Take a walk with me through the prairie

[Native Hunter]

what do you do to keep the grass from filling in and becoming mostly a mono culture? That is my biggest problem

I haven’t had the problem in 10 years. At most places it is more open than the pictures I have shown. If I ever do have that problem the solution will be moderate disking. I have the equipment to do it, and one disking will probably give me another 10 years.

 

[S.T.Fanatic]

what do you do to keep the grass from filling in and becoming mostly a mono culture? That is my biggest problem

A late summer disturbance whether fire or disking will promote forb growth.

 

[roymunson]

This is a pandora's box for me... Very interesting stuff, but a completely new world.

Was always taught that a banging switchgrass stand was the holy grail for field and holding deer. If this site has taught me anything, its that there is almost always more than 1 way to skin a cat.

 

[SwampCat]

This is a pandora's box for me... Very interesting stuff, but a completely new world.

Was always taught that a banging switchgrass stand was the holy grail for field and holding deer. If this site has taught me anything, its that there is almost always more than 1 way to skin a cat.

I think a lot of it depends on where you live and what habitat types you have around your area. In my area, we have a lot of cedar thickets, five year old clearcuts, swamps, etc. Probably more bedding cover than any other other cover type. We dont have snow so arent worried about how well a grass stands through the winter. Thermal cover for protection from heat is more important than thermal cover for protection from cold at my place. Tall, thick grass cover is a feral hog magnet in the south. I could go on and on. You have to assess your own area to determine what works for you.

To be honest, I am not as excited about the grasses as I am the forbs. I have land that is considered Blackland Prairie - a rare and sensitive ecosystem in my area - and I am interested in improving that habitat type on my ground. That is why my interest is so high in this thread - Native seems to have a good handle on this, with a lot of knowledge and experience. I am struggling. I can get the nwsg, but it crowds out the forbs. I can disk the grass to reduce the amount of grass component - but that also gets rid of some of the native prairie flowers. I dont want to plant forbs - because my desire is to promote the native plants that should be in the area. I want to do this more for pollinators and songbirds - I expect little to no improved use by deer or other game species - so my measure of success is more focused - simply re-creating the plant species native to my Prairie eco-system. Native Hunter is an open book on plant communities.

 

[woodduck]

A late summer disturbance whether fire or disking will promote forb growth.

Would you mow the grasses

A late summer disturbance whether fire or disking will promote forb growth.

Would you mow the grasses then make one rough pass across the field ?

 

[SwampCat]

A late summer disturbance whether fire or disking will promote forb growth.

I have disked and it does reduce the grass component and increase the growth of forbs. But, it also seems to reduce a number of species of the native prairie wildflowers and more promotes the growth of ragweed, sweet clover, etc. I just havent found the right combination, yet. I have a lot to learn and Native provides a lot of good information.

 

[S.T.Fanatic]

Would you mow the grasses


Would you mow the grasses then make one rough pass across the field ?

I don't think you would have to. I wouldn't have the disk set to aggressive and if the grass is mowed it may just ride on top of the thatch. Not sure though.

 

[H20fwler]

Let’s get up and continue walking

First, we will examine an area that was mowed this year in Mid May and see what is taking place about a month later. You can easily see the clumps of native grasses starting to shoot up. We will talk about the different grasses later on, but today, I want to focus on the areas between the grass clumps. This is where the forbs (both annuals and perennials) fill in part of the empty spaces. These empty spaces are like highways where rabbits and other small creature travel, feed and escape predators.

This is one of the things that sets beneficial native grasses apart from introduced species like Johnson Grass. You don’t want a monoculture of grass, and that’s what Johnson Grass will create. It builds a fibrous root system and chokes out everything else. Another difference is that Johnson Grass will just flatten in the winter, but the right native grasses and forbs will stand the winter well and continue to provide valuable cover through the next spring.

