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.

September, 2024 GRN workshop scheduled to be at Nachusa Grasslands

Posted on September 28, 2023 by Grassland Restoration Network blog

by Bill Kleiman We don’t have the specific dates yet, but September, 2024 looks to be the month for our GRN workshop in Franklin Grove Illinois, about two hours west of Chicago. We last hosted the GRN back in 2014. … Continue reading →

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Lespedeza: friend and foe

Posted on September 14, 2023 by Grassland Restoration Network blog

by Bill Kleiman Our area has five species in the genus Lespedeza, and two are invasive. Here is a quick summary of the five species and a link at the end to a lengthier set of images with pointers. Lespedeza … Continue reading →

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Resources on prairie seed

Posted on September 7, 2023 by Grassland Restoration Network blog

by Izabella Redlinski, Deputy Director of Resource Management, Forest Preserves of Cook County [Izabella was at our GRN workshop at Windom Minnesota and sent me some resource links related to topics we were discussing – BK] Paper by R. Pizza … Continue reading →

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GRN Minnesota workshop success

Posted on August 24, 2023 by Grassland Restoration Network blog

by Bill Kleiman Much of the nation was sweltering this week and so were we in Windom Minnesota with around 70 who gathered. We had folks from the North Star State, and Illinois, Nebraska, Indiana, the Dakotas, Iowa, Wisconsin and … Continue reading →

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More lessons learned planting prairie

Posted on July 27, 2023 by Grassland Restoration Network blog

By Bill Kleiman SHRUBS: We want some of our prairies free of shrubs for various birds and other wildlife that want prairie without shrubs everywhere.  We will end up with lots of shrublands in the future as there is a … Continue reading →

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Pasture to prairie seeding experiment – initial thoughts

Posted on July 20, 2023 by Grassland Restoration Network blog

By Bill Kleiman If you are trying to turn a low diversity cool season grass pasture into high diversity prairie should you just seed the recently prescribed burnt sod?  Or first apply glyphosate herbicide or grass herbicide, then burn it, … Continue reading →

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Poison hemlock control

Posted on July 13, 2023 by Grassland Restoration Network blog

By Bill Kleiman Poison hemlock, Conium maculatum. The maculatum means spotted and the stem has conspicious red spots. Hemlock is a modestly invasive plant that can form thickets if it gets started in disturbed or fallow ground. I sometimes see … Continue reading →

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GRN Workshop Registration Now Open!

Posted on July 7, 2023 by Grassland Restoration Network blog

Noon August 22 to 4pm August 23rd by Jeff Zajac Registration for the 2023 Grassland Restoration Network in Windom, Minnesota is open now until August 10.  The meeting will take place August 22nd and 23rd and will visit a variety … Continue reading →

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A Tale of Two Plantings

Posted on June 8, 2023 by Grassland Restoration Network blog

By Jeffrey Zajac, Area Wildlife Manager, Minnesota DNR They have the best of plants, they have the worst of plants…  This August 22st and 23nd, 2023 the Grassland Restoration Network workshop comes to southwest Minnesota. Registration begins early July. On … Continue reading →

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Pest shields

Posted on May 25, 2023 by Grassland Restoration Network blog

By Bill Kleiman The black flies of the Simuliidea emerged this week and congregate in the woods, especially areas with low wind. They will be a nuisance for a few weeks. And ticks are occasional. Mosquitos will be here soon. … Continue reading →

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