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Greetings!
According to the Farmer's Almanac, there are more thunderstorms on the way in August. If you're waiting for things to dry up to start work, get after it while you can. The articles below cover late summer maintenance activities for native landscapes and include some tips for dealing with this year's tricky weather. |
Planting in July?
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| Let's face it, July is not the best time in the world to seed and plant. Wild weather conditions and delayed construction activities have made July planting a necessesity. If a project is going to be completed before winter, the plants must have enough time to root before the ice and snow hits the ground. Here are some things to consider for late summer planting.
Grasses
 During the first year of establishment, native grasses grow down, not up. If planted in the spring, the top growth is generally limited to a narrow straight seedling until late summer. Planting them in July does not generally allow for enough top growth to overwinter. This may or may not be a problem depending on your overall seed mix. Often, native grasses dominate a planting area and limit wildflower growth. If you have a diverse seed mix. losing a few of the grass species shouldn't be a huge problem. If your only planting grasses, you may be disappointed with the results.
Live Plants
 If you're planting emergent plugs into standing water (6 inches or less) you won't have a problem. If you're planting live plugs into hot ground be sure to do it properly. It's best to start after a light rain to ensure that there is moister in the soil. If you can slightly water the area first that will help. Avoid planting when its id too wet or you'll leave footprints all over the place. Make sure that the top of the plug is covered with topsoil from the planting bed. If you fail to do this the potting soil around the plugs roots will dry out and the plant will die.
Watering
 With as much rain as there has been you may wonder if you need to water. New plants should receive an inch of water per week either through rain or irrigation. Native plants are drought tolerant after they are established, however water is needed initially when live plugging. If you can afford it, water new plugs planted in late summer through September.
If you take these factors into account you can actually plant in July. If you cant live with these limitations, planting will need to be postponed until fall. Cross you fingers for drier weather in the fall. |
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| Flooding and Erosion Control |
This July has seen some extreme weather throughout Northeast Illionis, Southern Wisconsin, and Iowa. We have gone from searing heat and humidity to torrential rains and flash flooding. Some areas experienced rainfall totals reaching near 8 inches of rain in a 24-hour period with extended periods of rainfall intensity reaching 2+ inches per hour. In urban and even rural areas, stormwater conveyance systems just cannot adequately convey water efficiently enough to handle that much water. This doesn't even account for stormwater BMP's that may be installed on a construction site. Do you know what the design storm event is for your BMP?
In most technical standard manuals, Best Management Practices on a construction site are designed for anywhere between a 2-year 24-hour storm event and a 10-year 24-hour storm event. What do your practices look like after a 50-year event in less than 12-hours? Probably not good at all. What if sediment discharged from the site? Where do we start? Firstly, take a deep breath and clam down; It's NOT the end of the world (even though it may look like it). Take the necessary steps to assess the damage. What failed, where did it fail, and why? Can it be prevented in another major event, or is there nothing else that can be reasonably done? In many cases the simple answer is to repair the practice and clean up the mess. If sediment was discharged from the site, file the appropriate paperwork and notify the appropriate agencies and clean up any lost sediment. BMP's have a design limitation, and when nature exceeds that design criteria, you just have to clean up the mess and follow the appropriate procedures to prevent future impacts and reduce any immediate sediment losses. Remember, assess the situation, minimize immediate impacts, and clean up once the flood waters recede. |
Late Season Weed Treatment
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 During
the late summer/early fall, perennials are preparing for winter survival and
subsequent regrowth the next spring by transporting carbohydrates into their
large root systems. Herbicides applied during this period will be readily taken
with the carbohydrates into the roots for a more effective kill.
Another option
to consider is a combination of mowing and herbicide application in the late
summer and fall.
According
to your conservation plan, mow the allotted area in early August, then allow
the perennial weeds to regrow, and apply systemic herbicides once the
perennials reach 10 inches or taller (but before a killing frost). This can be
quite effective on Canada thistle and other cool-season perennials.
Herbicides
applied to perennials in the spring are less effective than mid or late summer
because of insufficient weed growth and poor mobilization/translocation to
vegetative structures. Even with a properly applied and timed herbicide
application, perennials are very persistent and total eradication will not
occur with a single treatment. Managing
perennials is a long-term effort requiring routine maintenance tactics.
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 Feel free to contact me with any questions or comments regarding this newsletter. If you have a project or an event that you would like highlighted don't hesitate to ask.
Until Next Month,
Carl Peterson
ENCAP, Inc.
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