Another agricultural field (4 acres) is on the south side of Pleasant Valley Road, adjacent to the wetland. Because it was essentially in the “valley” of the creek, we designated this Valley Prairie. Although it is predominantly mesic to wet-mesic in character, it rises sharply towards Pleasant Valley Road, and in this area, it is dry-mesic in character. The road cut itself, which we are treating as part of the prairie, has a dry prairie character.
This CRP field was treated with glyphosate in May 2002. The herbicide was very effective and by mid-summer the vegetation was all dead and brown. In July (on a very hot day!) we burned the field. After it greened up, it was treated again with glyphosate. In one part of the field, after the first herbicide treatment, a large population of nutsedge (Cyperus spp.) developed. To eliminate this, the second treatment consisted of a mixture of glyphosate and Permit (halosulfuron-methyl; Montsanto), an herbicide effective against this perennial sedge. A third herbicide treatment was carried out in early September.
In addition to herbiciding the field, we also cut all the undesirable shrubs and trees along the roadside. Because the roadcut itself escaped the plow, the roadside was a jumble of invasive woody plants, mixed in with wild parsnip, sweet clover, and other weeds. A few bur oaks that had become established along the roadcut were retained. Removing the woody vegetation permitted us to seed the roadbank with dry prairie species.
In November 2002 this field was planted by volunteers with a mixture of over 130 species. Not all species were planted in every part of the field. The field was divided into dry prairie, mesic prairie, and wet prairie areas, and species adapted to each of those habitat types were used.
In 2003 this field, now a fascinating weed patch, was mowed three times. Particular weed problems were wild parsnip, wild carrot (Daucus carota), and mullein. In some areas where good prairie plants were visible, hand pulling instead of mowing was used. The roadcut was particularly weedy and was mowed with a brush cutter.
In 2004 (the second growing season) this field was mowed once in May and after that only hand weeding was done. By mid-summer a lot of very nice prairie plants were visible. Although there were still some major problems, including several areas with large amounts of wild carrot, wild parsnip, and several nonnativeperennial grasses, there was also excellent development of prairie forbs, including several species that thrive in wetter habitats: great blue lobelia (Lobelia siphilitica), cardinal flower (Lobelia cardinalis), blue vervain (Verbena hastata), boneset (Eupatorium perfoliatum), and swamp thistle (Cirsium muticum). Other interesting species that flowered in the second growing season were butterfly weed (Asclepias tuberosa), New England aster (Aster novae-angliae), gaura (Gaura biennis), ox-eye sunflower (Heliopsis helianthoides), rough and prairie blazing stars (Liatris aspera, L. pycnostachya), prairie cinquefoil (Potentilla arguta), black- and brown-eyed susans (Rudbeckia hirta, R. triloba), stiff goldenrod (Solidago rigida), and golden Alexanders (Zizia aureus).
The butterfly milkweed (photo below) was interesting to us, because this was the first location at Pleasant Valley Conservancy that we were able to establish that species. For some reason it is doing very well in the Valley Prairie, with a few flowering plants in the second growing season (2004). By 2006 it was widespread in this prairie (at least 20 separate locations counted). Also in 2006 we had white wild indigo, Baptisia alba, in flower.
Some management problems, and a solution: 2006-2007
This planted prairie has been fun to work with and has developed a high species diversity. However, the cool season grasses that we had eliminated by herbicide in 2002 had returned by 2006. We decided to use an early glyphosate spraying technique that had worked well previously. The principle is to spray the field very early in the spring, after the cool season grasses have developed, but before any warm season plants are visible. Glyphosate is the ideal herbicide for this because it acts only on plants that are above ground (anything green will be killed), and has no soil residual. The prairie was burned in late fall, to eliminate all of the prairie thatch. The cool season grasses that develop early the following spring were thus easily visible and the timing of spraying could be accurately monitored. Burning in the fall is important because it is often difficult to find the right set of circumstances for early spring burns.
