Ramsey County Parks and Recreation Department has approximately 350 acres of managed prairie in 19 parcels in 10 parks. Over 300 acres of the prairie has been planted. The planted prairies range from 1 year to 19 years old, with most of it less than 6 years old.
Site Preparation - The first step in creating a prairie is the removal of the existing vegetation and soil preparation. This involves killing the non-native grasses and removing encroaching trees. The site is then plowed and disked, as shown in the picture. Any large rocks or debris are removed from the site.
Seeding - Prairie grasses are seeded using a special seed drill, pictured to the left. The drill puts the seed at the correct depth in the soil. A mixture of between 2 and 6 species of grasses are used. The forbs or wildflowers can be planted using the same seeder, but are normally broadcast on the surface of the field before the grass is seeded. The wildflower mix can vary from a few species to over 25 species depending on the site and the budget.
Mowing - Mowing is normally done in the first and second growing season. Mowing is timed to keep weeds from going to seed. It also removes the tall weeds from shading out the native grass and wildflower seedlings. Once the prairie is established, mowing is only used to control noxious weeds.
Prescribed Burns - Prescribed burns are the main tool used in prairie management. Burns help keep trees and shrubs from invading the prairie. They also help control non-native grasses that are not adapted to fire. In our prairies this is mainly smooth brome and bluegrass. The fires also remove the accumulated thatch and stimulate the growth of the native grasses and wildflowers.
We try to burn approximately one-third of our prairies each year.
Prescribed Burns - Burning in the parks can be difficult. We are always concerned about safety and use properly set controlled fires. We also use professionally trained burn teams to conduct our burns.
The weather is the main factor affecting the burns. Our burn team closely monitors the wind speed and direction, humidity and moisture levels in the grass.
Herbicide Applications - Chemical spraying is used in two phases of prairie management. It is first used during the site preparation to kill the non-native vegetation prior to plowing. Once the prairie is planted, herbicides are used to control noxious and invasive weeds on an as-needed basis.
Herbicides are applied by licensed applicators following the label instructions.
