Day 57 - The Battle Begins
The expression “watching the grass grow” is usually synonymous with extreme boredom. In our scenario, it was quite the opposite. To make efficient use of our first herbicide treatment, we needed to pinpoint the time when the invasive reed canary grass (RCG) had used up enough energy where having to start over would help exhaust its reserves. The more and more I read and heard about RCG, the more and more it was apparent that eradication required timing, multi-faceted techniques, and patience.
As we monitored the growth of the grass, we stayed in communication with our restoration partner, sending pictures, taking measurements of RCG growth, and observing and reporting other plants popping up. We had to find the sweet spot of time in spring when the grass had grown to a certain level and the land was dry enough to actually access where the grass was growing.
That first time was right around my birthday in May. My present was being able to see a bit of the process before I headed into the classroom.
When our partner arrived with his trailer, we watched as he unloaded his tractor and attached sprayer, prepared the machine, and headed out into the fields to battle the RCG enemy.
Going back and forth in a repetitive motion as he doused the grass was an oddly rewarding sight to see. Not always being the biggest fan of herbicides, we knew that pretty much everyone with an understanding of our situation knew that this was a necessary evil in order to jumpstart the restoration process. The actual treatment process didn’t take long, but the aftermath was what was important and time-consuming. We hoped for some precipitation to help the herbicide filter its way down to the root system to do the most damage, especially knowing this was just the first round in what was sure to be a heavyweight fight. It was recommended to stay off the land for a short period of time to let the herbicide work its death-inducing magic. If all worked well, we would shortly see the restoration of progress in action, as long as we were willing to see the ugly side of beauty first.
