Do you have questions about prairies and don’t know what to do about it?
“What are panic grasses so worried about?” or “What did Katy do, anyway?”
Or maybe you have questions on more applied topics such as, “What factors should I consider if I want to manage my prairie for a robust pollinator community?” or “What are my options for prairie management if I’m not allowed to use fire?”
Well, here’s your chance. I’m bringing back the popular (to me) segment of this blog called, “Ask the Prairie Ecologist.”
Some of you will remember this from a few years ago when I ran out of ideas for topics and decided I’d just let others do my job for me. It worked great!
Here’s how it goes: You ask me questions. I’ll answer them. If I can.
Just type your question into the comments section of this post. Depending upon the volume of questions, I’ll do my best to answer most of them right there – or, at least, try to send you in a helpful direction. Others are welcome to chime in with their own perspectives too – as long as you promise to be polite and kind.
I’ll also grab a few of the questions that I think would be of broad interest and address them in a future post or two.
You can ask questions about prairie species and communities, photography, land stewardship, prairie restoration, or anything else that’s somehow related to prairies. I certainly don’t promise to have answers to all the questions, but one of the advantages of being around a long time is that I know lots of other people and sources of knowledge. I’ll try to give you at least some kind of nudge toward the information you’re looking for.
That’s pretty much it. Any questions?
(Important: If you read these posts in your email and have trouble accessing the comments, just click on the title of the post in the email to open it online. Then just scroll all the way to the bottom of the post and type in your question or comment.)
The Prairie Ecologist 
My neighborhood bunnies love that I have planted 70+ natives , so I’ve had to rely on a lot of fencing early-on. What makes some plants so very tasty for them? Especially purple poppy mallow and purple prairie clover. Even some they shouldn’t like become targets, like milkweed and rudbeckia. Love your weekly emails! Margaret in Lee’s Summit
Hi Margaret,
Boy, I wish I had a good answer for you. In my experience, the preferences of rabbits for various plants varies a lot from rabbit to rabbit and place to place. I’ve owned three houses/yards in the same town over the last 27 years and the plants rabbits choose to eat has been different at each one! I suppose they develop favorites just like we do, based on what they start eating as kids and decide they like. What I CAN tell you is that milkweed – especially common milkweed – is a lot less toxic than people generally think and is actually a favorite for lots of grazing animals, including bison and cattle, so I’m not shocked that your bunnies like it, too.
One thing to consider: Is it a bad thing that you’re providing food for the bunnies? As with caterpillars, bugs, and other plant-feeding animals, providing habitat for them in your yard benefits them and gives you a chance to watch them. It comes down to why you’ve planted the native plants and what you want out of them. If you can get to a place where you feel good about providing the kind of habitat rabbits and other creatures need, you might be more comfortable with them eating some of your favorite plants. And, of course, you can still use fence to manage which plants are accessible, and when! I’m not preaching, by the way, just suggesting an alternative. Your garden should make YOU happy, so make it whatever you want.
I don’t mind sharing, once the plants are established. 🙂
I agree, it’s frustrating when they eat young plants, often killing them. Once established, many plants can withstand nibbling. Unfortunately, it’s the young, tender plants that are the most tasty!
I agree, it’s particularly frustrating when critters eat your newly planted plants. Once established, the plants can often endure such nibbling. Unfortunately, it seems to be those young, tender plants that are the most tasty! Have you tried repellent made with eggs or strong tasting plant oils or hot peppers? Those can be helpful to protect the plants when young. And of course exclusion by fencing works.
My question is: I may be taking a road trip and would like to see the big prairies you take you pictures. Can you give me some ideas of some prairies to see as I drive west to east on
Well. The Nature Conservancy’s Platte River Prairies is located south of the Wood River exit off of Interstate 80 (Exit #300) as you come through Nebraska. Go 2 miles south and take a right onto gravel immediately after the big highway curve. You’ll see a Nature Conservancy sign and a big brick house. The trail head is just south of the house and has a roofed information kiosk, bathroom, and water fountain. There are two trails you can explore.
The real big prairies are up in the Nebraska Sandhills. We have a hiking trail at our Niobrara Valley Preserve that takes you along a path above and down to the river valley. If you want to just wander through huge Sandhills prairies, though, some of the best access can be found at the Valentine and Crescent Lake National Wildlife Refuges, as well as (ironically) the Nebraska National Forest at Halsey.
