|
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|
|
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Illinois and southern and western Wisconsin were covered in tallgrass prairie, part of a band that stretched from Texas into Canada, and from Ohio to Iowa. Interspersed within the prairie were stands of tall trees, widely spaced. Bur oak, Quercus macrocarpa, was one of the main trees of these savanna areas, because its thick corky bark enabled it to survive the frequent prairie fires. Used by native people to manage the landscape for better hunting, easier farming, and more productive food gathering, these fires kept other trees, without protective corky bark, from turning the prairie into forest. Bur oak has a deeply lobed leaf and an acorn with a ‘hairy’ cap that covers most of the nut. The tree can grow over 75 feet tall and can spread over 100 feet wide, with thick horizontal branches. It remains widely spaced because it needs sun to thrive.
Almost all of it was plowed for use as agricultural crop fields in the mid 1800’s, or planted to English pasture grasses for the imported cattle. An invention called the mold board plow, made of stronger steel instead of brittle cast iron, allowed the dense prairie roots to be cut and the top layer of roots and soil to be turned over, killing the prairie plants. Crops such as corn and wheat were planted in the exposed rich prairie soil. Or on land too steep to plow, pasture grasses were planted to graze dairy cows. Bits of prairie were left on small plots such as slopes too steep to easily plow, odd shaped pieces of land that would have been too costly to fence, and in railroad rights-of-way. From these small remaining areas, called prairie remnants, we get our seeds to restore other land back to tallgrass prairie.
Most settlers’ accounts tell of infrequent contact with bands of Native Americans. One such group that lived in the Warrenville, IL area was called the Pottawanami. However, the Pottawanami were a woodland band that lived here in the pockets of forest on the eastern sides of rivers and lakes, where prairie fire was halted for a bit by the water. Or they lived along the rivers in the floodplain woods. They came here from Michigan and beyond, pushed west out of their deciduous woodlands by settlement. They, in turn, probably pushed westward the bands of plains Indians that were the true historic inhabitants of northern Illinois. These bands moved into the prairies of Minnesota and the Dakotas where they were absorbed into those cultures. They would have made their living on the tallgrass prairie, not the woodlands, and would have used bison and deer and roots and seeds and berries of prairie plants.
Along Williams Road north of Batavia, and along Batavia Road, on the grounds of the Cenacle, and in other areas, there are tall, widely branched oak trees with massive trunks still surviving. The prairie under them has been replaced by lawn grass. They survived because their land was used for grazing cattle instead of growing crops. In some forest preserves, some of these tall oaks remain, but because the land was not kept mowed as lawns after the grazing cattle were removed, maples and lindens and other trees that can grow in the shade filled in under and between them to form forests. Prior to settlement, the prairie fires would have kept the areas burned free of these trees, and they would have been maintained as savannas.
What about in Wisconsin? Along the hills and bluffs around Mineral Point, there are many prairie oaks. The trees that you see that are rounded an widely spaced are oak trees. Their spacing is due to the fact that their seedlings cannot grow in the shade, so they cannot grow in dense groves. When you see a dense woodland, it is of trees that can grow in the shade of each other, such as sugar maple and American linden, some of the true 'Eastern deciduos forest' trees. Along the Cheese Country Recreation Trail, there are some lovely old bur oaks on the crest of the hills, silhouetted against the sky!
Why should I care about the prairie? The land was formed by glaciers dropping ground up rocks and soil as they melted, and water runoff patterns were formed as the warming land was being covered by prairie plants. The grass roots are deep and many-branched to form a sponge under ground that is twice as deep as the grass is tall. The flowering plants have thick roots up to 10 times as deep as the plant is tall, reaching down through the soil layers to punch drain holes. Land forms therefore have what is called an ‘immature drainage system’ on the surface, because drainage of stormwater occurred via the prairie plant roots. Flooding was a serious consequence of the removal of these plants. Today, return to the use of prairie plants could reduce flooding, clean the water of pollutants, moderate the temperature of water before it reaches the streams and rivers, resulting in safer and healthier waterways. Are there other benefits to the prairie besides storm water management? Prairie plants return the land to usefulness as habitat. Insects specific to certain plants return, such as gall flies that only live on two species of goldenrod, and parasitic wasps that only live on the files! The prairie plants provide food and shelter to songbirds, birds of prey, mammals, reptiles, and amphibians, all interesting for us to watch. As landscape plants, prairie grasses and flowering plants (forbs) need to water other than that provided by rainfall, once established, and need no chemical fertilizer or herbicide. The grasses provide vertical interest as a backdrop to the flowering plants of many heights and colors. The flowers mature into interesting seed pods or seed heads to provide winter interest with the varied hues of the dried grass foliage.
