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Re: Atrazine!

Theresa,
I have been in the native grass seed industry for many years and Atrazine
used to be one of our most effective tools. I no longer use it for the
reasons outlined by Brett. Brett has done an excellent job in his response
explaining Atrazine while Robert offered an interesting observation
regarding establishment and weed control. I suggest you use a herbicide
called Plateau. It is labeled for use with several native grasses and many
forbs. Problem is, not all of the grasses and forbs you will be wanting to
use with a prairie restoration will be tolerant to Plateau. I have been
using a technique for two years now and had excellent results. Apply Plateau
herbicide at or near planting time in the spring, plant tolerant grasses and
forbs. During the following dormant season introduce the seeds of the
non-tolerant species. The Plateau gives you excellent control of annual
grasses and some broadleaves allowing the grasses and forbs to establish
quickly. This provides a real advantage when dealing with skeptics and non
believers. Using this technique I have been able to establish grasses (knee
to waist tall) and have annual flowers blooming by late summer of the
planting year. To get more information regarding Plateau go to:
http://www.prairiesource.com/pages/plateau/index.html
You will also find links there to view a copy of the Plateau label. The
label will have a list of grasses and forbs tolerant and rates.

Keep the tall grasses growing,

Jef Hodges


Theresa Mau-Crimmins wrote:

> Hello fellow prairie enthusiasts,
> I am a grad student at Western Michigan University.  Quite recently,
> folks here have begun tossing around the idea of a prairie restoration
> on our campus of about 50 acres--yippie!!!  We've been putting together
> species lists, burning regimes, and coming up with all sorts of research
> projects.  The administration is very anxious to get something planted
> on this open area that for the past many years has been farmed.  The
> original plan was to seed it this fall.  Trouble is, we just discovered
> that it was treated with Atrazine last spring.  We've been doing some
> research on this troublesome chemical, and it seems that it breaks down
> in about 2 years or so on the surface, but leaches down and takes much
> longer to break down at deeper levels of soil.  How have you who have
> done restorations/plantings dealt with this?  Can we go ahead and plant
> this coming spring, and then hope that the Atrazine will break down
> quickly enough that by the time our forbs' roots reach down that far,
> they will not be affected?  We'd greatly appreciate advice from folks
> who've dealt with this specifically for prairie plants.
>
> Thanks much,
> Theresa Mau-Crimmins
> x93mau@wmich.edu
>
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