Oh! I meant to add Gjerloff Prairie, owned and managed by Prairie Plains Resource Institute. It’s maybe 20 minutes off the interstate north of Aurora, Nebraska, and well worth the trip. You can find more information and directions at https://www.prairieplains.org/
You have written a few posts on soil health and uncertainty/questions that are maybe too complex to fully understand. As a person that helps steward areas where fire, and mowing is the only management tool, I wonder if there are certain nutrients missing from the soil environment that only grazing would add, and if we need to be considering as additions in newer restorations to help restore plant diversity. I ask this, because in the turf sciences there is a lot of emphasis placed on macro and even micro nutrients to promote healthier turf grass conditions. Are there certain micro nutrients that can impact plant diversity relationships?
Dan, this is a great question, and one that’s out of my realm of real expertise. As far as I know, there’s no reason to worry too much about this. Grazing tends to recycle nutrients differently than fire, but that’s not necessarily better or worse. One of the biggest soil nutrient issues in many places (not sure what applies at your site) is that higher nitrogen levels tend to favor some grasses and reduce plant diversity. Controlling that, though, can be really difficult – especially once you’ve got prairie there. Frequent haying may help because you’re pulling nutrients into the plants and then removing them from the site. Since most wildflowers compete better with grasses in a lower N environment, that might help.
I’m not sure how much is known about micronutrients and how to predict or analyze their impacts on prairie plant diversity.
In my opinion and experience, you’d be better off spending time on the restoration and management practices we know can affect diversity. Use the highest diversity seed mixes you can, don’t go too heavy on grass seeds, especially of species like big bluestem, Indian grass, switchgrass, and other big gorillas, and manage in a way that keeps any plant or group of plants from becoming consistently dominant. Every site will be different in terms of the soil conditions, which will affect the plant community, but I think it’s probably better to adapt your stewardship to those conditions than to try to change them.
The only big exception I can think of would be things like an old livestock confinement area or another kind of site that has a history of heavy nitrogen accumulation. But even there, I think the answer is to do your best to ameliorate that before putting prairie into place. Growing big annuals like sorghum, etc., and green-chopping them (cutting and removing them while they’re still full of that nitrogen) can be one way to reduce nitrogen, but even then, I don’t have enough experience to know how effective that is.
Tons of questions! Can you stop over to view my self raised prairie (from seed)!
I live not too far from you——Eau Claire Wi.
Hi Lucy,
I’m in Nebraska, or I’d love to come see your site!
Hi, and thanks for taking questions! Some friends and I are starting a business in Chicago called Prairies Over Lawns, where we replace people’s turf lawns with native Illinois prairies. We typically do the labor of removing/composting the grass lawn in fall and then planting native perennials in spring, but we’d like to have the flexibility to do both phases in the springtime if it doesn’t interfere with insect hibernation. My question is, what is the best time of year to do the lawn removal in order to allow insects to continue their life cycles?
Hello Hana: Chris may have more to add to this, but there’s not much overlap between lawn insects and all the diversity found in a native prairie. After a prairie planting is done, it take several years for the native insect fauna to appear and build up diversity there. Putting it rather bluntly, there is little to worry about regarding insect conservation in a lawn to prairie reconstruction, until after the prairie is installed.
Yep, I’m with James here. I’d do what’s best for your restoration process and focus on the benefits you’ll be providing once the prairie is in place!
Thanks, James and Chris!
I tried to find your website, but can’t, so I am replying here. You may want to support HB5433 Prairie Lawns Act, which is in committee in the Ag and Conservation Committee of the Illinois General Assembly on April 2nd. https://www.ilga.gov/legislation/103/HB/10300HB5433lv.htm
If tree crickets are found on prairies why are they called “tree crickets” :D?
I guess the easy answer is that most tree cricket species ARE found in trees and shrubs, but some of the cooler ones evolved to live in prairies instead. They just haven’t gotten a name change. If some prairie dogs decided, for some undogly reason, to live in a forest, we’d still probably call them prairie dogs, even if they evolved to become a separate species!
I suspect the answer might be the same for prairie plants like wood lily, wood betony, and violet wood sorrel.j
What is the best way to remove a lawn in prep for a replacement for a “pocket meadow” or prairie. I’m concerned about dormant seeds that might compete with my wild flower seeds?
There are lots of ways to do this successfully, so don’t take my suggestions as the only or best ones.
A lot depends upon how much you’re doing at a time. I’d suggest taking it in small bites, mostly because, no matter what you do, you’ll have some weed issues the first couple years until your prairie fills in. Even then, you’ll have weeds to deal with forever. If you try a small site, you’ll learn a lot that will inform any expansion you decide upon after that.