Native grasses can also tiller and fill in space, but it happens to a lesser extent than with Johnson Grass. The pictures below show a 10 year old prairie, and you will see that there is still a lot of space between the clumps. At some other places in the fields, the spaces are even greater.

Both the grasses and forbs are important. The grasses provide tall security cover for deer, and the forbs provide food for them and other creatures. Some forbs also get very tall and provide a dual benefit – both food and cover.

The first pictures below is taken from the side, and it appears that we only have grass. But look in the pictures below it where we are looking straight down, and you will see the highways between the grass clumps and some forbs coming up. After we look at these pictures we will discuss each of the forbs we see.



In this first picture you see three forbs. In the middle is Tickseed Sunflower, near the top left is Oxeye Daisy, and at the lower right is one small Carolina Horsenettle plant.

In this next picture you see mostly Partridge Pea with just a little Common Ragweed on the right side of the picture.

In this post today we have talked about the difference in Native Grasses and invasive species like Johnson Grass. We also identified five forbs – Tickseed Sunflower, Oxeye Daisy, Carolina Horsenettle, Partridge Pea and Common Ragweed. We will stop now, and when we come back we will talk about the attributes of these five forbs that we identified. After that we will look at pictures of many other forbs growing in the prairie and discuss them.

Really enjoying the walk along, these last couple pics have me thinking we are going in the right direction with our pasture.

 

[Native Hunter]

This is a pandora's box for me... Very interesting stuff, but a completely new world.

Was always taught that a banging switchgrass stand was the holy grail for field and holding deer. If this site has taught me anything, its that there is almost always more than 1 way to skin a cat.

A banging switchgrass stand makes outstanding cover.

A banging switchgrass stand with the right forbs mixed in makes outstanding cover and outstanding food.

 

[roymunson]

A banging switchgrass stand makes outstanding cover.

A banging switchgrass stand with the right forbs mixed in makes outstanding cover and outstanding food.

Well I want em to come out every once in a while so I can get a look at em...

I know what you're saying. it's good stuff.

 

[Jordan Selsor]

I'm in SWMO...We sprayed and killed around 25 acres of fescue 2-3 years ago. The amount of NWSG's in the seed bank would blow your mind. I re-sprayed earlier this year to kill any that was still left. Plan on a dormant season disk running through it after deer season.

I say all that to say, you may just want spray at first green-up next year and see what comes through. We had the grasses, now I need / want the forbes.

So initially you didn't put any see down? I am considering a fall wheat plot with switch and big blue stem added to it. they frost seeding some more switch in March to try an establish a good stand. This will about half of a 4 acre field.

 

[hesseu]

So initially you didn't put any see down? I am considering a fall wheat plot with switch and big blue stem added to it. they frost seeding some more switch in March to try an establish a good stand. This will about half of a 4 acre field.

Zero seed. It was already in the seed bank. A lot of natives have been sitting dormant there for years because of fescue. I am trying to get to the farm tomorrow...If I do, I will take a pic. Althought, the pics don't due justice to the height. You can kind of see them in the background of my pic. That deer was taken at the end of November (so, it is still standing well).

 

[Native Hunter]

Now let’s discuss the plants we have identified in the last post.

Tickseed Sunflower: This is one of my favorite prairie plants, because:

• It is a useful, beautiful and a very aggressive annual that holds its place well with the native grasses.
• It gets very tall and stands the early winter very well through hunting season.
• It is an incredible pollinator plant. When it flowers in the fall it will be covered by a multitude of insects – including soldier beetles which are important insects for chestnut tree pollination.
• The seed are important food for lots of different birds – including turkey and bobwhite quail.
• This is not a preferred browse plant for deer, but they will occasionally nibble at it. However, the other positive attributes of this plant that I mentioned above make it one of my favorites.

Shown below is a picture of Tickseed Sunflower in the fall where it is coming up between some clumps of CIR Switchgrass.

