May 6, 2008
Vegetation has been too sparse to perform burns on this area, but wetland prairie species are doing well despite rather dry conditions in the summer of 2007. Swamp Milkweed, Sneezeweed and Ironweed have done very well here as well as Cardinal Flower and Great Blue Lobelia. There are several wetland sedges and grasses, an iris or two and several Chelones. Virginia Wild Rye has a foothold on the upper slopes of the swale as well as Bottlebrush Grass. The area containing Bottlebrush Grass gets shade nearly half the day. On the weed side, Burdock still is a problem in the semi-shade areas. I attack it once or twice a year, cutting off the root below ground level with my giant dandelion weeder. We have one other huge weed which grows 5 to 6 feet tall and looks like a cross between Horseweed and Daisy Fleabane. There are not huge numbers of these and they are not increasing. I was fooled for two years into believing they were a prairie plant, but I've never been able to identify them.
This spring has been wet and the swale has had standing water for several weeks now. There are several small patches of Reed Canary grass, so a late fire would be good for those areas. Below is a photo of Swamp Milkweed growing in our swale.
December 25,2005
This growing season we had enough moisture to leave standing water in the swale for several days at a time. There were lots and lots of Great Blue Lobelia and Cardinal Flowers in the swale this year. The Wild Garlic also showed up in force. I was sure they were all gone last year. The Nodding Onions are also doing well. One Prairie Blazing Star bloomed in the swale. There were lots of Swamp Milkweeds and Ironweeds in bloom as well. The Turtleheads had a good year, as did the Sneezeweed. One of the sedges from the Prairie Moon mix had seeds. I'm thinking it was the Common Burr Sedge. At least two other species from the sedge or rush families were also noted. A tall grass has appeared the past two seasons which I haven't yet identified. The heads look a lot like wheat, but they're obviously perennials.
I was able to gather seed from the following species: Turtlehead, Cardinal Flower, Great Blue Lobelia, Swamp Milkweed, Ironweed, Nodding Onion and the suspected Burr Sedge.
As this area hasn't had a burn yet, I hope to accomplish this in the spring.
May 26,2005
Due to wet weather, the swale has had standing water in it through most of this month! Some of the wet species were visible last year, including great blue lobelia, cardinal flower, turtlehead, ironweed and sneezeweed. No burn this year, but I weedwhacked off a little excess dead vegetation this spring.
May 29, 2004
There are some weeds growing here and some woodland phlox. There are some grasses I can't identify yet. The Wild Sweet William, the Onion, the Sneezeweed and the Turtlehead plants from Prairie Moon (planted last year) are all doing well. We're taking a wait and see attitude. I'm continuing to weedwhack any obvious weeds that are crowding out other plants.
July 15, 2003
We have had generally perfect rainfall since May. In earlier spring it was a bit dry. Several times we have had standing water in the lowest area of the swale. I have weedwhacked the annuals several times. There is little evidence so far of any of the wetland plants. We did add a few live plants from Prairie Moon Nursery, and these are thriving.
April 27, 2003
We had a very dry winter, with a late significant snowfall. The swale was about half full of water as this melted off, but it quickly emptied as the frost went out. Weather has been dry with the exception of a 3 inch gentle rain about a week ago. The rain was totally absorbed and the swale remains dry with very little vegetation so far.
October-November, 2002
As an experiment, we are attempting to create a small prairie swale. We began by spraying the area with a strong solution of Roundup in early October, as it had a cover of Quack and Reed Canary grass. In late October we hired our neighbor to excavate an area of approximately 750 square feet with his landscaping equipment (bobcat). The sides of the excavation are gradually sloped. The maximum depth of the excavation is less than two feet. The area excavated is adjacent to the northeast corner of our large mesic restoration. The soil type is heavy loam with clay. We don't anticipate that the depression will fill with water, but we hope for conditions sufficient to allow a number of wet mesic native plants to thrive.