Tilling or exposing the soil is the most likely way to get you a bunch of weeds. On the other hand, it also gives you a nice seed bed for broadcasting seeds, if that’s your plan. Just know that you’ll be spending extra time on weeds.
If it’s a small area, you can kill the grass by covering it with cardboard and mulch, black plastic, etc. It’ll take a while, but can be effective. If it’s a larger area, I’d suggest glyphosate herbicide, which will do the job effectively and cheaply, and without long-term herbicide residue in the soil.
Using plugs (seedlings) instead of seed can also be a good choice, depending upon the size of area you’re planning, and depending upon your budget. The big advantage of using plugs is that you can insert them right into the killed sod without exposing more weed seeds to the sunlight. They’ll also develop more quickly into a mature plant community. The downside is that they’re more expensive than seed, of course.
Those are a few ideas. Maybe others can share their experiences. I’ll just say one more time: most of the frustration and abandonment I’ve seen from this kind of conversion effort has been a result of the overwhelming weed issues that arise from doing large areas at once. Other than impatience, there’s very little downside to doing a small area first to see what the challenges are going to be. You can learn from that first attempt and then expand.
Chris – our experience with our prairie meadow in Denver reflects your comments. We worked with a guy named Andrew Wright who has a small outfit called Colorado Native Plants. Andrew pulled out the bluegrass lawn by the roots and then seeded the entire area with a mix of grasses and forbs and also added shrubs which Andrew grew in his little nursery. For the first two years we (actually Andrew) battled the weeds – Andrew weeded at least once a week those first couple of summers. Weeding was the biggest cost of the project. However, by the 3rd year the natives had established themselves and the weeds were fighting a losing battle. After 6 years, I pull a few dandelions and some clover from time to time and that’s it, pretty easy now.
I’ll say one method that I’ve been trying recently in Minneapolis with pretty good success, is cardboard / mulch / compost / seed. So I lay down cardboard over grass in the spring / summer, and cover with mulch. In the late fall / early winter, **after most weed seeds have dropped**, rake back the mulch and put a few inches of compost on top of the decomposing cardboard. Then sow your native seed on top. Include a good amount of “weedy” / fast / annual natives that can compete with any weeds early on.
This does a few things well that other methods often struggle with. It kills grass AND grass seed. It adds some good OM to the lawn’s (likely) poor soil. And you get the benefits of a cleared, low competition environment (unoccupied compost) for the native seedlings, and the timing of the compost addition means that there’s not much weed seed.
It’s pretty intensive bc you have to bring in mulch and compost, so wouldn’t usually be smart for a large area. And if you can plant plants, instead of sowing seeds, obviously that will go a long ways toward quicker establishment (but you’ll pay $$).
Hi Chris,
I am surprised that you (and the prairie community generally) suggest glyphosate herbicide here. Bayer stopped selling glyphosate for residential areas in 2023 because they keep losing lawsuits by those who have evidence showing this chemical causes cancer. If this chemical causes cancer, no one should be using it, residential or agricultural, small prairie or large.
Hi Noelle, I appreciate the comment. This is a tricky subject because while Bayer has settled or lost civil suits (where the burden of proof is low) related to roundup and cancer, that’s not because science says roundup causes cancer. In fact, all the evidence I’ve seen (and I’ve reached out to academic colleagues to confirm) says the opposite. I’m no fan of or shill for Bayer, but glyphosate is a very useful option in many land management situations and has a much lower residence time and other impacts than the alternatives most of the time. I’m always looking for good alternatives, though, so I’d be glad to hear your suggestions.
I am a fan of science but the reality is that science does not get done unless someone pays for it, and often, only the companies exploiting or polluting have the money to pay for a lot of research. Chemical companies pay for research on how to kill bugs and plants, but the Xerces Society, other environmental groups, and the farmers dying from cancer don’t have the funds to pay for research on the effects of the chemicals. In this case, the evidence shows that Monsanto knew that glyphosate had carcinogenic properties but discounted it.
Also, I just checked out of curiosity and Amazon sells a lot of Roundup products online that seem designed for residential use…?
Two possible reasons: 1. Bayer’s choice to stop selling residential glyphosate may not impact retailers who already have the product; 2. They say they will use “alternative chemicals”. I don’t know but maybe that means putting those chemicals into Round up and keeping the name.
To make a prairie it takes a clover
and one bee,
One clover and a bee.
And revery.
The revery alone will do
If bees are few.
