Growing Prairies Successfully
I. Two important things to remember.
A. Place seed so it can imbibe moisture from the capillary action of water in firm soil.
B. Plants receive all their energy from the sun so competing canopy must be controlled.
II. Prairie seedlings can not tolerate competition.
A. Regarding the growing season prior to year of prairie seeding.
1. Do not produce any weed seeds on growing area that could sprout and compete against the prairie seedlings.
a. Frequent light tillage will do this if the site is non erosive. Mowing will not do it because plants will head out shorter each time after a mowing and can make viable seed shorter than a field mower can mow. A lawn or turf type mower may be an exception but not practical for a large area.
b. Chemicals such as 2-4D for broadleaves and Roundup for the grassy weeds will kill annuals and thus stop weed seed production.
2. Kill perennial vegetation.
a. With chemicals, the most complete and cheapest kill is when plants are sending carbohydrates down (after heading) to the roots refueling them for the next growing season.
b. Cool season grasses--apply Roundup from September 15th thru October 15th.
c. Scout and inventory all target weeds and tell your herbicide salesperson what you are trying to kill.
d. Broadleaf weeds--apply 2-4D or Banvel to late bud to early bloom stage. Do not plant for 10 days.
e. Most grasses and some broadleaf perennials can be killed in the spring of the seeding year with heavier application rates and of course, more cost per acre, but the kill will be more complete.
f. For the best kill, apply chemical, wait ten or more days and then do heavy tillage.
B. Regarding first growing season (seedling year) of prairies.
1. Use repeated pre-planting light tillage to encourage weed sprouting and weed seedling destruction until you eventually deplete the weed seed bank to a tolerable level prior to planting. Used mostly by those who do not like chemicals or are planting in a field with high weed pressure. A June 10th planting works good except some forbs and switchgrass benefit from early spring planting. When last tillage is done at night, the weed seeds don’t sprout very well.
2. Use pre-emergence or early post emergence chemicals.
a. Switchgrass or Big Bluestem—Use Dual (l quart/acre) pre-emergence to stop germination of grassy weeds. Atrazine, princep or Simazine @ 1 quart/acre will stop germination of broadleaf weeds. One quart of Bicep is best to stop both broadleaf and grass weeds. Pre-emergence works best when applied early enough to get activated by 1” of rain before the soil temperature warms enough to sprout weed seeds.
b. Bluestem, Indiangrass, Gramas and some forbs—use four ounces Plateau pre-emergence or early post emergence to prevent broadleaf and grass weeds from sprouting. Poor results on Pigweed family. Four ounces of Pursuit works equally well but not labeled.
c. Pure grass prairies—2-4D is good to kill broadleaf weeds but is not labeled for any grasses with 4 leaves or less, so use minimum rate to minimize damage to grass seedlings. Use Buctril for very small weeds, it’s easier on the grasses.
3. Mowing or grazing as often as needed to ensure the prairie seedlings get direct sunlight. Cutting off the top of prairie seedlings is okay. Do not leave a heavy windrow that could smother seedlings. Mowing six times is best the first year.
4. Delayed planting because of pre-plant tillage, use of hervicides, mowing, or grazing will stress your prairie seedlings. It is our contention that weed competition will stress them even more, so then it is best to take one of the above actions.
C. Prairie seeds need to be firmly embedded into moist soil to sprout. Embedded depth in this case is 4 times the length or 8 times the diameter of the seed. Most tiny forb seeds need light to germinate.
1. Drill seed the last 30 days before the ground freezes for the winter.
a. Southern Iowa—this is from November 10th thru December 10th.
b. One-fourth planted this way now.
c. Do not need a perfect seedbed for this method.
2. Broadcast (not mechanically incorporated) seed on bare ground or non-crusted snow from The Freeze up to February 28th.
a. The best way to get quick thick stand of switchgrass.
b. Very popular for planting Prairie Mixes.
c. Handy way to plant steep banks or seepy wet bottom ground.
d. Fast way using airplane, 4-wheeler or pickup.
e. Heaving action of the ground and settling of the seeds gets the bottom half of the seed embedded into the soil.
f. Natural Resource Conservation Services (NRCS) requires 50% extra seed when non-mechanically incorporating.
3. Plant into firm moist soil when ground becomes workable in spring.
a. No till with a modern drill
i. Switchgrass seed uses same seed box as clover or alfalfa.
ii. Other prairie grass seeds and forbs with umbrellas require a fluffy box on the drill or a lot of flow able material mixed with it, will carry it through a grain seed broadcaster (not small seed broadcaster). Sand, silica clay, fertilizer or small grain will work for this.
iii. Coulters usually not needed.
