Preparations

I spent some time this weekend working on preparing for planting this fall.  I cut the areas that are going to remain grass and ran the disc harrow over the major areas that are going to get planted.  There are four major areas that had a low enough tree density to turn the soil.  the largest area I had turned a bit a couple weeks ago.  I hit that area again today for a second pass and got the other areas on a first pass.  The grass is pretty long, making it hard to break through to the soil.  But, the disc is killing the grass at the surface and will prompt seed growth in the soil.  The goal is two fold.  First, the seed that I plant in November needs to get to the soil in order to germinate.  Second, the main competition for the new grasses and other plants will be the existing seed load in the soil.  By killing the top grass and exposing the soil, the seed bank is forced to sprout and this leaves less seed of undesirable grasses in the soil later.

I posted a number pf pictures to a new page, titled Progress Photos.  The areas in preparation are kind of dead looking.  Not that much to see.  But, I do have a picture of the new tractor.  I think she needs a name.  I am open to suggestion.

I have good notes on the failure of the Long Leaf pine to regenerate after being logged out, but need to sit down and write it properly.  The short answer is pigs, or what we call today, feral hogs.  Go figure.

Initial Layout

This Sunday, I met with Marc and walked the layout of the design.  In order to get a better idea of how the layout will work, I cut the grass in the areas that will remain grass - the walking path around the yard and the circles out in the field.  It not easy to see the design in photos, but I uploaded a few to the Before Photos page.  It looks like a lot of grass and some trees.  But, if you look carefully, you can see some paths and maybe the circles. 

Silviculture

That's the word of the day. 

Silviculture is the practice of controlling the establishment, growth, composition, health, and quality of forests to meet diverse needs and values. The name comes from the Latin silvi- (forest) + culture (as in growing). The study of forests and woods is termed silvology.

I just received a new book entitled, The Longleaf Pine Ecosystem: Ecology, Silviculture,  and Restoration.  Here is the Amazon link.  This appears to be a comprehensive treatment of the subject by leading academics and field biologists.  Its my new textbook for this project.

Pine Flatwoods

I learned a new term yesterday - Pine Flatwoods.  That's what I am trying to do with this project.  Well, more or less.  Flatwoods, also called Pineywoods, Pine Savannas, and Longleaf Pine-Wiregrass Ecosystem, refers to the ecosytem that once dominated the Southeastern coastal plain of north America.  Flatwoods are maintained by fire and are dominated by Longleaf Pine and Slash Pine in the canopy and, depending on the amount of water present, ranging from Saw Palmetto to grasslands.  Here in the Florida Parishes of Louisiana, the savanna emphasises grasses and wildflowers over Saw Palmetto.

A typical Pine Flatwood with grasses. 

The Nature Conservancy has a nice article on the history of the ecosystem in the East Gulf Coastal Plain, from which I am quoting below.  I added a link to the main page to the article.

"When Samuel Lockett traveled by mule-drawn carriage around the Florida Parishes in 1871 documenting the natural conditions of the region and commenting upon its development potential, he fell in love with the beauty of the region.
In the central and eastern Florida Parishes (essentially equivalent to the range of the EGCP Ecoregion in LA) longleaf pine woodlands in the hilly uplands and longleaf pine savannas in the flatwoods were by far the most common habitats in the region. Describing much of Washington, St. Tammany, Tangipahoa, St. Helena and Livingston parishes as unbroken expenses of longleaf pine, Lockett wrote of "the most beautiful, limpid streams imaginable... The transparency can scarcely be realized from a mere description," he noted."

Marc Pastorek has updated his plan for the site.  Here is the new concept:

The green areas are islands of loblolly pines and natural diversity of fruiting trees and shrubs with wood edge wildflowers like monarda and mountain mint, etc.  The yellow is meadow and scattered long leaf with an occasional grouping of pond cypress(maybe one or two small groupings of maybe eight or so, total).

The Project Begins

I have just started this blog and have a lot of work to do to get it up and running.  I am working on the Project Overview page, which will be necessary to understand what's going on here.  But, its a start.  So, here we go.  

Marc Pastorek and I met at the Nature Conservancy land at Lake Ramsey this week and I got a look at the kind of land scape we are working toward.  Marc provided a general, conceptual plan for the landscape.  I have not cut the grass on the plot in a couple months.  The grass varies from a few inches to a couple of feet in height.  Marc and I agree that a good way to start would be for me to cut the grass in the areas that we want to keep in grass and leave the wild areas to be developed with native grasses and other plants.  I will then disk those areas a couple of times between now and November to deplete the seed load in the ground and to loosen the soil.  So, I did some initial cutting today on the perimeter of the lot and the area behind the house. I took delivery of a new tractor this week so it was fun to run my new toy in any case.  I will post a picture of the lot later.

Version 2 of the landscape conceptual plan