Author Archives: Grassland Restoration Network blog

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About Grassland Restoration Network blog

Bill Kleiman, Julianne Mason, and Mike Saxton publish this blog. Bill's daytime job is director of Nachusa Grasslands with The Nature Conservancy. Julianne works for the Forest Preserve District of Will County. Mike Saxton works for the Missouri Botanical Garden at their Shaw Nature Reserve. We are looking for guest authors on various topics of grassland habitat restoration. Contact us with your ideas.

Basal bark G4 on Echinacea purpurea

Posted on September 23, 2021 by Grassland Restoration Network blog

By Bill Kleiman Purple coneflower, Echinacea purpurea is a wonderful native plant, but it is out of range, out of place for Nachusa. We have the E pallida, pale purple coneflower. Years back, the nursery that sold us the invasive … Continue reading →

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Meet Agnes and Dana, citizens creating habitat

Posted on September 16, 2021 by Grassland Restoration Network blog

By Bill Kleiman These two have a lot of energy. On the left is Dana Sievertson and the right Agnes Wojnarski. This is their back yard in Prospect Heights, a suburb of Chicago. They started growing plugs six years back. … Continue reading →

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Beware what seed you buy

Posted on September 9, 2021 by Grassland Restoration Network blog

by Bill Kleiman You likely don’t know invasive Lespedeza daurica. I will tell you why in a bit. But it is similar to the invasive Lespedeza cuneata, but more likely found prostrate like the specimen I put in the pot … Continue reading →

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Another example of savanna from a prairie planting

Posted on September 2, 2021 by Grassland Restoration Network blog

By Bill Kleiman This ten second video simply shows a panorama of many oaks growing in a prairie planting from what was a corn field. https://youtu.be/zeCK9dqYRZ0 This “savanna” planting, if you will allow the phrase, is another prairie planting but … Continue reading →

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Weed Wiper

Posted on August 26, 2021 by Grassland Restoration Network blog

By Mike Saxton, Shaw Nature Reserve, Missouri Botanical Garden Combatting woody encroachment continues to be a challenge for Midwestern land managers.  Whether it’s sumac in prairies, honeysuckle in the woodlands, or willows in our wetlands, brushy thickets drive down native … Continue reading →

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Planting savanna by planting prairie first

Posted on August 19, 2021 by Grassland Restoration Network blog

By Bill Kleiman, Nachusa Grasslands, TNC The photo above shows mostly bur oaks growing in a prairie restoration. We planted the bur oaks in 2006, but first we planted prairie in 2001. This makes the start of a savanna. The … Continue reading →

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Philip Juras: Picturing the prairie. A vision of restoration

Posted on August 12, 2021 by Grassland Restoration Network blog

By Bill Kleiman Philip Juras is a landscape painter with a show at the Chicago Botanic Garden, ending September 12, 2021.  His new book is Picturing the Prairie.  A vision of restoration.  I had a recent discussion with Philip about … Continue reading →

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From Rags to Riches

Posted on July 22, 2021 by Grassland Restoration Network blog

By Bryon Walters I have a corner in my prairie where a neighboring farm field drains through my center waterway. Sometimes I receive corn plants from the field, but for the past several years Giant Ragweed, Ambrosia trifida, has found … Continue reading →

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Transline control of yellow sweet clover

Posted on July 15, 2021 by Grassland Restoration Network blog

By Bill Kleiman I have noticed with yellow sweet clover, Melilotus officinalis, that if I apply 1% Transline with a surfactant late in the bloom of yellow sweet clover that the clover appears to set some seed. We don’t want … Continue reading →

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Birdsfoot trefoil miss

Posted on July 8, 2021 by Grassland Restoration Network blog

By Bill Kleiman Nachusa Grasslands has a 20-acre prairie planting, number 91, http://www.nachusagrasslands.org/uploads/5/8/4/6/58466593/planting_91_-_2009_-_stone_barn_prairie_-_stone_barn_farm_unit_-_crew_-_c_considine.pdf that is coming along nicely with a thick cover of native plant diversity. But it also has about 100 birdsfoot trefoil, Lotus corniculatus, small patches of plants … Continue reading →

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