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Rachel,<br>
<br>
I think your goal is terrific. A 900 sq. ft. meadow can help
migrating insects and birds. Plus I would not be surprised if you
picked up some residents. We also turned our lawn into meadow and
the difference in year round LIFE (from snakes to spiders and dragon
flies and birds) made it all worth while. <br>
<br>
Do <b>not</b> expect it to take a year. We did about 1.5 acres and
it took a good 6 years and while it functions very well, it is not
quite as we had planned. (Waay too much Black Eye Susan).<br>
<br>
Also, the front end work is pretty intense. But once everything is
working, you will spend less time on garden maintenance than you
likely do now. <br>
<br>
Your first step is to look up NOVA NATIVE, it is an initiative by
the Northern Va. Council to promote and assist native plantings in
Northern Virginia. They have lots of literature and can give
technical assistance. Do not take herbicide advice from unknown
(untrusted) sources. NoVa Native also has a list of pros who can
work as a consultant. And I know we would not have had the success
we do if we had not worked with a pro; although some of her ideas
were pretty stupid in retrospect. Live and learn.<br>
<br>
Do not remove the little topsoil you have. Top soil is one of the
first things developers remove and sell; why so many developments
have sod over subsoil. Remember throughout, the LESS you disturb the
soil, the better off you are. <br>
<br>
It seems to be standard that meadows do not need extensive soil
work. They are used to starting in harsh conditions. However you
get rid of the celandine next year, just scratch the surface and
broadcast the seed. Then cover with Leaf Grow. May be worth
investing in a rain tower to get it established.<br>
<br>
We were advised to clear the ground with glyphosate for 18 months.
Had a lot of soil loss and I really do not think that is good
advice. But I do think it makes sense to knock down the weeds
several months before you put in the seed. But some seeds need to
be cold stratified (put down before winter) in order to germinate.
If you plan in the fall, you can use a cover crop of rye to hold the
soil during the winter months. Remember, the meadow will shade out
a lot of the weeds once it gets established.<br>
<br>
I think I am telling you to plan the meadow start for the late
summer; before the celandine reproduces. Also, consider if the
celandine is flowing from an adjoining property. You may want to
mulch that property line for 3 feet to give you chance to control
future infestation. (I wound up putting silt fence and silt sox on
one property line to keep a neighbor's sheet flow out of my meadow;
could see the "stream" of stiltgrass coming off his property. I
also heavily mulched that line and put in a number of shrubs and
trees (Red Bud, Paw Paw, Button Bush, etc). It works!<br>
<br>
This spring you could concentrate on the natives you want to save.
Maybe start by working on an area where you want native shrubs (Joe
Pye,
Father Gila, Vibernums, blueberry, whatever). Amend those areas
with Leaf Grow and mulch very heavily (4 to 6 inches) with Pine
Fines. This will get you "instant gratification". Leave room to
weed stuff that comes though the mulch. You will probably weed this
for a couple years.<br>
<br>
Then start thinking about what kind of a meadow you want
(grass/flower) and perhaps on an area (100 to 200 sq feet) to get
started. Believe me, you will learn things as you go and you will
probably want to go back and revise your first plot when you are
done with you last. <br>
<br>
This gives you time to get rid of the celandine in the rest of the
area. If you can stand it, get some cardboard boxes from an
appliance store, lay them down and cover with Pine Fines.
