Some management problems, and
a solution: 2006-2007
The history of the Valley Prairie planting is given
below. This planted prairie, ranging from dry-mesic to wet-mesic
character, has been fun to work with, and has developed a high
species diversity. However, the cool season grasses that we had
eliminated by herbicide in 2002 had returned by 2006. We decided
to use an early-glyphosate spraying technique that had worked
well previously. The principle is to spray the field very early
in the spring, after the cool season grasses have developed, but
before any warm season plants are visible. Glyphosate is the ideal
herbicide for this because it acts only on plants that are above
ground (anything green will be killed), and has no soil residual.
The prairie should be burned in late fall, to eliminate all of
the prairie thatch. The cool season grasses that develop early
the following spring are thus easily visible and timing of spraying
can be accurately monitored. Burning in the fall is important
because it is often difficult to find the right set of circumstances
for early spring burns.
We had a very successful burn on a nice dry day
in mid-November. The field sat fallow all winter, and started
to green up once the last snow had disappeared in mid March. By
the end of March, we had a brief warm spell and the cool season
grasses developed rapidly. On March 27, when the plants were 2-4
inches tall, we had the local farm cooperative spray the field
(see photo below). Soon after the spraying, the weather turned
cold and it was almost two weeks before the cool season grasses
were visibly dead (see second photo below). We did not start seeing
many prairie plants until the last part of April, after the weather
warmed up.
A survey made on April 29 showed that the procedure
had been very effective. Virtually all of the cool season grasses
were gone, and good prairie plants, both forbs and grasses, were
growing profusely all over the field (see the photos below).
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| History of the Valley Prairie
Restoration
The largest agricultural field (over 5 acres) on the property was
on the south side of Pleasant Valley Road, adjacent to the wetland.
Because it was essentially in the "valley" of the creek,
we designated this Valley Prairie. Although it
is predominantly mesic to wet-mesic in character, it rises sharply
towards Pleasant Valley Road, and in this area it is dry-mesic in
character. The road cut itself, which we are treating as part of
the prairie, has dry prairie character.
This CRP field was treated with glyphosate in May 2002. The herbicide
was very effective and by mid-summer the vegetation was all dead
and brown. In July (on a very hot day!) we burned the field. After
it greened up, it was treated again with glyphosate. In one part
of the field, after the first herbicide treatment, a large population
of nutsedge (Cyperus spp.) developed. To eliminate this,
the second treatment consisted of a mixture of glyphosate and Permit
(halosulfuron-methyl; Montsanto), an herbicide effective against
this perennial sedge. A third herbicide treatment was carried out
in early September.
In addition to herbiciding the field, we also cut all the undesirable
shrubs and trees along the roadside. Because the roadcut itself
escaped the plow, the roadside was a jumble of invasive woody plants,
mixed in with wild parsnip, sweet clover, and other weeds. (A few
bur oaks that had become established along the roadcut were retained.)
Removing the woody vegetation permited us to seed the roadbank with
dry prairie species.
In November 2002 this field was planted by volunteers with a mixture
of over 130 species. Not all species were planted in every part
of the field. The field was divided into dry prairie, mesic prairie,
and wet prairie areas, and species adapted to each of those habitat
types were used.
In 2003 this field, now a fascinating weed patch(!), was mowed
three times. Particular weed problems were wild parsnip, wild carrot
(Daucus carota), and mullein. In some areas where good
prairie plants were visible, handpulling instead of mowing was used.
The roadcut was particular weedy and was mowed with a brush cutter.
In 2004 (second growing season) this field was mowed
once in May and after that only hand weeding was done. By mid-summer
a lot of very nice prairie plants were visible. Although there
were still some major problems, including several areas with large
amounts of wild carrot, wild parsnip, and several nonnativeperennial
grasses, there was also excellent development of prairie forbs,
including several species that thrive in wetter habitats: great
blue lobelia (Lobelia siphilitica), cardinal flower (Lobelia
cardinalis), blue vervain (Verbena hastata), boneset
(Eupatorium perfoliatum), and swamp thistle (Cirsium
muticum). Other interesting species that flowered in the
second growing season were butterfly weed (Asclepias tuberosa),
New England aster (Aster novae-angliae), gaura (Gaura
biennis), ox-eye sunflower (Heliopsis helianthoides),
rough and prairie blazing stars (Liatris aspera, L. pycnostachya),
prairie cinquefoil (Potentilla arguta), black- and brown-eyed
susans (Rudbeckia hirta, R. triloba), stiff goldenrod
(Solidago rigida), and golden Alexander (Zizia aureus).
The butterfly milkweed (photo below) was interesting
to us, because this was the first location at Pleasant Valley
Conservancy that we were able to establish that species. For some
reason it is doing very well in the Valley Prairie, with a few
flowering plants in the second growing season (2004). By 2006
it was widespread in this prairie (at least 20 separate locations
counted). Also in 2006 we had white wild indigo, Baptisia
alba, in flower.
A species check list for 2005 is in the table below.
Photographs of most of these species are given in the complete
species check list.
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