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- Author or Editor: Katherine Brewer x
Prairie dropseed [Sporobolus heterolepis (A. Gray) A. Gray] is a critical North American native grass that is often not incorporated into prairie restoration seed mixes due to its low survival and growth rates. This project investigated using hydrogels, landscape plugs, and native field soil to improve the survival and growth of prairie dropseed. At three tallgrass prairie restoration sites at the Minnesota Landscape Arboretum, we planted prairie dropseed plugs in Fall 2019, Spring 2020, and Fall 2020. When grown in the field from 42 to 94 weeks, we found that potting mix–grown plugs had increased growth as measured by dry weight compared with plugs grown in native soils. Soil medium did not influence survival rates. The use of hydrogels did not demonstrate increased survival or growth compared with plugs planted with water. We recommend land managers and restorationists use plugs grown in commercial potting mix rather than grown in native soils, and we found no advantage in using hydrogels over watering at planting.
Chinese silvergrass (Miscanthus sinensis) is native to East Asia and South Africa and has been grown as an ornamental in the United States for over 100 years. Chinese silvergrass is on the invasive species list for 12 states in the United States and is regulated for sale in New York state. It is often found along roadsides in middle-Atlantic states and Long Island, NY. In 2019 and 2020, we sowed chinese silvergrass seed harvested in Fall 2002 and Spring 2003 from several locations in North Carolina where it had naturalized and from the Minnesota Landscape Arboretum, Chaska, MN. The seed had been stored in a seed storage vault (4 °C) from 2002 to 2020. Germination in 2003 showed variation between 53% to 95% from 19 different individual plants. This same seed when resown in 2019 and 2020 had much lower germination that could be divided into three categories: no germination (five plants), germination of 1% or less (seven plants), and germination of more than 2% (seven plants). Results from this study show that seed viability may be a long-term problem in locations where chinese silvergrass has naturalized.