Day 258 - Slowly but Surely
While our wetland restoration is yielding a much more diverse and beautiful array of wildflowers, there is a particular area of the big backyard that is kind of an eyesore.
And we are keeping it that way for a while.
And that is intentional.
Just beyond our firepit and playset, there is a section of land downward sloping into the wetland. Prior to the beginning of our restoration, this area was not fully engulfed with reed canary grass (RCG). Because RCG prefers wetter soil, this drier, more upland area was home to some more prairie flowers including common milkweed, goldenrod, aster, and even a very unique gentian. When the land was scraped to make our backyard’s accessibility a little safer, it felt like we had an empty canvas to use for a beautiful nature painting. However, sometimes, beauty takes time in the natural world. Because the land was scraped, it was considered a disturbance. Disturbed land is prone to invasions of weeds. While there was also a possibility that dormant seeds would be awoken and allowed to finally thrive, it was much more likely we just created a sea of weeds.
The initial results were clear. We had weeds. Lots of them.
Because our ultimate goal was to create prairie here, we had to help prepare that land to make it successful. Because we saw little growth of value, we decided to really create a clean slate and use a total kill herbicide treatment. If done properly, this would eliminate all of the underlying weeds and weed seeds and allow a clean slate in which we could plant appropriate prairie plants to bring color and diversity to our backyard. Of course, total kill treatments work best when they are done over a number of growing seasons to really take care of whatever unwanted life might be lurking below the soil. With this being our first year of total kill being applied to this area, we will do more before next spring and begin seeding for prairie next fall at the very earliest.
Patience will be key with this. It is something I often struggle with but something I am getting better at.
Slowly but surely.
