The March Hare: Fall 2006 Issue 50

Homecomings • Going Home • Reflections • Nature Corner • Bernadoette • Wordy Gurdy

Nature Corner

By Rachel

I thought perhaps it was time for an update on our work to increase the diversity and health of the habitats on our land.
We start the warm season nearly every year by planting a few hundred trees. This year we got a small grant to plant 600 trees and shrubs in our woodlands to diversify the species present. This was a follow up to our earlier effort to do Timber Stand Improvement. Last winter several folks went out with chainsaws and girdled trees that were overly common, non-native or just too close together. This year we tried to plant trees in the sunny spots that were opened up by those activities. We put in several species of oak that are more rare in our degraded woods, along with some nutbearers, like walnut, pecan and hazelnut. We also put in a bunch of small trees and shrubs including some flowering varieties like dogwood and redbud.

Now that we have been planting trees for nearly a decade and have planted thousands of them, we are starting to see the fruits of our efforts. The slopes leading down to the creek have recognizable stands of oak, ash and more. There was no existing redbud when we purchased the land and it is a pleasure to see the pink blooms in the spring. Our woods are feeling more...well, woods-like. I have seen an increase in the squirrel population, and unfortunately a commensurate increase in the deer tick population, which relies on leaf litter to stay hydrated.

We also marked the end of the winter with controlled burns. Or we try to keep them controlled. This year when we were burning the prairie restoration that we call Try Again Prairie (because of the multiple plantings we did to get it established) the wind shifted in unpredictable ways and we called the local volunteer fire department to back us up. By the time they arrived, everything was well under control. But that didn't stop them from driving out into our field and getting their fire truck stuck. We are very thankful to have them as a back up and marvel over their aplomb when fighting fires.

By the way, we burn for different reasons and therefore do it at different times of year. Frequently we burn our prairie plots in the late winter/ early spring. The native plants evolved with periodic burns so they survive them well. They also are dominated by warm season grasses, which get started a little later in the year. The non-native species are not as well adapted to fire and start earlier. Periodic burning when the cold season grasses are just starting to grow helps keep those invasive non-native species suppressed. However, prairie is not just a field of grass. Historically it was a diverse mosaic of dozens or even hundreds of species including many flowers. If a prairie plot becomes too dominated by grass, we burn in the fall when it is putting on seed, to set it back, and open it up so the flowers will have a little elbow room.

Controlling invasive species is unfortunately an important theme. Many of the plants you see when you look at a ÒnaturalÓ landscape in the Midwest actually originated in Europe or Asia. Sometime they naturalize and coexist nicely with the plants that were here. Sometimes, because they have left the natural checks on their growth behind them, they become homogenous stands, choking out anything around them. For several years now we have made an annual trip to the far corner of our land where there is a patch of garlic mustard (alliaria petiolata). This plant tends to take over the understory of woods. Fortunately, it is an annual and easy to weed by hand.

Two annual trips in the early spring to pick whatever we can find have reduced the population. The seeds can survive for quite a while, but I feel confident if we keep it up, we can virtually eliminate the stand.
We have also been cutting sericea lespedeza (lespedeza cuneata) every July. It was planted in the past as a wildlife food plant and for erosion control and we have a patch along the roadside near the village. By mowing it in July we knock out its ability to produce seeds and weaken the perennial plant. We hope this will at least slow its tendency to take over.
This year we started a new campaign against multiflora rose (rosa multiflora). This shrub was also originally recommended but has turned out to be trouble. We make expeditions to different parts of the land with loppers in hand. This time of year, the arching manner of the plant makes it a good safe habitat for a turkey nest and we have scared more than one mother off of her large nest - which in turn scares us, because she usually waits until you are about to step on her to flush. But don't worry, bushes with turkeys underneath them get a temporary reprieve.

The other major area of work we do is erosion control. Sadly, our land was overfarmed in the past, and there are many areas where there is no topsoil left. We have been experimenting with many methods of combating erosion and we are proud to say a few have been successful. Several years ago when Mukluk was our land management intern, she built a series of small dams out of wood and straw bales in order to slow and diffuse water flow uphill of a forming gully. Every year we have been refurbishing and expanding the dams. We have also spread some compost in the eroded sites to promote plant growth. And we have been taking measurements and pictures of the area. The area looks almost unrecognizable now. The gully has stopped expanding and all that bare soil is now vegetated. We have decided it was healthy enough to leave it be.

Wish us luck on our continued efforts to build the health of our ecosystem.

Planting trees with visitors

Homecomings • Going Home • Reflections • Nature Corner • Bernadoette • Wordy Gurdy