oak woodland seedbed preparation

[Anonymous]

I live in the southern sierra foothills at around 3000 feet. Most of the land around my house is completely covered by foxtail. My question is this: what is the best way to get rid of the foxtail prior to seeding with native wildflowers and other natives? Pull it out by hand? Take off the whole top layer by hoeing? I want to disturb it as little as possible, but want to achieve germination.

Can any seeding compete with the foxtail left undisturbed? I think notbut wondering if anyone has had any success seeding a field that is covered with foxtail.

I'm in the Keene area.</p>

[Anonymous]

Leslie -

The East Bay Regional Parks Botanic Garden has a journal called the Four Seasons, which featured an article on creating a native wildflower meadow. It was several hears ago, but if you call them, they could probably sell you a copy. Basically, it isn't easy, but it can be done, especially in a small space.

Have you considered how you will keep weeds from encroaching from areas outside your yard? It would be dreadful to clear your property of weeds and get natives growing there, only to have more weeds coming in from the surrounding area!

The only project that I witnessed that involved removal of weedy grass Kikuyu grass in that case and replacement with herbaceous natives, utilized Roundup to kill the weedy grass. You may not want to go that route, but it is one method with which people have had success. A less toxic approach would be to kill off the young seedlings of the foxtail grass with something like corn gluten you can find out about this product on the Internet. I'm not sure how long the corn gluten a yellowish powder must remain on the site, how it responds to rain, whether it remains in the soil for a long time, etc. Safter also makes an 'environmntally friendly' weed killer that works only on new seedlings, not on mature plants.

You probably should start with a small area to plant with natives and expand it each year. On the remaining property, you would concentrate on keeping the foxtail at bay - preventing it from flowering and setting seed. The problem is that weeds build up a tremendous seed bank in the soil, that is viable for many years. People have to clear the top layer of plant litter, water or wait for rain, kill off the upcoming seedlings, water again, kill off the next batch of seedlings, and so on. Solarization with a plastic covering works pretty well in hot, sunny areas, but by the time you have enough sunny days for it to work, your weeds may be too tall for solarization to be effective.

No, in general, there are not too many native wildflowers that compete effectively with weedy annual grasses. That's what makes the weeds so insidious. Consider including some robust annuals perennials like native snapdragons. The Sierra Foothills Chapter of CNPS put out a couple of books with articles on native plants, including one where homeowners cleared native shrubs from around their house for fire protection, and all these wonderful herbaceous natives appeared, including a wild snapdragon. The CNPS website will tell you how to contact someone from that chapter, if you want to get the article. I'm not sure which CNPS chapter area you would be in - the other southern Sierra foothills chapter is the Sequoia chapter, and then there are more northerly chapters as well. These people would know where to get plants and seeds of wildflowers local to your area.

Another technique that has been used is to sow wildflower seeds in flats, grow the plants to 3' or 4' tall, then plant them out individually. This gives them a head start in competing with weeds. However, your idea of getting rid of the foxtail grass first is the right approach, I think.

Good luck,

Lori

[Anonymous]

Leslie - There are several ways to approach this issue. What do you want as the end result? Foxtails have evolved through centuries of grazing by sheep and cattle to becomr ferocious competitors. My personal preference for removal is through use of fire. This clears off the biomass and stimulates seed growth. If there are any native seeds left in the bank they too will be stimulated. This is probably the least labor intensive but is planning intensive. You can also use a propane burner to fry the early starting annual grasses. You could also fencr the area with a single strand of electric fence and hire somebody with sheep or goats during early spring to graze off the early stuff. Chemicals also work but are less prefered by many people.

If you are striving for oaks - collect acorns in the fall and layer them with oak leaves of the same species and dampen them - refrigerate them in an old refrigerator for a bit and then set them outside to see if they will germinate. Or try just poking a hole in the ground and stick in a few acorns and then see what comes up.Only with careful management of your new landscape for a few years anyway will you get what you want from the site. With a little more detailed info I can provide you with more resources. Ben</p>

[Anonymous]

Thanks, Ben and Lori. I'm in Hart Flat, which is about 3000 feet, the northmost part of the Tehachapisthe vegetation is a lot like the southern sierras on north or east slopesie exotic annual grasses and oaks. It is SHOCKING how few herbaceous natives or native shrubs there areeven when my land is clearedThough I've not tried the burningThat would certainly make a big difference in a chaparral community, but I'm just not real optimistic about what seeds are sitting in this overgrazed exoticized soil.Microclimates rule of course1/2 a mile from me is an area where communities are trying to reassert themselves. There's a small stand of California fuchsia, Platanus racemosa, and by the way: I'm having trouble id'ing a perennial around here that I would swear by the dried flowers is a Salvia, but the leaves are round, lobed, wooly and mossy greenAnybody know what that is?

Miraculously, I have a Sambucus mexicana growing right in the middle of an exposed area of my grasses.

Thank you again for your suggestions about the seedbed prep. I am vigorously pursuing resources, so please let me know of any you would recommend.

This afternoon I cleared an east-facing raised bed of the grasses and seeded 'Shady Mix' from the Theodore Payne Foundation: Clarkia unguiculata, C. amoena, Collinsia heterophylla, 2 Nemophila s. The Clarkia went crazy in my LA shade garden last year, and I'm hoping for SOMETHING this year here!I have lupine growing all over the place which is very exciting to a city girl who isn't used to wildflowers growing spontaneously outside her front and back doors.But I have, on six acres, ONE poppy seedling that I can see. Neighbors have billions.I guess they like to keep us guessing.

--Leslie</p>