I'm hoping to install a small prairie on an area currently overrun by quackgrass. I'd prefer not to use herbicides to clear the area, but I've read that quackgrass is particularly difficult to get rid of. Does anyone have suggestions for a non-herbicide method that will work?

Thanks!

Annie

And if you allow any quackgrass to grow nearby, it will soon invade your new prairie. Wicked stuff.

And no, sweet grass, wildflowers, and weeds do not exist together in the wild. The weed you are confrounted with is quackgrass, and it out-competes everything else. Most weeds come from 1) other continents (kudzu from Asia, quackgrass from Eurasia), or 2)from physical disruption of a local environment. That's why you need to plant not just a species or two, but plant an entire community (prairie, wetland, forest, etc.)

Lastly, wildflowers aren't weeds, so simply spreading their seeds over an area is not likely to cause many to grow. They have to be properly planted, which can be different for each species. This isn't gardening. This is nature.

Sorry if it sounded like I clumped the herbacides altogether but I haven't had ANY experience with herbacides thats why I turn to the gardenforum. Me = clueless :)

Just outta curiosity, how have you acquired your knowledge of herbacides? Is it by using different ones for different situations that you've encountered over the years?

Glyphosate is probably the most environmentally benign herbicide available, yet it is effective for a variety of applications. I would say it's 'drawbacks' are the same as it's strengths: it is non-persistent (you may need multiple applications over a season to kill all the plants in a treatment area) and it is non-selective (you have to be careful not to get any on nearby plants that you want to keep).

For the purposes of this forum, however, I will distinctly separate my professional activities from my contributions to this board. (I wish to follow the appropriate commercial guidelines, and will make no other reference to my firm.) It's a great delight to see so many begin the next movement in American landscaping, the use of native herbaceous species in the creation of native prairies and meadows.

My best wishes to all, and hope I am allowed to continue to contribute.

and i havnt been in the business as long as john (80's here) but round up is a god send to doing land management.

quack is a serious management problem. and to think that u are gonna get all the quack with even a full year of spraying is folly.
ive had 2 years of round up app's that looked like it killed everything.
guess what? quack, reed canary and fescue's lived.

there are ways of controlling these grasses. maybe a early spring/late fall round up spray to get the cool season grasses.

froggy

Weeds that exist in the soil as perennials and underground tubers or rhizomes, such as quackgrass, are slightly different and tough to smother.
The chemical glyphosate in Roundup works by entering the leaves and moving to the root tips, which die and deprive the plant of water. That is why it is most effective when applied and followed by hot, sunny weather. Bacteria in the soil breakdown glyphosate.
I have an agricultural background and do not agree with the use of chemicals willy nilly. Glyphosate is the only garden chemical that I would consider using on my property.

The other good news about the method, however, is that soil quality improves dramatically. Here in the high southwest the soil I used the newspaper layers method on went from hard, dense dry sun-baked red clay to a brown, moist clumpy soil full of worms in just one year.

If you had trouble with weeds other than only quackgrass or only bindweed I would recommend the newspaper method.

1. Fire is usually not an effective way to control perennial weeds -- I'm not sure about quackgrass.

2. Don't use straight gasoline to start controlled burns -- too explosive. The most appropriate technique is to use a drip torch with a mixture of diesel fuel and gasoline. Both the design of the torch and the addition of diesel fuel reduce the hazard of uncontrolled flame or explosion.

The reason Quack grass takes a while to kill with Roundup is its extensive, interconnected rhizome system. I presume what happens is that as soon as the tops dieback, no more moves into the roots, and so may leave some rhizome alive to resprout. However, Quackgrass rhizomes are (unlike bindweed!) close to the surface. So what I would do is this: rototill in the late fall to break up these rhizomes. Exposed portions will be winter-killed. In the spring, start up the Round-up program to kill off what survives and new weed growth. From the experience of others I know, the longer you kill off weeds first, the better!! And don't forget, if there is still lawn or whatever with quackgrass in it surrounding the prairie area, you will have to do something to prevent it from re-entering. I'm still hoping to learn more about that one! Like how far down edging would have to go to block it; would trenching be effective, etc.

I'll be starting weed eradication on my future small praire this fall or next. Just think, Annie, in a few years WE will be sort-of experts and be able to help others start their prairies!