Emily Dickinson
Love this poem!
Love this poem! As long as it’s a native clover!
Our last horse just had to be put down, so now I have about an acre of grass I’d like to seed with prairie flowers. How do I go about it? Grass is SO hard to get rid of.
Julie in northwestern Illinois
Hi Julie,
I’m sorry about your horse. See my comment to doncoats above. Much of that applies to your situation.
At that scale, I think glyphosate herbicide is your best option. It’s quick, easy, relatively cheap, and doesn’t have the long-lasting residue or impacts that some other herbicides have. Even then, I’d still suggest taking a small bite the first year to see how things go and to learn. That’ll give you a feel for what the rest of the project will be like and you’ll likely be able to adapt and end up with a better result on the whole than if you try to do the whole thing at once.
I’d also suggest contacting some prairie folks in your area, though, that know local conditions better than I do. There are lots of people around you that are expert in this kind of restoration and you should definitely get their advice instead of relying on a guy from Nebraska who hasn’t seen your site!
Chris, Thank you. This is helpful. I’m especially glad you told me to start small. I could get very frustrated very quickly!I sincerely enjoy your blog and your humor. Julie
Thanks Chris. That is the protocol I had planned. – as well as the partial at a time approach.
What is the ideal soil profile under a prairie?
That’s a tough one because it depends on where you’re at. Even then, ‘ideal’ is tricky because prairies will grow and adapt to whatever profile is there. They’ll influence the soil over time, but very slowly. In the meantime, plants and animals best adapted to the current soil conditions will thrive. As long as there is a diverse set of both plants and animals, they’ll probably do fine.
Thank you
What’s the ecological difference, if any, between the grazing impacts of similarly-sized groups of cows and bison? Are there differences in the other impacts for biodiversity?
Cattle and bison are more similar than different, but there are some important differences. Bison are slightly more grass-specific in their diet than cattle, but both will eat a lot of wildflowers and other non-grasses at times. Bison are usually managed so that they’re in the prairie all year, while cattle are usually put into pastures in spring and yanked out in the fall. That length of grazing period also makes a difference, but one is not necessarily better or worse than the other.
Bison are less likely to hang around in shade or stand in water. That can remove some of the impacts that have to otherwise be mitigated for with cattle, depending upon the site and objectives. Bison, though, can sometimes cause more soil erosion from their trailing because they might decide to create a straight vertical trail up a hill (which can wash or blow), while cattle usually make easier ‘switchback’ trails. There’s a lot of variation in all of that, though, so it’s not always easy to generalize.
It’s still hard to know all the differences because there are very few, if any, instances in which bison and cattle are truly under the same conditions (same grazing season length, stocking rate, grazing system (season-long, rotational, etc.). Grazing by both animals can lead to benefits to biodiversity, but both can also degrade sites if they’re not managed thoughtfully.
Hello Chris, Hello All,
I am wondering if Chris and readers would report on their experiences with a prairie species that not only is a magnet for wildlife but is also particularly suited to a garden setting. Perhaps entries could look something like (I could go on and on, but I’ll list three):
Shrubby St. Johns Wort
Hypericum prolificum (perennial zone 4)
source: prairiemoon.com
I have grown a few of these plants for 3-4 years on sandy soil in full sun. It forms a neat round bush 2-3′ high after a few years. Praire Moon says it reaches 4′. After four years, one bush was getting a little scraggly, but the plant reportedly responds well to pruning. Bloom time is midsummer for an extended period. Profusion of yellow flowers that are a magnet for bumblebees. Also see the description at Prairie Moon. Apparently, this is also the host plant for a number of caterpillar species. Stunning plant. We have just moved and took one of the bushes with us. We’ll see how it fares on heavier soil.
Partridge Pea
Chamaecrista fasciculata (annual, self sow)
source: prairiemoon.com
Grown on dry, sandy soil. Bumblebees love this plant. It is heartwarming and humorous to watch them drag themselves inside the flowers and then buzz loudly as they did their work. Nitrogen fixing, pea family plant. It is easy to harvest the large seeds from dried pods and sow through the garden. Not weedy; easy to manage. The plant is short (~12″) and is great on garden edges. Leaf foliage is delicate and beautiful. Again, this is a host for a number of butterfly species. See description at Prairie Moon. I have grown this plant for ten years or more.
Violets
Viola, various species (perennial)
Easy to grow and host to many native insect species. Edible, delicious in salads. Leaves grow large in shade. They essentially grew like weeds in my sandy (river bottom) soil. But they are never a threat to other plants due to their small size.
