Post-burn seeding

With our burns over, we have quickly started getting seeds on the ground in selected burn units. One of the major uses of a burn is to clear the site of duff, leaves, and debris so that broadcast seeds can reach the bare soil.

Seeds were collected throughout 2012, cleaned, weighed, mixed, and bagged. A spreadsheet was prepared with the various units to be planted, how many acres, and what type of seed mix.  Six separate seed mixes had been prepared: Dry Prairie, Dry-Mesic Prairie, Open Savanna, Woods, Wet-Mesic, and Wetland. Areas that were burned last November were planted in early December (before the snows).

The seeds for spring-planting were hung in the unheated barn until now. They were mixed with sawdust and distributed into buckets. A labeled flag was placed in each bucket showing which area the seeds were to be planted. Buckets were stacked in the Mule and delivered to the appropriate sites. 

An open savanna area ready for planting. This area had been burned 20 April 2013.

Many of the areas at Pleasant Valley Conservancy have been planted several (or many) times. We feel this is necessary because the quality of seeds varies from year to year, and the weather conditions after planting also vary.

At present, all of the seeds for this year are on the ground. Now it is time to move on to herbaceous weed control!