The next picture is bank coming down to a ditch along the edge of an NWSG field where Tickseed Sunflower has found a spot that it loves. All I did here was kill the fescue, and nature did the rest.

Common Ragweed: This is a very abundant and very useful prairie plant. Here are some facts:

• This is a very palatable forb and is usually a medium to high preference browse plant.
• It provides good nutritional value. Per the following link common ragweed had greater invitro dry matter digestibility (IVDMD) than both alfalfa an oats. It’s average invitro digestible dry matter is 73%, it’s acid detergent fiber is 25%, and it’s crude protein is 25%.
• Link: https://onpasture.com/2014/04/21/is-ranchers-success-against-ragweed-really-a-win/
• It is extremely competitive with NWSGs and generally strong each year.
• I see it browsed quite a bit on my place but not as much as Giant Ragweed. I will discuss Giant Ragweed and provide pictures in a later post.
• On my place it is one of the most abundant annual forb.
• The seed are a top notch quail food.

Carolina Horsenettle: First let’s look at a better picture:

Discussion about the plant:

• This plant can be a problem in food plots, but it is not abundant or aggressive in my prairie.
• It is not a preferred browse plant and has toxic properties.
• Some animals and birds will eat the yellow fruits that it produces, and it can spread by seed passing through the digestive tract.
• Not a desirable plant, but also not a problem in prairies.

Partridge Pea. First lets look at a better picture that shows it in flower:

Discussion about the plant:

• Partridge Pea is one of my favorite plants because of the beauty and other good attributes.
• It’s one of the top quail plants. I have read that in the south it can be the most important plant for quail.
• The cultivar that I have is extremely aggressive for an annual. After 10 years it is hanging right in there with the native grasses. My planted Partridge Pea gets over 5 feet tall and is much more aggressive than the native PP on my land which barely gets knee high.
• With the abundance of flowers it is obviously a good pollinator plant.
• I have trail camera pictures of deer browsing it, but it isn’t what I would call a high preference browse plant. However, all of the other great attributes make it very desirable.

Oxeye Daisy:

Plant facts:

• This is a non native plant from Eurasia.
• It is a low preference browse for rabbit and deer.
• Like most plants with flowers, it has some insect value.
• It adds some beauty to the prairie but in not a high value plant. However, at my place it isn’t very aggressive, so I have no problem with it popping up occasionally.

The sun is high and it’s getting hot out here in the prairie. We have arrived at the edge of the woods, and this would be a good place to take a break. Maybe under the shade of the mighty oak. We will walk again soon.

 

[H20fwler]

Nice descriptions Native...enjoying the tutorial!

We planted our fifteen acre pasture four years ago to switch, big and little bluestem and Indian along with partridge pea a clover mix and a bunch of native cone flower varieties. It was rotated crop ground for decades before we bought it. Ours really didn't start looking like anything until last summer, we mowed it the first couple years to get the native grasses to crown good. It is finally starting to get thick like a starter version of yours.
Last fall we saw deer using it early mornings and evenings to feed and have found beds and even kicked a few deer up while looking for pheasant and bunnies. It is slowly coming along with some things showing up that we didn’t plant especially different wildflowers along with some weeds. I feel like it is more of a benefit to the farm now...when the wildflowers bloom from mid to late summer the bees are all over it. My biggest worry was it turning in to a monoculture so the plan is to mow every few years now with maybe a little disking, burning is not an option.

 

[Native Hunter]

Okay, time to start walking again.

In the last post, I mentioned a weed called Giant Ragweed. This is a plant that is not abundant on my place, but there is enough of it that it is significant. First let’s look at some pictures. In the first picture below, you will see a photo I took where deer have browsed the plant pretty hard. This is noteworthy, because this location is at the edge of a food plot that has several different kinds of clover, chicory and alfalfa. Yes, the food plot species are eaten well, but the Giant Ragweed is likewise browsed.

The next picture shows the leaf.

