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Re: weeds

Thanks for the comments and suggestions Brett, I've included more thoughts
that people might find interesting.

On Fri, 25 Jun 1999, Brett Roberts wrote:

> Couple of comments that you may find useful.  Heavy grazing of smooth 
> bromegrass does weaken the plant.  To do the most damage to this
> species, grazing would need to be intense in the spring and the fall
> when this species is actively growing and thus providing the cattle
> something to eat.  Smooth bromegrass essentially goes dormant in the hot
> summer months when the native warm season species are at their peak
> growth periods.  heavy grazing of the WSG would weaken them.

	We graze the remnant heavily with the neighbors cows and horses.
The animals go in during October to hit the brome during it's fall
growth period, they stay all winter and this year they remained until
early June. The brome is hit hard the whole time and gets no rest.  We
keep the animals on in the winter so they will reduce the litter
accumulation.  That way we get away from burning so often.  
	Previously this remnant was only hayed every year in late summer.
We've used the grazing for 4 years I think, and the effect on Helianthus
rigidus has been obvious.  The late summer haying kept this species
restricted to the edges of the remnent, against the trees, and around an 
old dilapidated wagon.  Places where the hay couldn't be cut.  In the few
years that we haven't hayed, but instead grazed in fall/winter/spring,
this species has expanded all over the remnant.  Not just small clones
expanding, but also new clones that established from seed, because I'm
sure I would have known if they were present before.  I think I'm seeing
the same thing with Salvia azurea.  These are both late blooming plants
that put a lot of tissue high up in the air, and late summer mowing
probably removes too much tissue at a bad time for them.  I'm pretty sure
that this grazing regime is hitting the porcupine grass pretty hard as
well though, whereas the old haying regime was probably pretty good for
it.  But we're going back to the haying regime for awhile so hopefully it
hasn't been hit too hard to recover.  Prairie dropseed may be suffering
under the grazing regime as well.  

> Red clover and alfalfa will not likely persist as they are not long
> lived especially the red clover.  In Illinois we generally have more
> humidity and red clover seldom lasts over two years because of fungal

	The interesting thing about the clover is that I have it thick and
widespread on one remnent and one restoration, while some of the other
remnants in the area, which are either hayed and/or burned and/or idled
don't have much at all.  It makes sense that it should not be abundant in
a decent remnent, where competition from the dominating, long lived
perennials would be too much for this short lived species. That's
why I suspect the grazing, although I can't recall what it's abundance was
like before we started grazing.  In the remnent the grazing may be
disturbing the soil enough to stimulate germination, keeping this species
well established.  In the restoration it may fade out as the stand
develops, because that restoration isn't grazed.  In both locations it is
too widespread for me to consider spot spraying - I don't have the time
for that big of an effort.  If grazing could control it I assume it would
have to be throughout the growing season, and my neighbor has too many
animals for me to allow them season-long access.  If I lived at the site I
can imagine me opening the gate for a couple of days each week throughout
the growing season, but I don't think the neighbor would be too interested
in doing that himself.

> The fescue can be a bug-a-boo.  It is drought tolerant and not very
> palatable to cattle due to the presence of the endophyte fungus that it
> "shacks-up" with.  Try spot spraying this beast with glyphosate
> specially in the fall withing 30-45 prior to frost.

	Again, the fescue is too widespread and abundant for me to try
spot spraying.  I'm hesitant to broadcast spray in the fall because most
of the forbs that have gotten established are fall bloomers, showing green
tissue into October/November. I'm thinking an early spring broadcast spray 
might be the ticket, because there are very few forbs in this restoration
that are growing at that time.  
	On a similar note, on a lark two winters ago I spot sprayed a
large patch of bluegrass in one of the restorations in late December with
glyphosphate.  Temperatures during the week before and after the spray
were generally around the freezing point, and there was some misty rain
the evening after.  It worked, the patch was killed.  Of course this
spring the patch is being reinvaded from around the edges.
	Finally, some people may be interested in my ideas of how to deal
with brome that is spreading into a restoration from an adjacent fencerow.
It's an old hedge-post fencerow that is not functional, so I'm thinking of
yanking it out, having the adjacent farmer plow it up and the immediate
portion of the restoration next to it, then planting the whole thing to a
solid stand of a dominating native WSG - big blue, switch or indian.
A nice and thick, manageable strip that can be burned frequently and
will not allow brome to reestablish.
	Another restoration that I am involved with but don't have much
input on the decision making, has brome invading from an adjacent road
ditch.  Unfortunately the decision makers for this piece always insist on
putting their firebreaks at the border of the ditch and the field,
instead of just using the road as a ditch.  So the ditch, and the brome
growing in it, doesn't get burned.  The ditch then acts as a nice refuge
from which the brome can spread.  
	I've been told that that this was done because an additional
permit from the DOR was needed to burn the ditch, and it was easier to 
not hassle with that. I'm suspicious of that explanation, although
I've never really looked into whether the DOR really requires a
seperate permit.  This property is administered by the state Game and
Parks Commission, and my impression is that their reasons for choosing to
allow restoration work at the site differs greatly from why a
restorationist would want to be involved.  What the two view points want
to accomplish and why seems to differ greatly, but it has been beneficial
for me to be involved and I've learned from my involvement.

	Hope someone finds these thoughts usefull.  Ciao.

Steve

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