A. Coulters help heavy field trash flow through the drill better.
B. Coulters help open up sod so seed is planted in soil and not left
hanging in the leaves and residue.
iv. Burning off residue greatly improves seed placement to get much better seed to soil contact.
b. Drilling or broadcasting into tilled soil.
i. Old rule of thumb…” that a seed bed should be firm enough that a foot print is no deeper than the thickness of a leather shoe sole” still is in effect. This firm seedbed will not have a lot of excess air to dry the seed out plus it will have a lot of capillary pores feeding moisture continuously up to the seed.
ii. If broadcasting (including older drills that used no drop tubes) onto a firm seedbed roll seed into the soil with a field roller or tractor tires, pickup tires etc. Do not harrow in seed because it gets the seed too deep. Packing does a better job of embedding the seed tightly. Use catch pans to monitor evenness of spread pattern and to evaluate seeding rate. Forty seeds per square foot is good for most small seeds.
iii. If drilling with a drill equipped with press wheels, be extremely careful so you do not bury the seed too deep. Drill on a firm seedbed.
iv. Switchgrass seed planted after April 15th benefits from being aged or wet stratified to lesson the dormancy so it will sprout better.
4. Identify new seedlings.
a. Pull plants and identify seed shell that seedling is growing from.
b. Prairie grasses have thinner leaves than the grass weeds.
c. Prairie grasses have deeper roots.
d. Switchgrass has peach fuzz hair on top of the leaf next to the stem.
e. Indiangrass has a tongue protruding up when leaf is pulled away from stem.
f. Bluestems are very hairy all over.
5. Second growing season.
a. Do not burn unless you thoroughly examine the stand to make sure no roots are exposed from the heaving of prairie plant under 6” tall.
b. If you want your prairie grass full size and weed free the second year, apply the herbicides mentioned earlier and fifty pounds actual nitrogen (pure grass prairies only) anyway you want and watch it grow.
c. Without herbicides it may require one early mowing to hold weeds back.
6. Third growing season and thereafter.
a. Apply fifty pounds actual nitrogen per year (pure grass prairies only).
b. Burning is optional.
i. It can stimulate the plants some.
ii. Keeps out intruding woody species and cool season grasses.
iii. Holds down thatch buildup so the mice population won’t get high and encourage fox and coyote predators.
iv. To maintain a insect population so chicks have something to eat, burn only 1/3 of each prairie field each year.
D. Enjoy the beauty, abundant wildlife and the peace of mind from knowing your soil and water are being protected by the prairie.
I. Two important things to remember.
A. Place seed so it can imbibe moisture from the capillary action of water in firm soil.
B. Plants receive all their energy from the sun so competing canopy must be controlled.
II. Prairie seedlings can not tolerate competition.
A. Regarding the growing season prior to year of prairie seeding.
1. Do not produce any weed seeds on growing area that could sprout and compete against the prairie seedlings.
a. Frequent light tillage will do this if the site is non erosive. Mowing will not do it because plants will head out shorter each time after a mowing and can make viable seed shorter than a field mower can mow. A lawn or turf type mower may be an exception but not practical for a large area.
b. Chemicals such as 2-4D for broadleaves and Roundup for the grassy weeds will kill annuals and thus stop weed seed production.
2. Kill perennial vegetation.
a. With chemicals, the most complete and cheapest kill is when plants are sending carbohydrates down (after heading) to the roots refueling them for the next growing season.
b. Cool season grasses--apply Roundup from September 15th thru October 15th.
c. Scout and inventory all target weeds and tell your herbicide salesperson what you are trying to kill.
d. Broadleaf weeds--apply 2-4D or Banvel to late bud to early bloom stage. Do not plant for 10 days.
e. Most grasses and some broadleaf perennials can be killed in the spring of the seeding year with heavier application rates and of course, more cost per acre, but the kill will be more complete.
f. For the best kill, apply chemical, wait ten or more days and then do heavy tillage.
B. Regarding first growing season (seedling year) of prairies.
1. Use repeated pre-planting light tillage to encourage weed sprouting and weed seedling destruction until you eventually deplete the weed seed bank to a tolerable level prior to planting. Used mostly by those who do not like chemicals or are planting in a field with high weed pressure. A June 10th planting works good except some forbs and switchgrass benefit from early spring planting. When last tillage is done at night, the weed seeds don’t sprout very well.
2. Use pre-emergence or early post emergence chemicals.
a. Switchgrass or Big Bluestem—Use Dual (l quart/acre) pre-emergence to stop germination of grassy weeds. Atrazine, princep or Simazine @ 1 quart/acre will stop germination of broadleaf weeds. One quart of Bicep is best to stop both broadleaf and grass weeds. Pre-emergence works best when applied early enough to get activated by 1” of rain before the soil temperature warms enough to sprout weed seeds.
b. Bluestem, Indiangrass, Gramas and some forbs—use four ounces Plateau pre-emergence or early post emergence to prevent broadleaf and grass weeds from sprouting. Poor results on Pigweed family. Four ounces of Pursuit works equally well but not labeled.
c. Pure grass prairies—2-4D is good to kill broadleaf weeds but is not labeled for any grasses with 4 leaves or less, so use minimum rate to minimize damage to grass seedlings. Use Buctril for very small weeds, it’s easier on the grasses.