I think that such a list would be of great value to city gardeners who want to plant natives but are not able to plant a traditional mixed prairie. I, personally, have moved away from the mixed plantings in the backyard because of space requirements, weeding demands, desire to control aggressive (e.g. rhizomatic) species like some goldenrods, the huge size of some prairie plants grown in rich garden soils (I’ll still grow some ‘giants’ in the back by the fence, e.g.), the desire to fit with the suburban aesthetic at least a little bit, the wish to maintain marital harmony with my spouse who doesn’t have quite the tolerance for the “prairie aesthetic” transported to an urban lot! So my approach has been to work-in natives, one plant at a time, within more traditional garden beds. In this manner, my last city garden (0.195 acre including house), after ten years, had become a wildlife magnet and diverse, including one listed species.
Chris Pinkowski
Hi Chris,
I’m a fan of butterfly milkweed because of its color and attractiveness to pollinators, but also because it grows as a single defined plant and stays in one place. I also like Canada anemone as a groundcover in places where you just want something to grow thick (and where you have good boundaries to keep it contained. Most penstemon species are great additions too, with shell leaf penstemon as my favorite.
I appreciate the suggestions! Shell leaf penstemon looks like a beautiful plant. Thank you.
Hi Chris,
6 years ago we removed our blue grass lawn and planted a short grass prairie meadow in our front yard in Denver. It is fully established and thriving – however it is missing the benefits of bison grazing and fire. Since neither bison in our front yard or setting the yard on fire is an option, do you have any recommendations as to what I could do to help our plot of prairie to thrive. It’s pretty thick and there are matted grasses and overgrown white sage, all of which I fear may hurt the health of the meadow. We have lot’s of native insects that live in our meadow all summer. One of our neighbors has also planted a similar meadow, so slowly spreading the message, hoping others will follow.
Thanks!
Greg Holm
I’d suggest some patchy mowing as an option to consider. In order to prevent excess thatch, mowing and removing the material can help. However, in order to make sure you’ve always got flowers blooming and fresh and old vegetation for animals (including inverts) to live in, you might mow 1/4 of 1/5 of at a time. If you did that a few times a year (maybe spring, summer, and fall?) you could mix things up while still maintaining great habitat. Things like white sage or other rhizomatous plants might require some ‘hand grazing’ or pulling to knock them back. Or you could use some very careful, targeted herbicide to hit some of the plants around the outside edge of a spreading patch of plants.
Chris – really appreciate your suggestions, I’ll put them into action this season!
We have about 80 acres of native prairie/woodland with the usual amounts of bluegrass/spurge/buckthorn, in Morton Co., ND. Our county is …. hesitant…about fire, but we are working with a couple of outfits that may be able to get a permit. We feel like we need to put fire to most of the grass. But- what if we cannot? We do not have cattle, nor do we think we can manage grazing. We can mow….get some of the area hayed, but the marvelous big boulders the glaciers left us and steep slopes inhibit this in many areas. The land has not been “managed” at all for about 20 years and is way overdue for some grass removal. The buckthorn we are hacking away at and are using beetles for the spurge with some success. Thoughts?
That’s a tough one. Fire would obviously be helpful, even if it is just in small patches and frequently enough to prevent excess thatch. But, as you say, that might not be possible. Haying is great if you can vary the timing and frequency between years so nothing is getting hayed consistently at the same time of year and you always have plenty of uncut areas. For the rocky and steep places, though, your options are obviously limited and I don’t know that I’ve got any magic solutions.
On the grazing front, one thing you could consider would be a conversation with a neighbor that has cattle. You might be able to arrange something where they set up electric fence and haul in water in return for free grazing (trading labor for cattle forage, basically). That’s something that can work and you could just pick a relatively small area and try it for a short period to see what you think. It could be a way to bump back the vegetation density every few years or so and would keep you from having to invest in any permanent infrastructure.
You might find someone, for example, who would be interested in grazing right at the beginning of the season to give their own pasture a little more time to grow before they turn cattle out into it. By grazing yours early in the season (for 2-4 weeks?) and then pulling cattle off, you’d have little impact on your summer flowers but might hit your bluegrass a little and decrease the thatch layer.
Other than that, I’m afraid I don’t have any immediate answers. I’ll think about it!
Hello Chris: We are working on redoing a brome pasture to native grasses in Gage County, NE. Can native grasses be planted in small parcels for example 20 ft X 20 ft within a smooth brome pasture as a method of gradually increasing natives rather than doing a full scale restoration?
