<div dir="auto"><div>We've had the most success when we encourage assertive deer resistant natives to move in after we remove stiltgrass and other similar NNIs. Otherwise other invasives just move in. It took me a decade of failed efforts with NNIs just moving in to any available opened space to realize this and now we have much more native coverage<br></div><div dir="auto"><br></div><div dir="auto"><span style="font-family:sans-serif">What is a bow rake?</span><br></div><div dir="auto"><br></div><div dir="auto">Kathy </div><div dir="auto"><a href="mailto:michelskm2016@gmail.com">michelskm2016@gmail.com</a><br><br><div class="gmail_quote" dir="auto"><div dir="ltr" class="gmail_attr">On Sat, Oct 16, 2021, 11:00 PM Heidi Allen <<a href="mailto:rundvm@gmail.com">rundvm@gmail.com</a>> wrote:<br></div><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0 0 0 .8ex;border-left:1px #ccc solid;padding-left:1ex"><div><div style="font-family:Helvetica,Arial;font-size:13px">I am having good succes and it is hard to hear the number of people who struggle with stitlgrass when I have more problems with mile-a-minute and garlic mustard. I am wondering if it is me or the park. Or maybe both. </div><div style="font-family:Helvetica,Arial;font-size:13px"><br></div><div style="font-family:Helvetica,Arial;font-size:13px">Similar to Marc’s comment, I often need about 3 years before I feel that I am winning the battle, but if I count the bags being removed it is obvious that they are decreasing. </div><div style="font-family:Helvetica,Arial;font-size:13px"><br></div><div style="font-family:Helvetica,Arial;font-size:13px">The park I am currently working in is a 150 acre park with both wooded, dry uplands with minimal stiltgrass and lowland flood zones that are densely covered. We surround a couple of athletic fields and an elementary school. The park is into a community and there are several drainage streams from the community’s roadways. We have a fairly acidic, clay based soil and a healthy forrest with a decent amount of shade in many areas. We also have a large and very diverse native seed load so planting is often not required. </div><div style="font-family:Helvetica,Arial;font-size:13px"><br></div><div style="font-family:Helvetica,Arial;font-size:13px">The program I use is a 2-3 year mass removal where I do not care about getting every single plant, instead we focus on dropping the seed low in the most efficient way possible. After 2-3 years we can start to pick spots where we can clear the stiltgrass and by year 6-7 we are removing only a scattered amount if that. Recently I started to use a bow rake which appears to remove 95% of plants if not more and has increased our success rate. The rakes seem to work best if you wait until mid to late August to use and they have minimal effect on most native plants.</div><div style="font-family:Helvetica,Arial;font-size:13px"><br></div><div style="font-family:Helvetica,Arial;font-size:13px">I also try to let an area rest in between removal time periods - removing some of the plants and then going back 6-12 months later to do more removal. This seems to allow our native plants more time to grow and reproduce. </div><div style="font-family:Helvetica,Arial;font-size:13px"><br></div><div style="font-family:Helvetica,Arial;font-size:13px">Of course, I am making a lot of assumptions in all of this. </div><div style="font-family:Helvetica,Arial;font-size:13px"><br></div><div style="font-family:Helvetica,Arial;font-size:13px">Thanks for your guidance. </div> <br> <div><div>-- <br>Heidi</div></div> <br><p>On October 16, 2021 at 10:11:09 PM, Randall, Johnny (<a href="mailto:jrandall@email.unc.edu" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer">jrandall@email.unc.edu</a>) wrote:</p> <blockquote type="cite"><span><div lang="EN-US" link="#0563C1" vlink="#954F72" style="word-wrap:break-word"><div></div><div>
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<p class="MsoNormal">Heidi and others. I think there are too many variables to consider on stiltgrass invasion and persistence to answer your questions. Removal in areas where it is infrequently (re)introduced (outside of floodways) is a viable solution. It’s
a C-4 grass which gives it the physiological/anatomical potential to persist in uplands unless it is removed before going to seed.
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<p class="MsoNormal">Johnny Randall </p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><b>From:</b> MAIPC <<a href="mailto:maipc-bounces@lists.maipc.org" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer">maipc-bounces@lists.maipc.org</a>> <b>On Behalf Of
</b>Marc Imlay<br>
<b>Sent:</b> Saturday, October 16, 2021 10:03 PM<br>
<b>To:</b> 'Heidi Allen' <<a href="mailto:rundvm@gmail.com" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer">rundvm@gmail.com</a>>; 'MAIPC Listserve' <<a href="mailto:maipc@lists.maipc.org" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer">maipc@lists.maipc.org</a>><br>
<b>Subject:</b> Re: [MAIPC] Another stiltgrass question</p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif">Before stiltgrass has moved in too fast into my park from elsewhere, I found if I removed it all for 3 years, by the 4<sup>th</sup> year I was finally happy. Marc</span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><b>From:</b> MAIPC <<a href="mailto:maipc-bounces@lists.maipc.org" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer">maipc-bounces@lists.maipc.org</a>>
<b>On Behalf Of </b>Heidi Allen<br>
<b>Sent:</b> Saturday, October 16, 2021 2:24 PM<br>
<b>To:</b> MAIPC Listserve <<a href="mailto:maipc@lists.maipc.org" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer">maipc@lists.maipc.org</a>><br>
<b>Subject:</b> [MAIPC] Another stiltgrass question</p>
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<p class="MsoNormal">I know there have been several discussions about stiltgrass and I apologize if I have missed some information. But, I am trying to figure out the difference between my volunteer site and other volunteer’s success in removing stiltgrass.
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<p class="MsoNormal">Besides shade, soil characteristics (pH, moisture, etc. ), and deer browsing has anyone looked into the habitat restoration plan or the native seed bank to see if there is an effect upon % of stiltgrass seeds that germinate, survival rate
of seeds, and growth rate of the stiltgrass? </p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"> I am specifically wondering about the following items:</p>
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<p class="MsoNormal">1) The number of native seeds, not type of seeds.</p>
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<p class="MsoNormal">2) the process of invasive removal - either removing all invasive plants in one year (repeating as needed) or a staging process over several years - bushes, vines, forbs, other graminoids, then stiltgrass.</p>
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<p class="MsoNormal">3) Planting native plants (plugs and quart sized plants) vs doing nothing vs using a seed mix. </p>
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<p class="MsoNormal">I appreciate my guidance people can provide. </p>
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<p class="MsoNormal">-- <br>
Heidi</p>
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