What will happen "naturally" in this century (decade, actually) is very different from what would have happened naturally in earlier times, even just a few decades ago. "Naturally," as you might envision it, doesn't happen anymore.

In short, if left to progress by iteself, your "natural" landscape will become overrun with Canada thistle, reed canary grass, and a multitude of non-native woody scrubs. Be especially wary of buckthorn, if it's in your area. Once established on five acres, only progression (15-40years perhaps) to closed forest and/or complete bulldozing has any hope of moderately controlling it. If not buckthorn, then perhaps Russian or autumn olive will perform the same landscape-degrading task.

Your hope seems to be to allow native species to reclaim the site. That would have happened in the 1930s or 40s. Not today. If you want a horrid mess of inpenetrable woody shrubs, let things go. If not, you better aim for a native prairie. You already have many prairie species growing naturally.

The solution is to mow some wide (12-20 ft) low turf fuel breaks around the area and then conduct spring (Mar-Apr) spring burns. The good stuff survives and thrives after fire. The bad stuff suffers.

Don't waste 5 acres of Wisconsin on a weedy, wooody mess. Take charge and re-create a natural, native wonderland of native oaks and prairie species. You have an ethical obligation to do this.

i second that.

burning and a few added spp. here and there and u got something.

im in wisconsin. if u want a spp list...pm me

froggy

Toria,

Although the cautions above are worth mentioning, I think there is no reason to fear for the future of your land. It sound like you have a good seed bank of native plants that took over after your area was cleared. Since the disturbance was apparently due to logging rather than agriculture, the opportunity for non-native weeds to invade was much reduced.

Based on what you say, it seems at least possible that your property may indeed remain dominated by beautiful natives. If you want it to remain a meadow, then burning and/or mowing will be necessary to prevent invasion by woody plants (native or introduced species).

Regardless of whether you manage for a meadow or let your land revert to forest, it is a very good idea to be vigilant to prevent invasion by aggressive exotics. There is lots of information out there (including these forums) that will help you learn what to watch out for.

Speaking as an expatriate cheesehead, I hope you will continue to enjoy and care for your little piece of 'God's Country'!

Hi, I live in Newburgh, NY (60 Miles north of NYC) The property where my house sits used to be all fields until about 1950. (as told by my neighbor who is 70) There are a lot of native trees that appear to be 54 years old (one way to check is by size of the tree to determine how old that field is) Around 1980 when we bought this house you could actually see the forest floor, now all you look at is thick underbrush and new tree shoots. In western NJ I know of an old drive-in that closed in 1990. by 1997 which is a relatively short time the field was all thick briars. So I think it has to do with soil conditions (it was all red clay there) Here is a photo of what our woods looked like this past winter.

Here is a link that might be useful:

I used to live near Newburgh. You have a good deal of forest surrounding the area so succession by native tree species should be pretty good. Most forests out there are second or third growth with a few spots of old growth that escaped the saw early in the century. Sugar maple has become one of the dominant species because of this. Over time the maples tend to shade out most of the underbrush. It can still be advantageous to learn to identify invasive woody plants and remove them if they are present. There are a few introduced species that are able to tolerate the shade and they tend to take over. Garlic mustard and buckthorn are among the worst. I don't recall ever seeing buckthorn there in southern NY but I was near Syracuse earlier this year and saw common buckthorn in some young wooded areas (made me cringe).

i like your idea of letting your field go natural - great idea. i probably wouldnt introduce any species - i would just see what comes in by itself. and of course an occaisional burn is mandatory...and although you are starting the burn, you are recreating what nature would have done in the past but man has interrupted the natural fire process.

do not do a burn without proper guidance - fire is not something to play around with. you can volunteer on some burn crews to learn how or have a certified burn specialist help you prepare a burn plan. our local nature center does occaisional prescribed burns and asks for volunteers to help. in order to volunteer you have to watch a training video and of course sign a liability waiver.

some suggestions: you may want to check with a local natural area, your local NRCS office, or a local chapter of pheasants forever for guidance on burning and maintaining or establishing your natural area.