This next picture shows Giant Ragweed next to Common Ragweed. Giant is at the top of the picture and Common at the bottom:

Facts about Giant Ragweed:

• High preference deer browse – even better than Common Ragweed on my place.
• I have heard of this plant becoming invasive at some places in the north, but I haven’t seen that here. Also from what I’ve heard, I think it is lower growing here – although, I have seen it 7 or 8 feet high.
• It competes well with tall NWSGs and makes some good cover mixed in with them.
• Seed are a prime food source for Quail, Turkey and other birds.

Now let’s look at another plant that we haven’t discussed yet. If you think the following plant somewhat resembles soybeans, I agree, and its value would almost rival that of soybeans.

Most rabbit hunters are very familiar with this plant, because they spend a lot of time picking the sticky little seeds off their clothing after a day in the field. The plant I’m talking about is Tick-trefoil (aka Beggar’s Lice) a member of the pea family. There are many variations of this plant, and they are know as Desmodium species. The one on my place is Smooth Tick-trefoil.

First let’s look at three pictures. The first picture is the plant at a young stage in the spring. The second picture shows the purple flowers that appear in late summer. In this picture it is mixed in with Partridge Pea at the edge of my property. The field across the grassy lane is a soybean field on my neighbor’s place. The third picture is a close up at the same spot.

Facts about the plant:

• This is an incredible wildlife plant.
• It is a highly preferred browse plant for deer. The nutritional value of this plant is close to that of soybeans.
• The seed are a major food source for quail.
• It is an aggressive perennial competitor that holds its ground with NWSG.
• Mine came out of the seedbank. It is not something that I planted, but it is something I would plant if I didn’t have it.

All this walking has made me tired. We have made it down to the brook that runs the middle of the property, and Mother Nature has provided us with a log to set on while we soak our feet and eat the pears that we brought to snack on. We will walk again soon.

]

 

[Knehrke]

These are some truly uplifting photos! I wish I had a quarter the skill you do at managing for native forbes. Unfortunately, NY is infested with invasives (yeah, that's a low hanging target, I know), and most areas that aren't planted end up in multiflora rose, honeysuckle, autumn olive, garlic mustard, and swallowwort.

 

[Native Hunter]

These are some truly uplifting photos! I wish I had a quarter the skill you do at managing for native forbes. Unfortunately, NY is infested with invasives (yeah, that's a low hanging target, I know), and most areas that aren't planted end up in multiflora rose, honeysuckle, autumn olive, garlic mustard, and swallowwort.

Thanks, and I'm glad you are enjoying this.

 

[H20fwler]

Absolutely love that last pic! Awesome thread.

 

[Native Hunter]

When you look upon the landscape, are you looking through the eyes of a human or are you looking through the eyes of a deer? The answer to that question will make a big difference in what your eyes see. Beauty truly is in the eyes of the beholder.

When humans look at some plants, all they see is are big ugly weeds; however, when a deer looks at the same plants, it will see valued and preferred sources of food. If we as humans want to become better deer hunters, we need to be seeing the world through the eyes of a deer.

One of the best examples I can think of is to compare two plants that humans generally see similarly, but deer see very differently. Both get BIG and UGLY, but one is a highly preferred food source for deer. Two plants we will be looking at today are Marestail and Wild Lettuce:

