Smothering Again

Despite varied success (and failure), I am, again, attempting to smother more of the field in my attempt to convert it into a native grassland.  Over the years, I have come to realize that I need a lot more native grasses to cover this area, and only intersperse them with wildflowers.

My goal has always been to keep each section in various stages of succession.  After twelve years here (we moved at the end of October, so our anniversary is coming up soon), the field is now in a late stage of succession.   I am happy to have the various goldenrod species; they are very beneficial to a wide array of species.  However, I need to create more biodiversity.

I took some time, last weekend, to clear another section and put down newspapers (many thanks to my husband, Jeff, for saving them for me and bringing them home from work).  I covered these with brown filler paper from our Chewy deliveries, branches, and (weed free grass clippings).

When the time comes, I will either sow seed or plant the plugs I will winter sow later.

It's small, but it's a start.

Tiny Reclaimed Area

My biggest obstacle toward converting our field to a native meadow has been preparing the area.  I have tried smothering huge sections with cardboard and leaves, and, later, sowing eith a custom meadow mix...with mixed results.  Limited results.  I think I need to smother longer.

Last year, I smothered a small section with an old air mattress we used to use for camping--it had a leak.  Around that I used newspaper and leaves.  It is a small section, but a perfect place to plant some of the plugs I grew.

Knowing that rain was in the forecast, yesterday, I got a lot in the ground.  Mostly redtop grass (I think) and milkweed, but I also added a few others, including Penstemon digitalis.   Over the years, I have realized I need more grasses.  I planted the little I had.

It is small, but it is a start...reclaiming the property a little at a time.   Not very attractive...yet. 

New Year's Day

Not a bad start for the new year.  I didn't plan it.  Although it was overcast, today was in the 40s, so I went out to walk the property.

My plan (and my attempt) to create a native meadow has started and stalled many times over the past few years...but that is another story.  One section had some locust trees seed in and begin to take over.  There were more than I realized...and by the looks of them, they had been growing for a few years.

Over the summer, I noticed the largest ones...and decided they had to go...but I didn't want to do it when there was a possibility that birds might be nesting in them.  Today, I finally took a chainsaw to them.

Before

After

This spring, I inadvertently attracted house wrens while trying to attract a second pair of nesting bluebirds.  I put up a new nestbox in the far corner of our yard.  Instead, house wrens moved in...and ended up killing the newly hatched bluebirds.  I am determined not to let that happen again.

Not only will I be removing all except the original nestboxes, I plan to make the meadow go back to early stages of succession, so it is less attractive to the house wrens.  Removing these invading locust trees is the first step.  (We do have several full grown locust on the property, so this will likely be a recurring battle in the coming years.

For now, I am smother the stumps, to prevent regrowth.

I took the (thorny) locust into our "woodland" and created another brush pile--combining it with the Amur honeysuckle bushes that I cut down in the spring (from the neighbor's property--with their permission).

Plug List

Perhaps it was the great, warm weather we've had for weeks--all winter really--that has had me outside even more than normal for this time of year...whatever the reason, I have been putting off creating a list of plants that I want to order as plugs from my favorite native plant nursery--Archewild in Quakertown, PA (formerly known as American Native Nursery).  I just finished composing a list and I want to post it here for future reference.

My list...although I want them all, those with asterisks *** are my top choices.

1. Eragrostis spectabilis   (purple lovegrass)***
2. Gentianopsis crinite (greater fringed gentian)***
3. Tripsacum dactyloides  (eastern gamagrass)***
4. Sporobolus cryptandrus  (sand dropseed)***
5. Fragaria virginiana  (Virginia strawberry)
6. Deschampsia flexuosa  (wavy hairgrass)
7. Bouteloua curtipendula   (sideoats grama)
8. Bouteloua gracilis      (blue grama)  PA ecotype?  I only looked at once source, but didn’t think it was native to PA
9. Tridens flavus  (purpletop)  Height? —one source listed it as 2-7ft tall...that is quite a wide range!

Now...I'll have to call and hope they are still available.  Next, I'll move on to ordering more seed from Ernst Seed Company for my meadow planting.

Winter Dreaming





 





 

potential bench:  a before picture



 




Despite how quiet I've been, I have been making steady progress--even some large strides in some areas.  I've even had some "post-worthy" wildlife encounters.  My best bet for sharing those are to go through the past year or so's pictures and share them (and the stories that go with them) as I rediscover them.  It is hard to believe that I've basically lost a year of so of documenting my progress.

Yesterday, I was out walking the yard, waiting to see if we'd even get an inch of snow from the huge storm (Jonas, I think) that was walloping areas south of here.  We got nothin'

Surprisingly, I was a little disappointed, (considering how THRILLED I've been with the unseasonably warm weather we had in November and December--I worked outside every chance I had).  Part of me wanted about 2 or 3 inches, just enough to blanket the ground to simplify and beautify the yard.