We had a very successful burn on a nice dry day in mid-November. The field sat fallow all winter and started to green up once the last snow had disappeared in mid-March. By the end of March, we had a brief warm spell, and the cool season grasses developed rapidly. On March 27, when the plants were 2-4 inches tall, we had the local farm cooperative spray the field (see photo below). Soon after the spraying, the weather turned cold and it was almost two weeks before the cool season grasses were visibly dead (see second photo below). We did not start seeing many prairie plants until the last part of April after the weather warmed up.
A survey made on April 29 showed that the procedure had been very effective. Virtually all of the cool season grasses were gone, and good prairie plants, both forbs and grasses, were growing profusely all over the field (see the photos below).
The photos below show four species developing among the dead brome grass about one month after the herbicide spraying.
A species check list for 2005 is in the table below. Photographs of most of these species are given in the complete species checklist.
| Species check list for Valley Prairie, 2008: 148 species | |
| Latin name | Common name |
| Agastache nepetoides | Yellow giant hyssop |
| Allium cernuum | Nodding wild onion |
| Amorpha canescens | Lead-plant |
| Anaphalis margaritacea | Pearly everlasting |
| Andropogon gerardii | Big bluestem |
| Anemone canadensis | Meadow anemone |
| Angelica atropurpurea | Great angelica |
| Apocynum androsaemifolium | Spreading dogbane |
| Apocynum sibiricum | Clasping dogbane |
| Arnoglossum atriplicifolia | Pale Indian plantain |
| Asclepias syriaca | Common milkweed |
| Asclepias tuberosa | Butterfly weed |
| Aster ericoides | Heath aster |
| Aster laevis | Smooth blue aster |
| Aster lateriflorus | Calico aster |
| Aster novae-angliae | New England aster |
| Aster oolentangiensis | Sky-blue aster |
| Aster pilosus | Hairy aster |
| Aster prenanthoides | Crooked aster |
| Aster puniceus | Red-stemmed aster |
| Aster sagittifolius | Arrow-leaved aster |
| Aster sericeus | Silky aster |
| Astragalus canadensis | Canadian milkvetch |
| Baptisia alba | White wild indigo |
| Bouteloua curtipendula | Side oats grama |
| Brassica sp | Mustard |
| Bromus inermis | Smooth brome |
| Bromus kalmii | Prairie brome |
| Calamagrostis canadensis | Blue-joint grass |
| Campanula rapunculoides | European bellflower |
| Capsella bursa-pastoris | Shepherds purse |
| Cirsium arvense | Canada thistle |
| Cirsium discolor | Pasture thistle |
| Cirsium muticum | Swamp thistle |
| Cirsium vulgare | Bull thistle |
| Conyza canadensis | Horseweed |
| Coreopsis palmata | Prairie tickseed |
| Dactylis glomerata | Orchard grass |
| Dalea candida | White prairie clover |
| Dalea purpureum | Purple prairie clover |
| Daucus carota | Queen Anne’s lace |
| Desmodium canadense | Showy tick-trefoil |
| Desmodium glutinosum | Pointed tick-trefoil |
| Desmodium illinoense | Illinois tick-trefoil |
| Echinacea pallida | Pale purple coneflower |
| Elymus canadensis | Canada wild rye |
| Elymus riparius | Riverbank wild rye |
| Elymus villosus | Silky wild rye |
| Elymus virginicus | Virginia wild rye |
| Elytrigia repens | Quack-grass |
| Erigeron philadelphicus | Marsh fleabane |
| Erigeron strigosus | Daisy fleabane |
| Eryngium yuccifolium | Rattlesnake master |
| Eupatorium altissimum | Tall boneset |
| Eupatorium maculatum | Spotted joe-pye weed |
| Eupatorium perfoliatum | Common boneset |
| Eupatorium rugosum | White snakeroot |
| Euphorbia corollata | Flowering spurge |
