Postbeetle, I agree with you, wildflower mixes have been way oversold. Everyone thinks that you just plant these mixes and you have a beautiful meadow forever more without any work. A person can have this but it is a lot more work than they think. The problem is always weed competition.

Reed canary grass is a very good soil stabilizer but almost worthless for most types of wildlife. In its competitive range, it will usually crowd out every other plant. Once you have it, about the only way to get rid of it is to completely remove the soil. In terms of most wildlife species in most areas, it is absolutely the worst plant to have. Prairie cordgrass is a better choice in most situations but isn't as easy to establish.

A bad upland grass (in terms of wildlife cover, not erosion control) is smooth brome grass. Again, it forms an extremely thick sod that tends to form a monoculture. It depends so much on the area. Brome isn't nearly as agressive in eastern Iowa as it is in the Dakotas and NE Nebraska. That gives you an idea of how much things can change in a relatively short distance with many plants.

The problems with switchgrass tend to be with the cultivars used rather than the species itself. These cultivars have been selected for forage production meaning thick, rapid growth. Again, they tend to crowd out everything else. Cultivars of both big bluestem and indiangrass can have the same problems. If you can collect seed that you know is from a native prairie, it tends to work much better

Norm Kopecky