the early cool season clovers are very easy to control with fire. im very cautious about spraying a plant with roundup that is so easily killed by fire.

i have also done testing on the cool season clovers using roundup, fire and nothing. the results were very clear.

fire = virtually all over wintered plant gone tho seeds were present but later fires made the site virtually devoid.

roundup = killed much of 1 year growth but not as completely as fire did. next year it was almost as thick as first year seeding worth of clover. but over time, the site was quicker to reduce clover populations as the control site.

control site= hardy clover growth thru 3 years then a dry summer started to decline. maybe the prairie got lucky but now @ year 6, it seems almost as dense as the other sites, just seemed to take longer.

one last comment. a local wildlife biologist feels that the clover can effectively be an excellent nurse crop for longer lived species. Alfalfa is another of his choices and it kinda has a nice scent as well as a nice looking flower.

good luck.

froggy

"Since the prairie is in its second year, I'm still in the mowing stage and can't mass burn for another year or two."

sorry but i dont buy that. if u got the fuel, u should burn. and if the clover is so thick that its dominate, then weed wack it just before the heat of summer. i guess if that is what u mean by mowing stage, then yea mow it. but nuthin in the rule book that says u cannot burn.

ill be so bold as to say that in our little part of the universe, one ONLY needs to burn, and eventually, one would have a prairie. if you dont believe me, read a book called "miracle under the oaks'

froggy