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Prairie Trees,
hmmm, you're probably wondering "what were
they thinking?"
***Note, click on an image to see a larger
version***
Here's what
we're thinking: Since we don't spray for
weed/grass control, and do relatively little
mowing, our tree plantations are typically
pretty wild-looking, and we accept that the
seedlings will have to compete with a full
range of other plants. Why not, we figure,
make those companion plants a prairie mix,
and maximize the beauty and habitat values
of the entire area? This isn't an entirely
new idea for us,
as we've scratched in various prairie
wildflowers through much of the plantation
over the years. But we've never actually
planted a full prairie and set of tree
seedlings together, and we aren't aware of
anywhere else it has been tried in the
Midwest or beyond.
So in 2005 we
added a new acre to the Christmas trees.
First we seeded in a mixture of over 30
species of native mid-grass prairie
wildflowers and grasses, then we planted a
thousand or so tree seedlings. Where the
deer ate the seedlings or they died from
competition, we re-planted. 2009 was the
first time we did any mowing at all, so we
could shear the growing trees and do some
thistle control. 
We now have a
tremendous diversity of native plants,
pollinators, birds, and other wildlife, plus
8 species of Christmas trees coming along at
their own sweet time. Can you see the spruce
in the background of this
coneflower/butterfly foto to the left?
This
prairie-tree mixture mimics somewhat the
native ecological structure of this area,
which during presettlement times was in
large part savannah - a mixture of oak and
prairie. Conifers weren't naturally a part
of that system of course, and we won't be
able to burn the area, but we are
nevertheless happy with how our "Christmas
Prairie" and our "Prairie Trees" have turned
out. And maybe we'll just have to make the
next step the addition of some scattered
white and burr oak trees ... then wait a
hundred years and see what happens!
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