Seriously. The cardboard and 4 to 6 inches of Pine Fines will keep
anything from growing while at the same time they decompose to amend
the soil. This will start changing the soil structure and
attracting things to your garden. We experimented with and use
solarizing (whether plastic or cardboard) and it works well to kill
the seed bank if you do it for several years.<br>
<br>
In MD, 5 yards of either Pine Fines or Leaf Grow costs $35/yd
delivered. I am sure NoVa Native can tell you area suppliers. Once
your meadow is up, you will need no amendments. But you will want
them to use when you plant native shrubs and flowers outside the
meadow.<br>
<br>
Figure out how deep your topsoil does go. Dig a couple pits. You
may decide to amend it all with Leaf Grow (call a topsoil/mulch
place). We buy 5 yards of it and pine fines every year for various
places. Both of these decompose providing a good environment for
soil biology. No point in foliar treatments when things are in
senescence. Has to wait until they green up.<br>
<br>
Within a couple years, the decomposing Leaf Grow, Pine Fines and the
roots of the the meadow plants (which can reach down 3 feet) will
begin changing the structure and biology of your soil, making it
healthier. There is no instant fix. The soil takes time to build;
but it happens quicker than you may think.<br>
<br>
You may want to get advice from Ernst Seed Company about what to
plant that is tolerant to herbicides specific to celandine.<br>
<br>
There are others on this list with more experience than me, but this
is pretty much what we did. <br>
<br>
<pre class="moz-signature" cols="72">Regards,
Dewey Clark,
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://www.historictimekeepers.com">http://www.historictimekeepers.com</a>
Omega Recognized Service Provider
WOSTEP (Neuchatel) Certified After Sales Service of Current Watches
WOSTEP (Neuchatel) Certified Micromechanics
Restoration of Vintage Timepieces
Precision Timing Specialist
Micromachining
Regards,
Dewey Clark
Club Naturalist
Co-District Manager (PA)
Potomac Appalachian Trail Club
Maryland Master Naturalist</pre>
<div class="moz-cite-prefix">On 10/24/2017 9:13 PM, Rachel Bayly
wrote:<br>
</div>
<blockquote type="cite"
cite="mid:A2463D9E-8D3F-4A38-A134-251D8BA8EDA8@gmail.com">
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Hi Everyone,
<div class=""><br class="">
</div>
<div class="">I am wondering if any of you are expert on the
eradication of lesser celandine and can help with the questions
below. (It is also called fig buttercup, latin: Ficaria verna,
previously Ranunculus ficaria L.)</div>
<div class=""><br class="">
</div>
<div class="">I am a homeowner in northern Virginia. I have an
area about 30’ x 30’ that I would like to turn into a meadow
that has essentially become a mat of lesser celandine, because
have been busy these last few years and didn’t realize it was
such a problem. I also have some patches that I am afraid to
think about in and around some native plants — there maybe the
biggest patch is 4’x4’. Today I have been researching it and
it seems to be a major problem. It seems that any effort may
be multi-year, but I am looking for whatever might be most
effective in one cycle (year). That would be ok if I weren’t
trying to make a meadow now… This also interacts with how one
makes a meadow… </div>
<div class=""><br class="">
</div>
<div class="">Questions:</div>
<div class=""><br class="">
</div>
<div class="">The immediate question is whether to smother it
starting in November with newspaper and mulch, or to wait for
the spring and try to use round-up/glyphosate with a non-ionic
surfactant. Or try one of the other ideas below.</div>
<div class=""><br class="">
</div>
<div class="">-<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>Which
would be best? </div>
<div class="">-<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>If
I smother now, can I still plant meadow grasses in the spring?
Will smothering deal with the lesser celandine, or will I just
have a mess having to dig up the newspaper and mulch to deal
with the lesser celandine in the spring?</div>
<div class="">-<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>If
I use glyphosate in February/March, can I still plant meadow
grasses in the spring (or possibly in the summer)? </div>
<div class=""><br class="">
</div>
<div class="">Last year or the year before, I did put down some
newspaper over some lesser celandine in the fall and in the
spring the lesser celandine was pale, presumably because it
didn’t get sun, but I don’t know if in fact it died or just got
weaker. So one question is: what actually happens with
smothering with newspaper? Can smothering with newspaper be
effective, even if other means of smothering aren’t?</div>
<div class=""><br class="">
</div>
<div class="">Could smothering with cardboard be effective? I am
thinking just one layer...</div>
<div class=""><br class="">
</div>
<div class="">Other things I found on the web. Do you agree or
disagree? Should I try these instead of smothering or round-up?</div>
<div class=""><br class="">
</div>
<div class="">Digging under seems not to work. “If the plants are
dug into the soil, they work their way up to the surface again,
the stems bracing as they grow upward from the tubers and at
every branch producing fresh tubers.” (But perhaps newspaper
stops the plant from working its way up to the surface and
sunshine again?)</div>
<div class=""><br class="">
</div>
<div class="">
<div class="">One source said that smothering with black plastic
or deep mulch doesn’t work. (But perhaps at least the mulch
issue is the same as plants dug in the soil, and newspaper
might stop the plant reaching the surface and sunshine again?
Sigh. What’s the story with black plastic?)</div>
</div>
<div class=""><br class="">
</div>
<div class="">There seem to be different opinions on whether
glyphosate can be applied once, with a non-ionic surfactant, or
should be used to drench the plant and then applied again about
a week later, or should be applied once and then again a year
later….</div>
<div class=""><br class="">
</div>
<div class="">One post says that iron-based herbicides are best
for lesser celandine, such as IronX, a selective week killer for
lawns. True? Pros and cons of iron-based herbicides generally
and IronX in particular?</div>
<div class=""><br class="">
</div>
<div class="">Another post says that triclopyr-based herbicides
work better. These go by the names of Garlon and Release in
such products as Turflon, Weed-B-Gone and Brush-B-Gone. True?