Yes, you can definitely take a project that a little at a time. It would give you a chance to learn as you go and adapt your methods. You could try some of the methods mentioned in my answers to other questions here about converting lawns and horse pasture. This might be a very similar project, though aiming for a somewhat bigger result.
What does “carbon collapse” in restoration efforts actually mean? When over-planted or over-seeded (too many/too much) does it mean too much competition for soil nutrients and they…do…what…? Fall over? Die a slow death? What is carbon collapse?
Wow, I’ve never heard that term! I don’t know the answer and failed to learn more with a Google search. Can you give me some more information on the phenomenon you’re talking about? And maybe someone else will recognize this and have an answer, too.
I went on a “species adventure” with an ecologist, the cofounder of the no-longer Rocky Mountain Native Plants in Rifle, Colorado. He said something about too much plant material in a handful of restoration projects here in the arid West, that, several years later experienced significant failure “due to carbon collapse.” I didn’t get to ask a follow up question and it has bothered me for over a year now—what if, in eagerness & ignorance, I cause carbon collapse on a project!? I’ve tried to Google it, too, and had no luck. It haunts me now 🤪
what?! q and a with chris!!! so many questions..
1) how can you prep an existing hay field into prairie without use of herbicide?
2) tips on interseeding after initial seeding
3) any approaches to boost mycorrhizae in your soils? amendments, translocations etc.
Tracey, I’m sorry I missed this question (questions!) earlier.
When prioritizing prairies for protection (given scarce resources), what are your top criteria? Species richness? Intactness? Connectivity? Price / ROI? Mostly opportunity?
Sorry for not responding sooner! This is really tough. In places where prairies are nearly extinct, every prairie seems absolutely crucial. Even in western tallgrass prairie, where there’s more to work with, it’s hard to imagine walking away from any of them. But, let me try to answer your question:
If we’re looking at long-term success and viability, I’d definitely look at the components of ecological resilience – species diversity and habitat size/connectivity. Both are important. Species diversity can be enhanced to some degree, but it’s really difficult, so I think prairies that already have a lot (plants and animals) should be high in priority. But the landscape context matters.
A site that is large and/or connected to others will have a better chance of maintaining viable populations of both plants and animals (and other taxa). A site that’s small, but with good potential for expansion (surrounding areas that can be restored) might also rank fairly high.
Where it’s really tough is when you’re looking a small isolated prairie with lots of diversity versus a much larger prairie with less diversity. There’s not a right answer there, but I do think that 50 or 100 years from now, the larger prairie is probably more likely to still be supporting a solid prairie community, especially if it’s managed well and work is done to enhance diversity. If you really had to choose between the two, I’d probably see what could be done to move seeds (and maybe animals) from the smaller site to the larger one – assuming they’re relatively close to each other) and hope to sort-of save both.
In reality, it’s usually opportunity, though, as you suggest. When a landowner is ready to sell or protect a piece of ground, we decide if we can find the resources needed to do that. And by resources, I mean the money to buy or secure an easement, but also the money to make sure the site will get management, which is almost always the harder part of the equation to solve.
There is a ~10 acre feedlot site on the Spirit Mound Historic Prairie project that has resisted reclamation for 20 years. Soil tests show a very high concentration of phosphorus. Annual ‘weeds’ thrive there, but native perennials generally fail. Any practical suggestions? Any native species that are more likely to survive? For appearance sake, any non-natives that would work as a compromise? Thanks!
Hi Mark,
I’ve heard similar scenarios, but haven’t ever heard anyone come up with a good solution. One idea I’ve always thought would be worth trying is to plant a large annual crop (like a sudangrass, for example) and then ‘green chop’ it – cut all the vegetation and remove it from site. Sudangrass or other sorghums (or even corn) could be utilized as silage. This idea should start reducing nutrients in the soil because you’re using the plants to draw the nutrients up and then removing the plants. I doubt it would be a quick process, but you could do some soil tests for a few years to see if it seems to be making a difference. If nothing else, it’s a way to use the site, get some income, and make it look less weedy.
I’m not sure what sudangrass is like in terms of phosphorus use. I’m guessing a university extension person in the forages realm would have more informed suggestions for different annual crops based on how phosphorous hungry they are.
I wish I had a better answer, but that’s what I’ve got. Good luck!