Weren’t prairie fires devastating and harmful? In presettlement times, fires swept through the prairie on a frequently and regularly. Started by native people, they would have resulted in lusher vegetation that would attract more game. Fire increases seed and berry production. Nutrients that are locked up in dead plant material from previous years are returned to the soil, and the soil is opened up to sunlight in the spring, so the earth warms and nudges the plants to earlier growth. Fire could also be used to clear the land for farming, and to prevent cover for warring bands. Frequent fires kept the fuel level down by removing buildups of dead plant material. Fires with limited fuel availability move in a narrow band that people and animals can step quickly through, so are not dangerous. Removal of the native people allowed the fuel to build up for many years, so that when a fire did start, it was very dangerous. Where can I see a prairie today? Fermi Lab, to the west of Warrenville, has some nice restored areas, with access from the Kirk Road side. The West Chicago Prairie has been restored from areas that were grazed but never plowed, so has good patterns of original plant species associations. Much of that prairie was restored at the hands of volunteers taught and led by Warrenville’s own Mel Hoff! There is a commemorative plaque in his honor at the beginning of the path through the prairie. The Morton Arboretum has a beautiful area called the Schulenburg Prairie. Wolf Road Prairie, a few miles east, has sidewalks for access within it. The new Tri-County State Park, north on Rt. 59 and just east, will only get better as it matures. Cantera’s Lund Lake is surrounded by prairie, especially on the side nearest McDowell Grove Forest Preserve, and is a great place to watch herons and egrets fish. Mineral Point has a wonderful restored prairie at Pendarvis, and there are remnants of prairie along the edges of the Cheese Country Recreation Trail, which is common for old railroad beds, as the plants could thrive there due to accidental fires that kept the tree seedlings burned away. This type of railroad remnant has been a source of seed for many restorations!
Can I grow prairie in my yard? Yes, if you have sunny areas. Start with bands of grasses; fill between with bands of flowering plants called forbs. With grasses of various heights and forbs of various flower colors and heights, you can design a garden just like you would a traditional perennial garden using heights and colors for aesthetic effects. The easiest way is to use plugs, very small pots of plants, available at The Natural Garden in St. Charles. Their catalog, a great resource, lists each plant’s size, flower color, flower time, and cultural needs. If you have an overly moist area, prairie plants can be used to soak up and drain the water with their deep dense roots. Or they can be planted in a concept called a ‘rain garden’ to intercept the flow from your home’s gutters and downspouts before it leaves your land. If you have shade, there are native woodland wildflowers that also grew under the savanna oaks. The trough planter and the small bed on the street front of the Mineral Point gallery have been planted to prairie plants and you can watch them grow to decide if such plants might have a place in your home or business's landscape.
Yes, if you have sun and open space. The bur oak, whose botanical name is Quercus macrocarpa, will get very tall and spread very wide, so keep it far enough from your house and from power lines. If you water it well and weekly if there is no rain, it will grow more quickly. If you mulch it in a wide circle, or plant perennial plants under it instead of lawn grass, it will grow faster. It will attract squirrels and birds of many kinds, who will use the acorns for food and the branches as places to build their nests. It will provide shade for your outdoor living spaces, and maybe someday hold a tree swing! How can I learn more about prairies? The internet has good articles on the prairie and prairie plants and prairie landscaping. The Wild Ones, a national landscaping club founded in Wisconsin, with local chapters, is a great resource. The local IL chapter, the Greater DuPage Wild Ones, has monthly meetings with informative speakers, summer yard tours, an autumn seed exchange, and native plant rescues. The Morton Arboretum offers classes. The Natural Garden has Prairie Days in the fall. You can volunteer at a prairie restoration, such as West Chicago Prairie, Fermi Lab, Wolf Road Prairie, or Garfield Farm Museum, or any of number of other local restorations, and have access to the wisdom, knowledge, and experience of experts while you work! Wisconsin has a number of leaders in prairie landscaping including Neil Diboll and his Prairie Nursery.
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Prairie
Oak Artisans |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