• Marestail (aka Horseweed): Most food plotters are very familiar with this plant, because it is a common invader of food plots. It is generally resistant to herbicides – especially as it matures, and one plant can produce 250,000 unwanted seed to start the plague again next year. Facts about Marestail:
• • Very low quality deer browse. Usually browsed only in the most adverse circumstances.
  • Grows very tall and thick – choking out other vegetation in food plots.
  • Is an annual, but can hold ground for many years before perennials can choke it out. Very aggressive plant.
  • Not really as much of a problem in prairies as in food plots and becomes less of an issue over time in prairies. However, when a prairie is first planted, it can keep your seed from germinating due to the thickness and heavy shading. In that case, it should be mowed in order to keep sunlight hitting the ground. Mowing as late as reasonably possible will help to keep it from producing seed. If you mow it early, it can adapt to the mowing and still produce seed on a low stalk.
• Wild Lettuce: There are actually two versions of this plant. One is the native version simply called Wild Lettuce ( Lactuca canadensis) and one is an introduced species called Prickly Lettuce (Lactuca serriola). However, both of these plants are similar, and both of them are great deer plants. The native version is slightly more tender and palatable, but for the purposes of this thread, we will look at them the same. I can tell them apart, but they also hybridize, and the hybrids can have characteristics of both. Wild Lettuce facts:
• • Very high quality deer browse – especially when young and tender in the spring. I would compare it to forage chicory in palatability when the plant is young. Chicory will be more palatable with age.
  • Turkeys also love to eat the leaves. I have found the leaves inside many spring turkeys that I have killed.
  • Stalks will be eaten just like leaves.
  • Plant that survive or avoid browsing get very tall and make good cover when mixed in with other tall plants.

Pic below shows Marestail at young age coming up in the prairie. I don’t have a pic of the mature plant in flower, but you can easily Google it.

Pic below is Wild Lettuce at a young age out in the prairie this spring. It’s hard to see in this pic, but the top was eaten out of this plant.

I noticed this Wild Lettuce plant growing by one of my buildings and took a picture of it so that you could see it better. This is a mature Wild Lettuce plant that has avoided being browsed. Yes, it is BIG and UGLY, but it is a jewel of a wildlife plant.

Yellow Flowers on first pic and white fluffy seed on second.

Let’s do one more plant today before we rest for a while. We will look at Pokeweed. Facts:

• In some locations it is a very high preference browse, but deer at my place don’t seem to care much for it. However, at the place I live (11 miles away) I do see it browsed quite a bit in my fence row.
• Perennial plant that comes back from the roots every year and holds its own well with the NWSGs.
• Can get very tall when competition is limited. I’ve seen a few plants over 9 feet tall, but out in the prairie, they are usually about 6 feet tall. The plant doesn’t like a lot of competition.

Picture of Pokeweed below:

I’m getting tired and ready to take a rest. Up here by the fence row, I see some wild blackberries that are starting to ripen. Let’s stop and have a snack.

We will start walking again soon.

 

[jremmons]

This is a great thread that identifies many of the working components and high value of a native prairie. Discussing the forbs that grow from the seed bank, in particular, is excellent as many people are unaware that sometimes using what is in your seedbank is actually more valuable to wildlife than food plots, fruit tree plantings, etc. It's also interesting to see different perspectives from different states. We manage about 500 acres of 'prairie' and grasslands up in Indiana on the property I manage. Our biggest problems are low diversity, likely due to heavy native grass seeding rates, and woody plant competition - esp. nonnative plants such as Autumn Olive.

For those who have the problem of low diversity/grass dominated prairies, I have found late fall, deep tillage to be very effective. We have a 9' offset disk we pull behind a 110HP MFWD tractor as deep as it will go, making 2-4 passes depending upon soil conditions. We disk strips throughout the fields on rotation (hitting roughly 1/3rd of the field, per year). Another option we haven't used much but have experimented with is mowing & applying a grass specific herbicide during the summer growing season. So far, heavy tillage has proven effective for us but if you don't have the necessary equipment, strip mowing and spraying may prove more efficient; some research I've seen shows that lighter tillage may not disturb the grass enough to really cause much benefit. Where we find a limited seed bank of native forbs, we are also going to start interseeding following our disking/spraying treatments.

We also do extensive prescribed fire, trying to burn 100-200 acres per year, based upon site conditions. This has rarely killed the nonnative 'brush' species, but when applied liberally in combination with herbicide, we've had good results. We also don't fight all woody species, such as sumac, dogwood, elderberry, blackberry, etc., as these have high value for many of our target species.