Hi Chris —
Would you explain the differences and range of Pulsatilla patens subspecies “multifida” and Anemone patens var. “Wolfgangiana”? I am experiencing some confusion on this point! Thank you for your help. Always learning here…. Cindy :)
Gosh, Cindy, this is not my realm of expertise. I’m lucky to know that Pulsatilla is the new name for the genus of pasqueflower. Subspecies and varieties are outside of my world, I’m sorry!
You got me curious, so I poked around a little online and I can see why you’re confused. I am, too. Curious, but not helpful!
If you learn anything from someone who knows about this stuff, let me know!
You are so kind, Chris, to try and answer all our questions! I’m grateful for that. I’ll keep looking for the answer, and I’ll be sure and let you know if I figure it out.
I appreciate all you do to help us prairie folks!
Thanks again,
Cindy :)
I am enjoying your Prairie Ecologist blog very much. If ~90% of the prairie plant biomass is below ground, are there acceptable, non-destructive methods for measuring this? I want to find a way to measure the below-ground carbon storage ability of the short grass prairie we are restoring in Aurora, Colorado. Thank you for any suggestions!
Boy, that’s a tough one. I’ve written some about soils (https://prairieecologist.com/2020/08/10/whats-the-deal-with-soil-anyway/) but I’m definitely not an expert in the subject.
Soil sampling is tricky, especially if you want to measure change over time. But also, trying to measure the carbon storage ability of prairie is hard because there’s a ton of variability across space and many other factors. Scientists really struggle to estimate soil carbon potential because of that variability. So even if you were able to come up with a number for one location, it probably wouldn’t extrapolate well.
That’s the long, winding answer. The shorter answer is: I don’t know. You should ask a local soils expert in your area. I’d suggest starting with university extension at Colorado State or another similar institution. Good luck, and I’m sorry about this unsatisfactory reply.
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Do you have big ant mounds (2-3 feet in diameter) in the Niobrara Valley Preserve and if so, what fire intervals do you recommend to keep them thriving?
As an ant guy myself, I’ll be curious to see Chris’s response to this, then pitch in with any feedback. I can’t answer the Niobrara part, not having visited the location, but my experience in prairie remnants is that they vary a lot in ant species and abundance from place to place, especially the ones that build the conspicuous mounds (certain species in the genus Formica), with a tendency to have more ant mounds in relatively fertile soils and and farther north.
I checked with our stewardship manager to get a second opinion because I’ve seen those mounds there, but don’t have a good feel for their abundance. Carson said we have quite a few, but they tend to be on the harder ground (as opposed to the true sandhills) near or north of the river or in some specific pastures.
I really don’t have a feel for how fire or fire frequency impact ant mounds like that. At NVP, most of the area is grazed, so both fire and grazing manipulate habitat structure, so that makes it harder to separate out the importance of fire. I’d be interested in James’ perspective, but I don’t know that fire itself would matter too much either way as long as grazing keeps the habitat in a condition that maintains a good prey base and enough bare ground for easy ant travel.
Hello. I have a quarter acre shortgrass prairie restoration on a dry sandy loam soil in SW MI. It’s in it’s fourth season. I planted seed mixes for the soil type from Native Connections & Prairie Moon. The latter had white sage in it. It’s pretty aggressive & is crowding out a lot of the forbes. I’m thinking of selectively killing at least a portion of it as an experiment. I’ll appreciate your thoughts and/or recommendations.
Hi Dan. Interestingly, I’ve never seen white sage act aggressively, though it certainly spreads well via rhizomes. In our restored sand prairies, it spreads, but doesn’t form a solid cluster – there are other plants growing inside the colony. In your case, my impulse would be to wait and see what happens, but you could certainly do a little selective thinning to see what happens. You could hand-pull the plants if they come out easily. If you want to try herbicide, it might be tricky, given how fuzzy the plant is. I’m not sure how easily the plants will absorb herbicide through the leaves. If you want to work at a REALLY fine scale, you could cut the stems and paint a tiny amount of herbicide on the exposed stem. Again, though, I’d probably give it time, though I’m not seeing what you’re seeing. Good luck and enjoy the restoration project!
Thanks very much for your reply, Kris. I’ll let is run it’s course for now. It’s a pretty plant, and I understand critters like it. It’s probably bad mojo to kill sage anyway. 😉
Chris,
Question concerning Dutch Clover, Trifolium repens: We are in the 8th year of a conversion from cropland to natives over a 10-acre site. Within the site there is an approximate 1/4 acre of somewhat wetter land that did not take the initial forb seed that was in the mix (grasses/sedges grew fine and very thick). Wanting to add forbs to this area, the grass was “thinned” last year with Clethodim, burned before over-seeding new forbs this past winter. The new, wet-friendly, forbs are coming up but are now being engulfed by thick, carpet-like clover in a few spots. Should we spray the clover and start over in the bad areas or let it ride and see what happens? It is spreading fast!