Pros and cons of iron-based herbicides generally and IronX in
particular?</div>
<div class=""><br class="">
</div>
<div class="">Another post suggests adding wood ashes to the soil
to raise neutrality and also “going heavy on the ashes over the
lesser celandine.” I couldn’t find any specific information on
how to use it and how effective this is. Do you have any hard
information? How-to? Pros and cons?</div>
<div class=""><br class="">
</div>
<div class="">Everyone seems to agree that the time to deal with
lesser celandine is when it is growing, that there is not much
one can do now, in the fall. But perhaps one can dig up the
tubers (subject to all the cautions about getting the whole
thing)? With wetting the soil to make it easier? But perhaps
since it pretty matted, and that can also disturb the soil and
make it vulnerable, that really is not practical? </div>
<div class=""><br class="">
</div>
<div class="">Everyone seems to agree that digging the plants up
is tricky because of the risk of leaving bits of the tubules,
but some posts seem to think this is doable, at least in smaller
areas. Especially if you get a good rain during the growing
season and can dig up whole root systems and put them in
municipal trash (?) where it gets heated enough to kill the
plant (or something). </div>
<div class=""><br class="">
</div>
<div class="">It seems that removing the top 3” of soil is, in
principle, a solution, since the little tubular roots only go
down 3”. But that’s a lot of soil! But is this the best
approach? </div>
<div class=""><br class="">
</div>
<div class="">
<div class="">Nobody mentioned solarizing except for the one
comment that black plastic doesn’t work. Do you agree? One
person I talked to on the phone described solarizing with a
blue tarp, saying that killed the friendly soil microbes and
they would take a few years to re-establish, but if it killed
the lesser celandine, maybe that would be worth it. </div>
</div>
<div class=""><br class="">
</div>
<div class="">This seemed to be the best write-up on how-to for
glyphosate and manual (digging). Does this look right? But
even this does not say one application or repeated applications
— the phrase “start applications” might be repeats in one place,
or in different locations. Any clarity?</div>
<div class=""><br class="">
</div>
<div class=""><br class="">
</div>
<div class="">
<div class=""><a
href="https://www.nps.gov/plants/alien/fact/rafi1.htm"
class="" moz-do-not-send="true">https://www.nps.gov/plants/alien/fact/rafi1.htm</a></div>
<div class="">
<p class="style1" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica,
sans-serif;"><b class=""><i class="">Chemical</i><br
class="">
</b>In order to have the greatest negative impact to
celandine and the least impact to desirable native
wildflower species, herbicide should be applied in late
winter-early spring, generally February through March. Start
applications prior to flowering and up until about 50
percent of the plants are in flower, around April 1, then
stop. After that, control success declines and many more
native wildflowers have emerged that could be killed by
spray. Native amphibians would also be emerging and could be
harmed. Apply a 1 to 1.5% rate of a 53.8% active ingredient
glyphosate isopropylamine salt (e.g., Rodeo® which is
labeled for use in wetland areas), mixed with water and a
non-ionic surfactant to foliage, avoiding application to
anything but the celandine. Glyphosate is systemic; that is,
the active ingredient is absorbed by the plant and
translocated to the roots, eventually killing the entire
plant. The full effect on the plant may take 1-2 weeks.
Retreatment the following year will likely be needed.
Applications can be made during the winter season as long as
the temperature is 50 degrees Fahrenheit or above, and no
rain is anticipated for at least 12 hours. Because
glyphosate is non-specific, spray should be directed such
that it contacts only fig buttercup and does not drift onto
desirable native plants. To minimize impacts to
sensitive-skinned frogs and salamanders, some experts
recommend applying herbicide in March and then switching to
manual methods.</p>
<p class="style1" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica,
sans-serif;"><b class=""><i class="">Manual-Mechanical</i><br
class="">
</b>For small infestations, fig buttercup may be pulled up
by hand or dug up using a hand trowel or shovel. It is very
important to remove all bulblets and tubers. Due to the
abundant tiny bulblets and tubers, all material must be
bagged up, removed from the site and disposed properly in a
landfill or incinerator. A major consideration when manually
removing invasive plants like this is the disturbance to the
soil which can encourage the target invasive as well provide
openings for invasion by other exotic species. For these
reasons, manual and mechanical removal is probably
inappropriate for larger infestations in high quality
natural areas.</p>
</div>
</div>
<div class=""><br class="">
</div>
<div class="">Thanks for any help.</div>
<div class=""><br class="">
</div>
<div class="">Rachel Bayly</div>
<div class="">Falls Church, Virginia</div>
<div class=""><br class="">
</div>
<div class=""><br class="">
</div>
<br>
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<br>
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