3. Mowing or grazing as often as needed to ensure the prairie seedlings get direct sunlight. Cutting off the top of prairie seedlings is okay. Do not leave a heavy windrow that could smother seedlings. Mowing six times is best the first year.
4. Delayed planting because of pre-plant tillage, use of hervicides, mowing, or grazing will stress your prairie seedlings. It is our contention that weed competition will stress them even more, so then it is best to take one of the above actions.
C. Prairie seeds need to be firmly embedded into moist soil to sprout. Embedded depth in this case is 4 times the length or 8 times the diameter of the seed. Most tiny forb seeds need light to germinate.
1. Drill seed the last 30 days before the ground freezes for the winter.
a. Southern Iowa—this is from November 10th thru December 10th.
b. One-fourth planted this way now.
c. Do not need a perfect seedbed for this method.
2. Broadcast (not mechanically incorporated) seed on bare ground or non-crusted snow from The Freeze up to February 28th.
a. The best way to get quick thick stand of switchgrass.
b. Very popular for planting Prairie Mixes.
c. Handy way to plant steep banks or seepy wet bottom ground.
d. Fast way using airplane, 4-wheeler or pickup.
e. Heaving action of the ground and settling of the seeds gets the bottom half of the seed embedded into the soil.
f. Natural Resource Conservation Services (NRCS) requires 50% extra seed when non-mechanically incorporating.
3. Plant into firm moist soil when ground becomes workable in spring.
a. No till with a modern drill
i. Switchgrass seed uses same seed box as clover or alfalfa.
ii. Other prairie grass seeds and forbs with umbrellas require a fluffy box on the drill or a lot of flow able material mixed with it, will carry it through a grain seed broadcaster (not small seed broadcaster). Sand, silica clay, fertilizer or small grain will work for this.
iii. Coulters usually not needed.
A. Coulters help heavy field trash flow through the drill better.
B. Coulters help open up sod so seed is planted in soil and not left
hanging in the leaves and residue.
iv. Burning off residue greatly improves seed placement to get much better seed to soil contact.
b. Drilling or broadcasting into tilled soil.
i. Old rule of thumb…” that a seed bed should be firm enough that a foot print is no deeper than the thickness of a leather shoe sole” still is in effect. This firm seedbed will not have a lot of excess air to dry the seed out plus it will have a lot of capillary pores feeding moisture continuously up to the seed.
ii. If broadcasting (including older drills that used no drop tubes) onto a firm seedbed roll seed into the soil with a field roller or tractor tires, pickup tires etc. Do not harrow in seed because it gets the seed too deep. Packing does a better job of embedding the seed tightly. Use catch pans to monitor evenness of spread pattern and to evaluate seeding rate. Forty seeds per square foot is good for most small seeds.
iii. If drilling with a drill equipped with press wheels, be extremely careful so you do not bury the seed too deep. Drill on a firm seedbed.
iv. Switchgrass seed planted after April 15th benefits from being aged or wet stratified to lesson the dormancy so it will sprout better.
4. Identify new seedlings.
a. Pull plants and identify seed shell that seedling is growing from.
b. Prairie grasses have thinner leaves than the grass weeds.
c. Prairie grasses have deeper roots.
d. Switchgrass has peach fuzz hair on top of the leaf next to the stem.
e. Indiangrass has a tongue protruding up when leaf is pulled away from stem.
f. Bluestems are very hairy all over.
5. Second growing season.
a. Do not burn unless you thoroughly examine the stand to make sure no roots are exposed from the heaving of prairie plant under 6” tall.
b. If you want your prairie grass full size and weed free the second year, apply the herbicides mentioned earlier and fifty pounds actual nitrogen (pure grass prairies only) anyway you want and watch it grow.
c. Without herbicides it may require one early mowing to hold weeds back.
6. Third growing season and thereafter.
a. Apply fifty pounds actual nitrogen per year (pure grass prairies only).
b. Burning is optional.
i. It can stimulate the plants some.
ii. Keeps out intruding woody species and cool season grasses.
iii. Holds down thatch buildup so the mice population won’t get high and encourage fox and coyote predators.
iv. To maintain a insect population so chicks have something to eat, burn only 1/3 of each prairie field each year.
D. Enjoy the beauty, abundant wildlife and the peace of mind from knowing your soil and water are being protected by the prairie.