While walking, my mind toyed with various ideas I've had lately about making a natural-looking bench that would blend in with the natural landscape I envision for our habitat garden.  As I walked past a 5-foot tall locust tree growing at the edge of a path alongside my future native meadow, instead of my usual thought of cutting it down (it is invading the meadow which I want to keep in an earlier stage of succession)...I looked to the lower branches and decided to cut the tree right above its three lowest branches--my thoughts, far-fetched perhaps, are to encourage it (and manipulate it) to grow some low, thick, horizontal branch (a horizontal trunk really), that I will eventually be able to turn into a natural seating area.  Eventually, I plan to kill the tree...but its wood resists decay, so I'm hoping I'll have it for many years to come--assuming the idea comes to fruition.


The placement, right by the path and in the middle of the meadow, seems ideal for a "bench.



Cut to the lowest branches...bench height.

This will be trained to grow horizontally...or even arch to the ground.

Here is another potential (and more realistic) natural seating area.  This  was my first idea--using a chainsaw to carve out a bench that would (hopefully) appear natural.  This wood, though, is already showing signs of decay, so its life span would be fairly short.

Winter Reprieve

After the frigid temperatures earlier this week, today was 55 degrees with rain...but I didn't let the rain stop me. :)  I've been known to get a lot done in the yard during the winter months (at least my first couple of years here, I did), but normally those are on sunny days.  Today, on my way to the gym (yes, I finally joined a gym for the first time in my life!)...I decided to stop at a local appliance store where I've picked up cardboard before.  Luckily it had stopped raining by the time I got there, and, luckily, the damp cardboard boxes folded much easier then the dry ones.

I don't recall mentioning this before (and I know last year I documented little here despite accomplishing a few things), but last fall, I began collecting large pieces of cardboard with the goal of smothering sections of the field to prepare them for planting my dreamed-of native meadow.  Aside from the boxes, I collected bags and bags of leaf bags full of mostly oak and maple leaves from a suburban area near my work.  I began covering my crownvetch problem with cardboard, then I scattered a thick layer of leaves on top to weigh it down, conceal the cardboard so it is not an eyesore, and create more of a barrier for the sun to penetrate and the plants to grow through.  I'm uncertain if this will be enough to eradicate my despised crownvetch patch, but I do expect it to work in the grassy areas.

 From November 16, 2013, smothering Eurasian weeds and
 grasses along a path.

Hopefully, the extra thick layer of grass clippings is enough to

prevent weeds from growing through the gaps between the pole

and the cardboard.

I don't remember the exact temperature, but I remember being 

surprised to see a spider and a few insects warming themselves

on the cardboard.

Today, I went out in the light drizzle to continue what I'd started.  By the time I was half through, my hair was drenched, my denim shirt was wet down to the T-shirt I had on under it, and my sneakers were soaked.  Still, with this warm (almost balmy after our windchill days) weather, I kept plugging along until I depleted my supply of fall leaves.  It makes me wish I'd made more trips to that suburban street lined with scores of bagged leaves.  Maybe next year, I'll do better.

A small patch of crownvetch quickly took over an entire area.

The darker, wet leaves in the foreground (right) is from work I'd

done earlier this fall.  The lighter, dry leaves are from today.  

I think I should probably extend the coverage next time I get 

a chance.

It is a good thing the cardboard blends in with the leaves... I just
may have to spread them thinner once I lay more cardboard,
unless I figure out something else I can use.

While working, drenched from the rain, I thought of the picture this post would paint...then, I even got Jeff to snap a few shots of me as I finished up.  I don't think I look as much like the drowned rat I felt like, but here I am:

I lined the path with the brown paper lawn bags, then covered them with the remaining leaves--oh, and I got some sawdust from the shop class at work that I've been using as well.  Come spring, I'm hoping to be able to plant the seedlings that I will winter sow in the coming weeks (I actually got a head start on some of them back in October!).  I'd like to have a nice start of native grasses and wildflowers to line the path and hint at what is to come...then seed the areas behind them and wait as they become established.

One of the paths that will lead through the meadow.
(Before)

The same path now bordered by a narrow strip of brown paper

bags covered in leaves.  (After)

Fitting Right In

I planted all of the new additions except the queen of the prairie which I think needs more moisture than the site I'd picked for it will provide.  Once established, I will try to grow some in, perhaps, less than the ideal site, but I'd rather wait until I have more, and plant them in the spring or fall not the heat of summer.

The pollinators already attracted to the other native flowers I have took no time at all to explore the new arrivals.  I've never seen this one before: