Pond Boss Forums AQUATIC VEGETATION Balance of plants in the environment Plants around pond for erosion control, wildlife, and privacy screen

I have a nice little lake. We seeded much of it around the edges and the island with 4 or 5 way fescue. It is doing pretty decent around the edges and great on the island.

I have a bunch more to do with the lake yet such as sediment basins and landscaping. After doing the dirt work for landscaping, I'd like to plant some plants. I can get quite a bit of it in different government programs for wildlife and plan to do so to help prevent erosion and such. Maybe the short prairie grass for quail.

I'm also thinking about some fruit trees or different ones for wildlife and maybe some others for appearances.

I'm thinking about some plants around the pond for a privacy screen. I know I don't want any trees anywhere near the dam; but I'm thinking maybe some tall prairie grass. Surely those roots wouldn't cause problems and I think that tall prairie grass would get high and thick enough to provide a screen.

What are your thoughts on suggested trees, grasses, and using the tall prairie grass for a screen?

If you want the prairie grass to thrive, you must eradicate all fescue. Fescue releases a toxin that can inhibit growth and sometimes even kill other plants around it.

H20fwlkillr / Waterfowl Killer... You must be an avid duck / goose hunter... Neat name.

Thanks for the info. Didn't know about that with fescue.

Thanks. I hunt just about any game birds , but I really get into the waterfowl....especially ducks!! I just completed a 1.5 acre pond built around duck hunting but also allows for my #2 favorite thing..fishing.Approx. 1/2 acre is graded at about 18-24" deep. Just perfect for my feathered friends. This summer I'll plant it in rice and duck millet. Should really have them coming in good this year. I also had an earthen blind built out in the pond about 60' from bank.
Back to the fescue. I have been working hard trying to restore my grasslands back to the original prairie grasses that were there. Fescue moved in and pretty well wiped them out. I've been burning and spraying and seeding . This year I should start seeing the results of all my labor. If you do plant the native grasses and forbs, be patient w/ them. It takes several years to really start seeing them grow. They spend the first year or two developing their root system(some as deep as 15 feet). In the long run they will be a better selection for your
pond both for eroision control and asthestics.
Just be sure to plant a mix of legumes and native warm and cool season grasses to keep things green year round. Good luck w/ your pond!

Question for you (killem' when wings over water) I am going to retire a 5 acre corn-sorghum food plot this spring and move it to another part of my 10 year pasture. Was gonna use 4lb/acre switchgrass-do you know of a combination nurse crop and other mixture that I might start out with at the same time, since switchgrass takes a couple of years to establish? This 5 acres is just above my pond. P.S. if your ducks/geese don't come in well this year, come out here-I have some damn Muscovy ducks I'd dearly like to see eliminated. Thanks-Postbeetle.

If any of this is for wildlife, I suggest not using grass at all but rather use all forbs (wildflowers). Most grasses (natives as well as introduced grasses) are very agressive and will quickly dominate an area. Contrary to popular opinion, in general, there are NO grasses that are really good for most wildlife species.

For those familiar with the Conservation Reserve Program, you know that the NRCS now allows farmers to disk and severly set back grasses every 5 years to provide better wildlife habitat.

I don't know about the deep South but in other areas, I suggest a combination of Maximillian Sunflower, Illinois Bundleflower, Canada Milkvetch, Purple Coneflower, Grayhead Coneflower, Purple Prairieclover, Plains Coreopis and Showy Partridge Pea. These are all natives. If you want to add some non-natives, Chickory, Sweetclover, Dames Rocket and Shasta Daisy might work also. Many people use Canada Wildrye as a quick establishing grass cover crop. Keep in mind that depending on the area, any plant can become very agressive and weedy.

Postbeetle- I would avoid switch grass unless that is all you want growing. It tends to be very aggressive and chokes out other vegetation over time. I would recomend big and little blue stem, canada rye and a mix of native forbs such as those Norm suggested. For a nurse crop try annual lespedeza and annual rye grass.

Norm I tend to dissagree. Forbs only doesn't give the wildlife(especially quail) the bunchy cover they need to nest, raise young, and provide bare ground. Forbs only can be just as invasive and thick as a grass only pasture.
The Missouri Dept. of Conservation has done studies on habit quality and quail #'s. A well planted prairie type area w/ good diversity and scattered shrubs out produced everything else in quail #'s.

To "waterfowlkiller" and "Norm"-I agree with both of you. However, I've had such a problem with quackgrass and Canadian thistle and giant foxtail that they will overpower anything that isn't just as agressive. Ergo the question of a suitible nurse crop until they are well established, especially the first season. I have another area of switchgrass(3 acres) that is going to pot because I can't burn it here. I now do landscaping for a living and have gone through the (forb), "native wildflower" things many times with clients and the results have been miserable. When we bought this wornout piece of property (130 acres) 20 years ago (should never have taken it from the Indians) I saw one pheasant hen the first winter. We now have up to 200 pheasants in our windbreak next to the house during rough winters-I attribute this to food plots, shrub planting and dense grass cover. Have tried establishing quail several times (have excellant quail habitat, but the redtail hawks, coyotes, fox, coons and skunks wipe em' out. Gonna try quail eggs under my broody banty hens this spring, if sucessful they may stay closer to the farmstead. Anyhow I digress,gonna try a combination of swithcgrass, reeds canary grass, some forbs, giant bluestem with an annual ryegrass cover crop-Thanks for your help-Postbeetle.

There is certainly some truth to almost anything we say about wildlife plantings. It all depends... Moisture is probably the most critical factor in how plants react to their environment. Then it depends on what type of wildlife we want to attract and support. Killdeer do best on bare ground. Species like robins, doves and tree squirrels are doing great in our sprawling suburbia.

In my experience and from what I read, in general, game bird species do very poorly in a very heavy grass sod. That shoots down switchgrass, smooth bromegrass and reed canary grass almost immediately. It is very difficult for young chicks to move through this grass and there are very few insects for them to eat.

Rangersedge, in your profile, why don't you put in your location so we can help you better. Also, please tell us if this is an upland or wetland type of area. Depending on your situation, if you want more grass on an upland site, then you might consider a little bluestem variety called "blaze". It grows to 2-4 ft. tall and stays in a bunch form rather than forming a tight sod.

Canada thistle and quackgrass along with a number of other species can be extremely difficult to control. My particular problem is Canada thistle. There are a number of herbicides that have been developed specificially to control Canada thistle. What I've found is that Canada thistle is not shade tolerant and that annual sunflowers will shade them out.

If you think managing fish populations is hard, plants can be infinitely more difficult.

Reeds canary grass is considered a noxious weed by the Mo Dept of Conservation. It spreads very quicky. May be what you want just thought I would let you know.

If you are planting in direct sunlight you might think about using vetiver grass, it is non evasive, grows about 2 to 4 feet high, roots to between 8 and 12 feet, roots almost vertically, absorbs heavy metals and when planted about 8 inches apart forms a very solid barrier for eroison. It establishes in less than a year. It withstands drought for about 3 months and is extremely hardy. Almost no downside, check vetiver in any search engine for more info.

I was thinking of trying some pampas grass as a privacy screen on the road edge of the pond. Looks like it might look good. Anyone tried it?

http://www.blueplanetbiomes.org/pampas_plant_page.htm

Bob

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

How about Weeping Willows for your island? They are great trees for keeping a check on soil erosion and tamping muddy puddles. The graceful canopy of these shade trees also makes for an exotic looking privacy screen. Check out this picture and you’ll know what I’m talking about! A couple of Weeping Willow trees will look absolutely stunning on your island.
Link: http://www.fast-growing-trees.com/WeepingWillow.htm
Another flowering tree that you can plant for show on your island is the Okame Cherry Tree which is usually one of the first trees to blossom during spring

The weeping willow we planted next to our pond grew from a finger size twig to over 40 ft tall in less than 6 years. It would be bigger but a beaver ate it off at the ground when it was 2 years old and already 8 inchs in dia. It came back as a bush. I trimed all but 3 branches and it's now a 3 forked trunk tree. I plan to plant some at my new property as a privacy fence to the neighbors on the hill.

how bout the new member with the name of tree? welcome. they have revived an old thread and it has me hiperventilating. i will send this post (is it a diatribe?)

i hate canary reed grass. it is the worst pestilence ever placed on this beautiful earth. ISU has improved it, it is terrible. it forms dense monocultures, it grows almost all winter, it seeds like crazy, i can show you jungles of it 6 feet high where it is the only plant for literally miles, it has ruined the Iowa river valley, if you like canary reed then you are no friend of mine.

i would like to see you use native sedge mixes adn rushes. prairie moon nursery will sell you mixes adn i am sure there are other suppliers. sedges grow in the water and wet soils (and some in dry soils) adn are very beautiful. with forbs and sedges you can spray to kill the grasses (canary reed).

dwarf tall fescue is a non native that has many of the same characteristics as canary reed but it only grows 4 or 5 inches tall and produces thick turf that will hold. i am getting tired of it too but its way way better than canary reed (short and fewer seeds). it produces something like a lawn. but it is way way less interesting than sedges and forbes.

for privacy i would suggest white pines, american cranberry, arrowwood, grey dogwoods. these are all native and very beneficial to wildlife.

canary reed has virtually no use to wildlife, there are no nests in it, they dont eat it, they cant walk thru it, i challenge anyone to show me any wildlife getting any use of canary reed other than temporary cover. i challenge anyone to show me a beautiful picture of canary reed, it is uglier than some of my girlfriends.

it should be illegal to sell canary reed. do not plant canary reed, there has to be something better in the long run. why invest in a pond if you just want to turn it into a canary reed cesspool.

i dont want anyone on pondboss to recomend canary reed grass. just forgetaboutit.