Turning an abandoned house site into prairie
The farm house near our cabin was burned down by a former
landowner. The land under and around the house was ignored until we removed the
debris about 15 years ago. By the time we started restoration work here, the land had
become a major weed patch. Wherever there weren’t conventional weeds, day
lilies had run amok.
Once we started, it took us 12 years to eradicate all the
bad plants and to get a lush, diverse prairie established. Although not a
Superfund site, the legacy of the house structure undoubtedly made this
restoration difficult. Our experiences might be useful for those trying to
establish natural areas in urban areas.
Before planting, the herbaceous vegetation and the brush
were treated with 2-3% glyphosate (foliar back-pack sprayers) and the dead
vegetation burned off. In November 2002 the site was planted with a prairie mix
suitable for dry-mesic to mesic conditions.
Although prairie plants became established, there still
remained a lot of undesirable vegetation. The principal undesirables were day
lilies, brambles (mainly black raspberries) and sumac, with occasional
honeysuckle.
We got started with serious eradication work in 2006 and
finally, in 2014, we seem to be finished. Although this seems a long time, I
suspect it is typical of what one can expect when restoring such a very bad
site. Since it was a small site (less than 1 acre), complete canvassing the
site could be done, ensuring that no invasive plant was missed.
We burn this site every year, usually in mid- to
late-March. As soon as the invaders started to appear they were sprayed,
several times during the early growing season. The goal was to have all the
invaders sprayed before prairie vegetation got too big. Further details are
given below.
Day lilies. There
were lots of these, and they had spread all through the site, as well as into other
areas nearby. Because this is a monocot, glyphosate was used. Fortunately, these
plants show early so we could kill them before “good” species got too big. However,
day lilies have a deep, persistent rhizome system, making them difficult to
kill. We discovered that for success we needed to use a high concentration of glyphosate
(8%).
Brambles. These
generally don’t begin to appear until early May, but continue to show throughout
most of the month. We attempted to catch these at the rosette stage, using a
foliar spray of 3-4% Garlon 3A. Any plants that were missed in the May
sprayings were allowed to grow until they were several feet tall (so we could
sure we weren’t missing any), and then killed by basal bark treatment with 20% Garlon
4 in oil. Complete eradication took so long presumably because of the extensive
rhizome system.
Sumac. This
shrub also has an extensive rhizome system, but has the additional problem that
it root suckers extensively. Thus, after the above-ground plants are killed
with Garlon, root suckers form and will continue to appear until late summer.
Those shoots appearing in early June can be sprayed with Garlon but those
missed or arising later are best allowed to wait until they are large enough so
that they can be treated by Garlon 4 basal bark. Like brambles, eradication of
sumac took quite a few years.
Even though the prairie plants had become well
established over the first 3-5 years after seeding, it took at least 10 years
to eradicate day lilies, brambles, and sumac.
Ragweed and other annuals were hand pulled before
flowering, generally by mid-summer.
Because this site was small and was near the cabin, it
could be monitored easily, which was a real advantage.
The photo shows what the site looks like now.
Part of the Cabin Prairie that was planted on the old house site. A diverse flora has been established, including both forbs and grasses |
1 Comments:
Hi Tom,
I was wondering if I could talk to you about restoration of oak savannah? 320-267-5159
Kind Regards,
Kari Cedergren
Benton County Master Gardener
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