1. Restoring Bottomland Prairie 1: From Corn to Native Plants

Native seeds will be planted right in the corn stubble.

Lined with a riparian buffer, McDowell Creek is behind the trees!

     We are seeding our cornfield back to native.   We call it the Creek Field, a 30 acre expanse of bottomground along McDowell Creek.  Our strategy is forbs-first.   Our experience with restorations so far, on our field buffers and in an old brome field, is that over time the grasses push out the forbs.   Other prairie-restorers have had this same experience--biodiversity decreases over time.  
     
This time we will give the forbs a headstart. We will plant them first and grasses only later.  


The Creek Field, looking southwest (upslope).