| Euthamia graminifolia | Grass-leaved goldenrod |
| Gaura biennis | Biennial gaura |
| Gentiana alba | Cream gentian |
| Gentianella quinquefolia | Stiff gentian |
| Geum canadense | White avens |
| Hasteola suaveolens | Sweet Indian plantain |
| Helenium autumnale | Sneezeweed |
| Helianthus divaricatus | Woodland sunflower |
| Helianthus grosseserratus | Saw-tooth sunflower |
| Helianthus occidentalis | Western sunflower |
| Helianthus pauciflorus | Prairie sunflower |
| Heliopsis helianthoides | Ox-eye sunflower |
| Hippuris vulgaris | Mare’s tail |
| Hypericum pyramidatum | Great St. John’s wort |
| Kuhnia eupatorioides | False boneset |
| Lactuca canadensis | Tall lettuce |
| Leonurus cardiaca | Motherwort |
| Lespedeza capitata | Round-headed bush clover |
| Leucanthemum vulgare | Ox-eye daisy |
| Liatris aspera | Rough blazing star |
| Liatris pycnostachya | Prairie blazing star |
| Lilium michiganense | Turk’s cap lily |
| Lilium philadelphicum andinum | Prairie lily |
| Lobelia cardinalis | Cardinal flower |
| Lobelia siphilitica | Great blue lobelia |
| Lobelia spicata | Pale spiked lobelia |
| Medicago sativa | Alfalfa |
| Melilotus alba | White sweet clover |
| Melilotus officinalis | Yellow sweet clover |
| Monarda fistulosa | Wild bergamot |
| Napaea dioica | Glade mallow |
| Oenothera biennis | Common evening-primrose |
| Oxalis stricta | Yellow wood-sorrel |
| Panicum oligosanthes | Few-flowered panic-grass |
| Parthenium integrifolium | Wild quinine |
| Pastinaca sativa | Wild parsnip |
| Pedicularis lanceolata | Lousewort |
| Penstemon digitalis | Penstemon |
| Phalaris arundinacea | Reed canary-grass |
| Phleum pratense | Timothy |
| Poa spp | Blue-grass |
| Polygonatum biflorum | Smooth Solomon’s seal |
| Polygonum punctatum | Smartweed |
| Potentilla argentea | Silvery cinquefoil |
| Potentilla arguta | Prairie cinquefoil |
| Potentilla norvegica | Rough cinquefoil |
| Potentilla recta | Sulfur cinquefoil |
| Pycnanthemum virginianum | Common mountain mint |
| Ratibida pinnata | Yellow coneflower |
| Rosa sp. | Rose |
| Rudbeckia hirta | Black-eyed Susan |
| Rudbeckia laciniata | Cut-leaved coneflower |
| Rudbeckia triloba | Brown-eyed Susan |
| Rumex crispus | Curly dock |
| Rumex orbiculatus | Great water dock |
| Saponaria officinalis | Bouncing bet |
| Schizachyrium scoparium | Little bluestem |
| Setaria faberi | Giant foxtail |
| Silene spp. | Campion |
| Silphium integrifolium | Rosinweed |
| Silphium laciniatum | Compass plant |
| Silphium perfoliatum | Cup plant |
| Silphium terebinthinaceum | Prairie dock |
| Smilax herbacea | Carrion flower |
| Solidago canadensis | Common goldenrod |
| Solidago flexicaulis | Zig-zag goldenrod |
| Solidago gigantea | Late goldenrod |
| Solidago juncea | Early goldenrod |
| Solidago missouriensis | Missouri goldenrod |
| Solidago nemoralis | Gray goldenrod |
| Solidago rigida | Stiff goldenrod |
| Solidago speciosa | Showy goldenrod |
| Sonchus spp | Sow thistle |
| Sorghastrum nutans | Indian grass |
| Spartina pectinata | Prairie cord grass |
| Stachys palustris | Hedge-nettle |
| Taraxacum officinale | Common dandelion |
| Teucrium canadense | Germander |
| Thalictrum dasycarpum | Purple meadow-rue |
| Tradescantia ohiensis | Common spiderwort |
| Triosteum perfoliatum | Tinker’s weed |
| Verbascum thapsus | Mullein |
| Verbena hastata | Blue vervain |
| Verbena stricta | Hoary vervain |
| Verbena urticifolia | White vervain |
| Vernonia fasciculata | Common ironweed |
| Veronicastrum virginicum | Culver’s root |
| Viola soraria | Door-yard violet |