[MAIPC] Fern Control Thank you!

[Stephen Hiltner]

I realized my initial response didn't go to the full group, so am pasting
it in below. For what it's worth, I have a theory that aggressive natives
like cattail and bracken fern were kept in check historically through
utilization by indigenous peoples. Kudzu and bamboo are kept in check in
China this way. I had a Chinese neighbor whose harvest of bamboo shoots
limited the advance of the clone next to her house. Here's info on
edibility of bracken
<https://www.motherearthnews.com/real-food/bracken-fern-zmaz79mazraw#:~:text=Contrary%20to%20popular%20belief%2C%20the,stick%20to%20new%2C%20leafless%20shoots.&text=The%20mature%20bracken%20fern%20can,which%20contain%20the%20toxic%20matter.>,
though it would take a village chowing down to make any difference.

Earlier email:
Bracken fern was one of the plants that caught my eye when I discovered a
roadside prairie remnant in Durham, NC many years ago, hidden in broad
daylight across the street from a supermarket. The bracken fern was not
being dominant at all, perhaps because the soil was heavier, though with
more sand than the usual piedmont clay. It was playing well with others,
like showy aster, yucca, Eupatorium hyssopifolium, Solidago odora, and a
great assortment of grasses and rushes ... What a wonderful few hundred
feet of natives under powerlines. Because it didn't have any listed
species, the state left it unprotected, and it was ultimately bulldozed by
the owner, who thought the prairie was preventing potential buyers from
seeing into the property. It remains an undeveloped moonscape, 20 years
later. When are we going to begin valuing rich native plant communities,
and not only this or that rare species?

I do remember how aggressive bracken fern can be in the sandy north, though.

On Thu, Jul 15, 2021 at 11:59 AM D. Clark <historictimekeepers at gmail.com>
wrote:

> Thanks to all.  As most of you know, bracken is alleopathic and forms a
> monoculture when conditions permit.  In PA it was a serious problem for
> DCNR and in NH the sand is an ideal soil for it.  It provides limited
> (none?) pollinator value on top of everything else.  So, it gets nuked.  It
> is a noxious weed on my property.
>
> I appreciate the cautions against pre-emmergents and the confirmation that
> glyphosate or Oust is the best way to go.  In PA I know this is the
> strategy of choice.
>
> I intend to start with a fairly weak solution and work my way on patches
> before I hook up the sprayer.  It is my hope I can find a concentration
> that knocks it down and yet the stuff it blocks out can recover.
>
> Sounds like it is good timing.  Looks like July is the month of choice.
>
> Regards,
>
> Dewey Clark,
> http://www.historictimekeepers.com
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