Having to battle tall fescue in order to bring back native early successional grasses can be a tough fight. Glyphosate (Roundup) will kill it, but it has such deep roots that it may take two applications to get rid of it. The best time to spray is late fall when senescence will allow the plants to best carry the herbicide down into the roots. But you still may need to spray again in the spring. You certainly will need to spray in the fall, if you spray first in the spring.
This particular type of fescue is so hardy because it sometimes develops a symbiotic (mutually beneficial) relationship with a fungus which makes it a much more hardy grass. The fungus attaches itself intercellularly to the above ground portion of the grass which makes the grass less attractive as food to insects and mammals, more drought tolerant, and more disease resistant. Consequently, this non-native (originally European) species maintains some 35,000,000 acres in the U.S., mostly in the southeast.
Tall fescue also has a very high stem component full of lignin, which makes it hard to digest and not very high in nutrients. Cattle will eat it, but there can be problems... especially when the fungus is involved. Horses will eat the fresh tender leaves, but once it gets stemy... they leave it alone. Mares can have reproductive problems from eating infected tall fescue resulting in death of the foal, the mare, or both.
The grass is so thick near the ground that quail chick and turkey poult mobility is severly limited. There are fewer invertebrates inhabiting the grass so there is less for the young birds to eat. And when quail do eat the seeds, they lose weight and suffer cloacal swelling and increased mortality.
So why do we have so much of this non-native grass growing in our countryside? Who plants it and why?
It is hardy, especially when it is infected with the fungus. It does create a strong resistance to erosion. But what other good reasons do we have for its widespread growth? There are better choices that will accomplish the same goals without the problems.
We need to eradicate this grass and plant native grasses and forbs that will benefit our wildlife... and our livestock.
3 comments:
This is the stuff I like!
Hard science and good information.
Thanks
Regards,
Albert A Rasch
The Rasch Outdoor Chronicles
Proud Member of Outdoor Bloggers Summit
Southeast Regional OBS Coordinator
I'm not sure about the hard science part of it. It's just an attempt to synthesize some information allowing me to rant about my personal battle with the grass. Anyway, thanks for the flowers and welcome to the discussion.
Yesterday I was scouting turkeys in the Sulphur River bottoms on the White Oak WMA, and I was amazed at the amount of tall fescue that was growing there. There is a, now defunct,county road that deadends into the WMA, and all along it there is fescue. There are some old homesites along this road too. But the fescue has spread with varying success throughout the area, growing very well in the shade of trees and tall weeds alike. And there is evidence of burns in the area, so fire hasn't killed it. But the good news is: there's turkeys using the area... so there must be enough usable habitat there for them to thrive.
The question is: Did the highway dept plant it here first or did the homesites give it it's start? Whatever the case, it's now an invasive species and needs to be controlled.
Post a Comment