Preliminary 2010 results for sweet clover at Black Earth Rettenmund

Our first round of sweet clover control at Black Earth Rettenmund Prairie for 2010 is now completed. We will have to come back in August and September to catch the stragglers, but the major infestations are now "history". Thanks especially to Amanda, Brendon, the Audubon Interns, Susan, and Kathie. We also had a bit of help from a few volunteers in early June.

We have spent about 170 hours so far on this 16 acre prairie remnant. Last year we spent 160 hours, and 290 hours in 2008. However, we did a lot of mowing those two previous years, whereas this year everything was done by hand pulling. Perhaps we are making a bit of progress?

This year our major infestations were in the North unit. The Saddle and South units were relatively sparse. In contrast, last year we had major infestations in both of those units and had to mow some especially bad areas. The biennial characteristic of sweet clover probably accounts for these differences.

It looks like we will be dealing with sweet clover at Black Earth Rettenmund Prairie for many more years! However, it is worth it for this high quality prairie remnant.