Prairie Restoration

[thunderworks]

My wife and I are trying to restore prairie grass on 10 of our 80 acres. I thought some of you might find the process interesting.

The field we are restoring has had a very healthy stand of fescue which is a tenacious grass that is very hard to get rid of. Most people we talked to suggested we use Roundup to kill the grass but we don't want to broadcast chemicals if there are alternatives so here is what I've done . . .

1. plowed the field last Fall. I used a 3 bottom (#72 Massey) plow with my Ford 4610.

2. Disc'd the fields before freeze up. (10' Ford disc on the 4610)

3. Disc'd the fields last week (week of March 10th). We had a cold winter with enough moisture that the freeze/thaw cycle had helped break down the rough ground.

4. Tilled the fields to smooth the furrowed, disc'd ground. (CCM tiller on my L5030 Kubota).

We're supposed to get some rain this week (I'm in Kansas) so I predict in the next 3 or 4 weeks all sorts of cool season weeds and grasses will start to grow. I anticipate that I will need to use a chain drag of some kind to continue to smooth the ground and to uproot and hopefully kill remaining fescue and new weeds so that around May 1st, the ground will be clean and I can plant the warm season prairie grasses.

I hope this process has eliminated enough of the competing grasses that the prairie grasses will thrive.

 

[HomeBrew2]

Is that the accepted/recommended method to start restoration of natives in your area?

 

[thunderworks]

It's "experimental". Most people recommend broadcasting Roundup to kill existing pasture. I'll know in a few weeks whether my method has eliminated enough of the fescue to allow the prairie grasses to succeed.

 

[john_bud]

My prediction is that millions of seeds will sprout and it will be even more weedy than before. The seed bank is full of billions of seeds per acre. Mostly weed seeds.

First ask yourself how the prarie was sustained. Partly if was thru regular fires. If you can, burning the area for your prairie would help. But, since you have already plowed, disc'ed and tilled, there is nothing to burn! You can let the weeds pop up and burn this summer,then seed into the burnt field. Prairie native plants have deep roots, sometimes down as far as 12-15 feet. Very drought resistant and equally fire resistant. "weeds" typically don't have very deep roots and can be easily killed by fire and a dry spell.

You may want to PH adjust the soil, let it grow some, then spray the roundup.

What are you planning on planting? Source for the seeds? These folks are pretty good.

Prairie Moon Nursery - Native Prairie Seeds

 

[HomeBrew2]

My prediction is ...

Exactly, that's why I thought I'd ask in case there was something I was missing in the plan. When one refuses to use a herbicide, mowing/scraping(depending on conditions), burning or over-grazing are about all you can do ... but never cultivation. At this point, I'd consider compacting it and keeping it scraped clean (before any new weeds can go to seed). Maybe a couple of boxcars of corn gluten

 

[heymack]

I've been working with the NRCS in trying to do something very similar down here in South Texas, although my nemesis is KR Bluestem rather than fescue. Despite having very small quantities of the bluestem, the NRCS reps are telling me that I have to kill all of it off before I plant more native grasses or else the bluestem will eventually take over the newer grasses. Furthermore, to sufficiently kill the bluestem, I have to spray it with "roundup" and plant wheat for THREE years (with ZERO financial assistance) in order to eliminate the seed source. This kinda ticks me off because this same organization is the one that encouraged and assisted in the planting of the KR Bluestem several decades ago.