We’re in Minnesota, just west of Minneapolis, clay/loam soil, and we’ve had near record rainfall so far this year.
Thanks,
Lee
Oof. I don’t know that I’m qualified to answer this one. I’ve not really dealt with T. repens except in the Kentucky bluegrass portion of our yard, where we enjoy seeing it because it draws pollinators. I’d be surprised if it turned out to be a strong competitor with bigger native plants, but I’m just guessing – it is a perennial, so if it gets established first, maybe it could slow the establishment of others. On the other hand, it seems unlikely to be a strong competitor in a sedge meadow environment.
My hunch here would be to ride it out for a season and see what things look like next year. After all, if you spray the clover, you’ll be killing everything you seeded anyway. Why not give your seeded species a chance to see what they can do? If things are looking worse by mid-summer, you can act accordingly. Another option might be to spray the edges of the clover patches to slow their expansion, but I’d only do that if you can’t help yourself.
On the other hand, if the clover spots are small (and a small percentage of the total), I could see justification for taking them out while you can, in case they continue to get worse. Or, if you want to use this as a learning opportunity, try a few different options and keep track of what happens!
How about that for a wishy-washy set of answers?
Most importantly, I’d definitely reach out to other restoration folks in Minnesota. You might try Matt Graeve or Eric Chien with TNC, for example. If you have trouble getting in touch, shoot me an email (chelzer@tnc.org) and I’ll try to help.
Sorry not to have a clear answer to this, but that’s also the way restoration works! There’s a lot of uncertainty. Good luck with the project – it sounds like you’re going about things the right way!
Thanks for taking time to respond, Chris. I like the idea of spraying the perimeter, I may also spray a couple of the clover “carpet” locations where even the ragweed had trouble popping through.
Lee
Hi. two questions and thank you in advance for answering.
I have 1/4 acre hillside that has been turned into a mini-prairie with Ohio native flowers and grasses. It was very beautiful the first couple of years but the last 3 have been disappointing. It seems to be very crowded down at the bottom. I guess seeds get washed down the hill. Could that be the reason?
How do you feel about using Snapshot or some other pre-emergent in prairie areas?
It’s really hard to know what’s happening without seeing it. Seeds can wash down hill but if you had good establishment of prairie plants further up the hill early on, those should be able to stay up there. What have they been replaced with?
I think pre-emergents can be useful in some situations, especially for short-term windows where you have rhizomatous plants that have the potential to fill in spaces and you want to suppress germination of invasives while that’s happening. But in early restorations, you’re usually hoping to see continued germination of seeds for desirable plants, as well, so a pre-emergent is likely to work against what you want. Feel free to email me (with photos?) if you want to brainstorm about your situation. chelzer@tnc.org. Or, even better, talk to someone in Ohio who will probably have better local knowledge of the situation you’re facing. Good luck!
Namaste,
In the discussions on your Sep 2019 post on “A Deep-rooted Prairie Myth”,
James McGee on Nov 3 2020 said: “The deep roots of grass could be to store water. Not that the roots store much water themselves, but rather they modify the surrounding soil to help drain away water ..”
Sarah on July 16, 2021 at 12:22 said: ” could the super deep roots be used to direct water AWAY from the plant when there’s too much? We like to think that roots only draw moisture but being able to use the long roots to help get rid of too much moisture like during a flood, would help fill underground aquafers and help keep the topsoil from washing away. If plants are planted in topsoil with a clay base, the water will sit and the roots will rot..”.
Taking cue from these two comments I, Vinod Kumar Koodathingal on Sep 3, 2024 said: ” prairie grass roots not only break (drill ?) through the clay but also ship the clay and water further down? The impermeable clay layer at a shallow soil depth is pushed down. Perched Water Tables are formed at soil depths, maybe 10 m below, to which the prairie grass roots transport the water and clay through Preferential Flow on the outer surface of the deep vertical roots”.
Prairie Grass Strips and Grassed WaterWays (GWW) have received lot of attention, research and funding. Could it be due to the Perched Water Table formed by the prairie grass deep at their root tip? Effectively does a GWW create a subsoil swale (or an Ethiopian Rivulet, my naming, see
https://drive.google.com/file/d/11JdpLxAVfVnmbLrS74a8u1O4u9AQPyf_/ )?