The area was seeded on November 9, 2002. The area was compacted after seeding by walking on it. We obtained a Short Sedge Meadow mix from Prairie Moon Nursery in Winona, and added small amounts (packets) of several other species. The short sedge meadow mix contains the following species:
| Species | Name | Percentage by weight | Weight | # of Seeds | Asclepias incarnata | Swamp Milkweed | 6.87 | 0.150 oz. | 720 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Boltonia asteroides | False Aster | 1.14 | 0.709 oz. | 4000 |
| Chelone glabra | Turtlehead | 1.14 | 0.025 oz. | 2300 |
| Eupatorium perfoliatum | Boneset | 0.46 | 0.010 oz. | 1600 |
| Galium boreale | Northern Bedstraw | 1.14 | 0.025 oz. | 1750 |
| Gentiana andrewsii | Bottle Gentian | 1.14 | 0.025 oz. | 7000 |
| Iris virginica shrevei | Blue Flag Iris | 2.29 | 0.050 oz. | 50 |
| Liatris pycnostachya | Prairie Blazing Star | 14.88 | 0.325 oz. | 3575 |
| Lilium michiganense | Turk's Cap Lily | 3.43 | 0.075 oz. | 750 |
| Lobelia cardinalis | Cardinal Flower | 1.14 | 0.025 oz. | 10,000 |
| Lobelia siphilitica | Great Blue Lobelia | 0.92 | 0.020 oz. | 10,000 |
| Lythrum alatum | Winged Loosetrife | 0.23 | 0.005 oz. | 15,000 |
| Melanthium virginicum | Bunch Flower | 1.14 | 0.025 oz. | 225 |
| Mimulus ringens | Monkey Flower | 0.23 | 0.005 oz. | 11,500 |
| Pedicularis lanceolata | Marsh Betony | 1.14 | 0.025 oz. | 1100 |
| Phlox maculata | Wild Sweet William | 2.29 | 0.050 oz. | 550 |
| Pycnanthemum virginianum | Mountain Mint | 0.23 | 0.005 oz. | 1100 |
| Rudbeckia hirta | Black-eyed Susan | 1.14 | 0.025 oz. | 2300 |
| Scutellaria lateriflora | Mad-dog Skullcap | 0.23 | 0.005 oz. | 325 |
| Solidago riddellii | Riddell's Goldenrod | 1.14 | 0.025 oz. | 2325 |
| Verbena hastata rosea | Pink Vervain | 1.14 | 0.025 oz. | 3000 |
| Zizia aurea | Golden Alexanders | 2.29 | 0.050 oz. | 550 |
| Species | Name | Percentage by weight | Weight | # of Seeds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bromus ciliatus | Fringed Brome | 8.01 | 0.175 oz | 1750 |
| Carex grayi | Common Bur Sedge | 16.03 | 0.350 oz. | 420 |
| Carex hystericina | Porcupine Sedge | 1.37 | 0.030 oz. | 900 |
| Carex lupilina | Common Hop Sedge | 9.16 | 0.200 oz. | 660 |
| Carex stipata | Common Fox Sedge | 1.14 | 0.025 oz. | 850 |
| Carex vulpinoidea | Brown Fox Sedge | 0.46 | 0.010 oz. | 1000 |
| Elymus virginicus | Virginia Wild Rye | 8.01 | 0.175 oz. | 735 |
| Glyceria striata | Fowl Manna Grass | 0.46 | 0.010 oz. | 1600 |
| Juncus brachycarpus | Short-Fruited Rush | 0.46 | 0.010 | 7500 |
| Juncus effusus | Common Rush | 0.34 | 0.007 oz. | 7500 |
| Juncus interior | Inland Rush | 0.34 | 0.007 oz. | 21000 |
| Species | Name | Amount | Filipendula rubra | Queen of the Prairie | 1 packet |
|---|---|---|
| Vernonia fasciculata | Ironweed | 1 packet |
| Physostegia parviflora | Western Obedient Plant | 1 packet |
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