Prairie Maintenace: The Annual BURN

There are many things one can do for his/her prairie as far as maintenace goes, especially if the prairie is young. Removing invasive and undesired species(WEEDING!), occasional reseeding of patches, more weeding, mowing and annual controlled burns are all great ways to maintenance a prairie. 

I know two very dedicated, skilled and experienced people who spend much of their time out on Blooming Prairie's three year old prairie. On April 7th, 2013, they marched out onto the golden acres and performed an annual burn, not on all of the prairie though...The other living things need a place to stay, too! 

A prairie burn begins by assessing the weather, the space and considering habitat. If an area is to be burned, it can happen in the spring or in the fall, but never should the entire prairie be burned at once as one would destroy precious cover for the living critters. Then, after acquiring water, fire and having enough fuel(the dried plant vegetation), the buffer zones are mowed. The buffer zone is an area where the fuel is removed or reduced, so that in case of an unexpected change in the wind or any other element, the fire won't continue to burn other non-burn designated areas. The buffer zones extend around the entire burn area and cut the zone into manageable plots as well. 

30 foot wide buffer zone in the middle of the prairie to divide the prairie into sections.

Fire is then set, and the crew carefully observes the burn. Despite what a person might believe, prairie burns don't roar with smoke and flame; they simple crackle and pop their way across an area(pictures of this live to come). 

 The fire burns right up to the cut area but not any further.

A view of the partially burned prairie above and down below, a section of the untouched bit. 

Controlled burns are one of the best management practices since they remove dead vegetation allowing for new regrowth and destroy non-native species and their seeds that aren't deep rooted or fire tolerant like our native varieties. 

Blooming Prairie Nursery carries full burn coverage for this type of prairie maintenace application and our crew is highly experienced. Contact us for more information about this type of maintenance for large or small areas.