Take a walk with me through the prairie

Native - Can you elaborate how and when you use mowing or disking to maintain this habitat? Thanks!
I mow as late in the spring as possible but definitely before fawns start dropping. Cool season junk, briers and trees will be growing well by that time and you knock them back at a time when your warm season stuff is just starting good.
I don’t do much disking because my Forbs seem to hang in pretty well with the grass. But if I did disk I would do it in the spring after things started to dry up a little to prevent erosion.
 
I've been doing a little maintenance in the NWSGs recently. Below is an interesting picture of two plants side by side that resemble each other somewhat. One is the most invasive species that I've ever had to deal with. The other is arguably one of the finest forage plants that nature provides in a prairie. Which one would you kill? If you are managing a prairie, it would be good to know the answer.

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The top looks like field thistle

Bottom looks like canada wild lettuce

bill
 
The top looks like field thistle

Bottom looks like canada wild lettuce

bill
I was thinking some type of bull thistle and prickly lettuce. I wasn't positive though.
 
I’d say bull thistle on top and wild lettuce on bottom. The bull thistle would get nuked.


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You guys are on the ball tonight.

The top is a thistle called Pasture Thistle (aka Field Thistle) (Cirsium discolor). It's actually a native thistle, but I have found it to be very invasive. It's the only thistle that I have trouble with. This is due to the fact that it germinates all through the season and doesn't flower until late summer or fall. The flower is very dull and hard to see. When the NWSGs get tall, it hides them. You can find and kill them in the spring and early summer for a while after mowing, but you won't get them all.

The bottom is indeed wild lettuce (Lactuca canadensis), which is our native lettuce. Deer love it, and I've even found this in turkeys when I clean them. This species is very similar to Prickly Lettuce (Lactuca serriola), which is introduced. Both make good wildlife food.
 
Here are some more pictures of Pasture Thistle. I will find us a new plant to look at soon.

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I did some walking this weekend and noticed this grass that has now made a seed head. This is Timothy. It is a cool season grass that is introduced and not native. However, it isn’t aggressive and is never a problem. Deer don’t eat much grass, but this is one they will occasionally browse – especially when young. Timothy is also known as a grass that is preferred for horses. I planted some several years ago and see it pop up in different places from time to time. I never notice it until it makes a seed head.

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I see that here and there on the farm. But like you say, it doesn’t seem to be aggressive and take over.
 
The plant for today is Violet Wood-sorrel (Oxalis violacea)

This is a plant I sometimes find near the edge of the prairie close to the woods. This is not a plentiful species, and it seems to be choosy about where it grows. I don’t know if deer browse it or not, but I have read that rabbits occasionally browse it even though it is mildly toxic because of the presence of oxalic acid. It is also a beneficial insect plant, and the seeds are eaten by a lot of different birds, including quail and dove. That’s it for this week. Another plant coming soon.


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What’s the grass next to it?

looks kinda like stilt weed but not quite. Hopefully you never see that stuff!
 
What’s the grass next to it?

looks kinda like stilt weed but not quite. Hopefully you never see that stuff!

Bill, it is Japanese Stiltgrass. We’ve had it for several years now and no one knows how it just suddenly appeared. You find it at the edge of woods or even out in the woods if the canopy is somewhat open. It will be choked out once you get out in the sunlight where other grasses are growing. I hate the stuff, but it looks like we will be living with it.
 
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Bill, it is Japanese Stiltgrass. We’ve had it for several years now and no one knows how it just suddenly appeared. You find it at the edge of woods or even out in the woods if the canopy is somewhat open. It will be choked out once you get out in the sunlight where other grasses are growing. I hate the stuff, but it looks like we will be living with it.

none in MO yet. But it’s coming. It’s coming everywhere unless some chemical co. Figures out how to kill it only. I’ve got it at home bad.
It pulls easy. I spent a summer ridding my yard of it. It worked for a few years, them came back. I’m tired of pulling it now.

absolutely no wildlife value I can find. Maybe hiding a snake...
 
none in MO yet. But it’s coming. It’s coming everywhere unless some chemical co. Figures out how to kill it only. I’ve got it at home bad.
It pulls easy. I spent a summer ridding my yard of it. It worked for a few years, them came back. I’m tired of pulling it now.

absolutely no wildlife value I can find. Maybe hiding a snake...

I would agree with your description of it.
 
A few days ago I was walking around the edge of the prairie and noticed some of this plant growing. I knew it was some type of Phlox, and tried to research it a little more. I have found that there are so many cultivated varieties that I can’t say for sure, but for right now I believe it to be what is called Smooth Phlox (Phlox glaberrima interior).

At the time I was there it was heavily browsed – almost to the point of killing the plant. Yesterday when I walked by it had been browsed even more and no flowers were visible. I have concluded that Phlox is a highly preferred browse of the whitetail deer. If anyone has more info, please chime it. I would also like some free seed…. :emoji_grinning:


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A few days ago I was walking around the edge of the prairie and noticed some of this plant growing. I knew it was some type of Phlox, and tried to research it a little more. I have found that there are so many cultivated varieties that I can’t say for sure, but for right now I believe it to be what is called Smooth Phlox (Phlox glaberrima interior).

At the time I was there it was heavily browsed – almost to the point of killing the plant. Yesterday when I walked by it had been browsed even more and no flowers were visible. I have concluded that Phlox is a highly preferred browse of the whitetail deer. If anyone has more info, please chime it. I would also like some free seed…. :emoji_grinning:

rdsVzbF.jpg
That's growing in the flower bed here at my house. I have no knowledge of it's specific name, just know it as phlox. My wife picks it and puts in her vases as it smells great.
 
Most everyone is familiar with goldenrods, but this is one of the more unusual ones. It will usually be found at a prairie edge in semi shade and near tree roots. This is called Bluestem Goldenrod. It is a at least a moderately preferred browse. I found these near some beech roots at the edge when walking today.

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If managed correctly, a prairie can be a great place to hunt both turkey and deer. A prairie with a wall of 9 foot tall grass is perfect for deer, but a turkey won't enter it. I mow narrow shooting lanes for deer hunting in the fall, but in the spring, I widen them to facilitate turkey travel. This has been working well for us for several years. Today I built the latest turkey highway for this year.

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you would brush hogging snow at both of my places. East and west. :emoji_scream:

Good idea for the turkeys.
 
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