it is very visible to the public. This is essentially the most visible prairie on the property and because of this, has a special importance as an educational tool for other large lot property owners who feel overwhelmed by trying to conventionally manage (manicure) every square inch of their land. Prairie reconstructions are just one method of land management and can help property owners retain an open landscape without the costly and unproductive use of turf grass.
A prairie reconstruction in its second growing season doesn't typically blow your wig off in terms of color and diversity, but is probably as exciting to watch develop as any prairie due to the fact that you are completely responsible for its success. Lily's prairie like all of the others is an experiment. Preparing and planting a prairie reconstruction is one of the most difficult and variable environmental planning tasks there are. Soil variables, available moisture, land use history, existing plant species, proximity and quantity of invasive plant species and current land uses all contribute to the complexity and success of any prairie planting. In retrospect, this planting could have been far more successful with a different approach, but once you start you don't really want to go back.
Aside from a few aggressive plants, I think this prairie is developing quite well. Spotted knapweed, sweet clover, canada thistle and swallow-wort are the most problematic weeds in our neighborhood, but somehow we've managed to keep these invasives out of Lily's Prairie for the most part. Cool season grasses such as smooth brome and timothy are still dominant in this prairie as they were before we started. Continued late spring burns or fall burns followed by early spring glyphosate treatments will be required to suppress the cool season grasses and give the native wildflowers and warm season grasses a competitive advantage during establishment. All future burns should be immediately followed by seeding with native wildflowers, keeping in mind to plant species to their specific moisture zones.
Some beautiful plants that have established well this year include but are not limited to; yellow coneflower, golden alexanders, black-eyed susans, yarrow, new england aster, cup plant, tall sunflower, blue vervain, indian grass and pasture thistle. Getting the warm season grasses established is crucial to eliminating the cool season hay grasses and promoting diversity.
No comments:
Post a Comment