Prairie Restoration at
St. John�s
Presentation at the Master Gardener
Conference - June 2004
Natural
History of Prairie:
- mix of grasses and
forbs, few trees
- high diversity in a
native prairie (300+ species)
- common grasses:
Big blue stem, Little blue stem, Indian grass, Side oats grama
- once covered
roughly a third of Minnesota; > 18 million acres
- < 1% of
original prairie remains, often only because conditions were unsuitable for
agriculture (too hilly, too wet, railroad right-of-way, cemeteries)
- plants adapted to
sunny, hot, dry conditions (thick cuticle, stomatal pores underside of leaves,
hairs, deep roots)
- adapted to periodic
fire (lightening, accidental or intentional) � buds below soil surface
- fire kills trees
(except thicker-barked species like Bur oak), recycles nutrients, removes duff
layer allows quicker penetration of water, soil heats more quickly
- grazing important
to the ecology of the prairie; pastured areas may have high diversity
Prairie Restoration: General Techniques:
- site selection
(avoid flammable structures, few weeds), analysis (pH, exposure, soil,
drainage), develop plan
- remove pre-existing
vegetation (mow followed by herbicide, e.g., RoundUp�)
- till/disk
- plant � seed or
plugs; typical ratio grass: forb (40:60); local sources (ecotypes)
- mow first year
- weed (spot
spray/hand pull)
- periodic prescribed
burns to manage
- fall burns favor
forbs, spring burns favor grasses
Overview of St.
John�s Project:
- cropped until about
1975; in 1940�s & 1950�s used for experiments on fertilizers by science
students
- original land
survey records don�t show any prairie on campus in 1850�s, but probably within
a few miles; Watab meadows lowland grasses
- initiated by Fr.
Paul Schweitz, O.S.B.
- 56 acre restoration
- site preparation
begun in 1990, including grading
- hilly area for dry
site species; wet areas
- planted 1991: 4,800
plugs, seeds of 90 species of forbs and grasses
- two different seed
mixes: (a) drier soils included big bluestem, little bluestem, side oats grama,
Canada wild rye, Kalm�s brome, Indian grass, giant hyssop, butterfly milkweed,
black-eyed Susan, leadplant, prairie clover; (b) moister sites included big blue,
switch grass, bottle gentian, tall blazing star, boneset, blue vervain
- Prairie
Restorations, Inc (Princeton, MN)
- additional
plantings in 1992
- currently over 250
species (St.
John's Arboretum List;
Saupe Web site)
- prescribed burns
conducted annually; areas rotated, spring and fall burns
- project continues
with partnership with MN DOT to continue prairie into highway right-of-way
Resources:
- Kyhl, JF, MH Meyer,
VA
Krischik (1997) Establishing and Maintaining a
Prairie Garden.
Minnesota Extension Service, Univ. of Minnesota.
- Kilde, Rebecca
(2000) Going Native: A prairie restoration Handbook for
Minnesota Landowners.
MN DNR. 63 pp. print or
available on-line
- McGreevy, S (1999)
A Century of Prairie. unpublished summer project, St. John�s
University.
-
St. John�s Arboretum website
- Sedivec & WT
Barker. 1998. Selected
North Dakota
and Minnesota Range Plants.
North Dakota State University
of Agriculture and Applied Science & USDA. 270 pages. Jamestown,
ND
(available
on line). Map image was borrowed from this source.
-
Grondahl, Chris, and Andrea Evelsizer. 2002.
Prairie wildflowers and grasses of North Dakota. North Dakota Game and
Fish Department, Bismarck, ND. Jamestown, ND: Northern Prairie Wildlife
Research Center
Home
Page. (Version 30DEC2002).
-
Northern
Prairie Wildlife Research Center
- assorted wildflower
books
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10/03/2006
by SG Saupe