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RE: Reed Canary

Thanks for the response about Carex.  In this prairie restoration it seems
odd to be fighting with a native grass but reed canary grass wants to
completely take over as the only living species.

The area I'm working with is moist but not wet and I'm sure I can get the
forbs re-established once the reed canary is gone.  I want to start the
matrix for them to grow in at the same time.  A short but aggressive Carex
is exactly what I want.  The Fire Service site you suggest has a good
listing of sedges.  

There is a pond at the bottom of the swale and even though it is generally
surrounded by a six foot ring of reed canary I'm not ready to start
fighting that yet.  I'm sticking to areas where it is less strong.  I'll be
using the Post at least 150' from the water and I wonder how dangerous this
will be to the pond.  I thought that Post degrades in the soil and doesn't
move around much.  Is this not true?  If there is no running water
connecting where I use the Post and the pond can it still adversely affect
the fish?

At 08:58 AM 6/12/98 -0500, you wrote:
>I think the large sedges that Carl was talking about is Scirpus fluviatilis,
>River bulrush, and Scirpus validus, Soft-stem bulrush.  While established
>plants of these species tend to persist in reed canary stands, they will not
>compete in the long run.  I think you may want to consider putting in
>aggressive Carex species (along with herbiciding) such as Carex vulpinoidea,
>Carex hystricina or Carex scoparia (these are listed in a cultural guide
>found at http://www.appliedeco.com/cultural.htm) that may be better suited
>to your site.  Carex lacustris is one that spreads by rhizomes and that may
>be useful, but it needs saturated soils all growing season.  You may want to
>be very careful about applying Poast to your swale if you have standing
>water as run-off may adversely affect the fish population in your pond.
>Another grass-only herbicide that we have been using with some success is
>Fusion.  It, too, is not rated for aquatic usage.
>
>You also might want to check out:
>more info on reed canary
>http://www.fs.fed.us/database/feis/plants/graminoid/phaaru/fire_effects.html
>(This is the same site that Bob Statton recommended)
>
>chemical database that lists environmental effects:
>http://ace.orst.edu/info/extoxnet/pips/ghindex.html (do a keyword seach for
>Poast and Fusion)
>
>Patrick Daniels
>Staff Ecologist
>P.O. Box 256
>Brodhead, WI 53520
>(608) 897-8641 FAX (608) 897-8486
>email: pat@appliedeco.com
>
>
>-----Original Message-----
>From:	owner-prairie@mallorn.com [owner-prairie@mallorn.com] On Behalf
>Of James MacDonald
>Sent:	Thursday, June 11, 1998 11:30 AM
>To:	prairie@mallorn.com
>Subject:	Re: Reed Canary
>I have been trying to remove some patches of reed canary from a fairly
>moist swale here in south central Wisconsin for two years.   Fire seems to
>encourage, not retard, them.  I have applied roundup twice to these patches
>each spring and but I still get a 40% to 50% regrowth the next year.  These
>are old patches and I suspect they have built up a large seed source.
>
>As you say replacement is the only solution.  I don't want to use a high
>caliber moist loving grass alternative though which can eventually create
>an impenetrable thicket.  My hope is to get some sedges going in these
>spots and then help them along by spraying the areas with Post.  This is a
>grass specific herbicide that, I hope, will kill the remaining reed canary
>but not the sedges.
>
>I'm interested in which species you mean when you say the "larger sedges"
>will replace reed canary.  I'm also wondering if anyone has had success
>with this approach.
>
>James MacDonald
>


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