Kansas State University

search

The Meadow

Tag: landscape architecture

Meadow Seeded

Posted on by Katie Kingery-Page
Karen spreading prairie straw over already seeded areas. Image by Richard Dean Prudenti.

Last Friday and Saturday, dedicated and generous volunteers enjoyed a morning learning to mix and hand broadcast seed. The weather was hot, but the company was stellar!

Volunteers begin to broadcast seed. Image by Lee R. Skabelund.

Thank you to all our volunteers and participating project team members:

Diane Barker
Troy Britt
Dede Brokesh
Michaeline Chance-Reay
Sandra Contreras
Linda Duke
Jordan Faucett
Pam Foster
Rachel Fox
Joe Gelroth
Hayden Gwinner
Betsy Haddox
Jonathan Haney
Cornelius A. Hugo
Karen Hummel
Sue Hunt
Katie Kingery-Page
Richard Dean Prudenti
Kathrine Schlageck
Lee Skabelund
Lindsay Smith
Chelcie Sutherland
Gabriela Weber

Friday volunteers (two people not pictured). Image by Kathrine Schlageck.
Saturday volunteers (a few camera shy individuals not shown). Image by Katie Kingery-Page.
Katie raking the very last area of the day. Image by Richard Dean Prudenti.
Cornelius opens a fresh bucket of seed mix. Image by Richard Dean Prudenti.

We accomplished seeding the vast majority of the site with 20 different plant species. These species were divided into a sun mix and a shade mix, combined with sawdust to bulk up the mix for proper distribution, and broadcast by hand. The planning team selected a June planting because this timing tends to favor growth of warm season grasses over cool season weeds. The site will now be watered periodically throughout the growing season.

Sunday morning, just hours after seeding, we received plenty of water from a rain and hail storm. A few small areas of seed were washed out by the rain, but most survived. We expect to see the first seedlings in about a month.

Sandra seeding. Image by Lee R. Skabelund.

Now we need to come up with a name for the Meadow’s volunteer cadre, because it’s clear that involvement with the Meadow may be habit-forming. The Prairie Hearts? Meadow Tenders? …something better? Please post a comment with your suggestions.

Before we can seed The Meadow….

Posted on by Katie Kingery-Page
North end of the site showing erosion control measures installed after large areas of sod stripped (prior to detail work with a small sod cutter). Image by Dede Brokesh.

There are many ways to prepare a site for seeding with native plants. Catherine Zimmerman, in her book Urban and Suburban Meadows: Bringing Meadowscaping to Big and Small Spaces, outlines many approaches and practices that can be used. Choosing a method (or methods) of site preparation depends upon the context of the site, budget of the project, value stance on chemical herbicide use, and intended aesthetic outcome.

For The Meadow at Kansas State University, the planning team decided it was essential to kill off or remove existing cool season turf grass and weeds prior to seeding with native species. The site is a high profile location at a gateway between campus and community (just through the Beach Museum arch). While some weediness in the first few years is to be expected and will be controlled as possible through mowings and hand weeding, starting with a strong stand of native growth in the first year is the goal.

The planning team is aware of recent research on glycosophate herbicides (known by several trade names). Notably, these herbicides may be more environmentally persistent and more damaging to long term soil health than was previously thought. The planning team devoted considerable time to researching alternate methods of turf and weed removal. Kirby Barrett (Master of Landscape Architecture graduate 2011), Dr. Rhonda Janke (Horticulture, Forestry and Recreational Resources), Katie Kingery-Page and Lee Skabelund (Landscape Architecture/Regional and Community Planning), and Zakary Ratajczak (PhD student, Division of Biology) helped develop the site preparation strategy.

The result is a mixed methods approach that uses the resources available at K-State and minimizes the need for herbicides. Throughout the planning and site preparation, K-State Grounds Maintenance has been an essential partner. Jackie Toburen, Assistant Director, Facilities Services in charge of Grounds, and Joe Myers, Physical Plant Supervisor, reviewed plans for the Meadow as members of the K-State Landscape Advisory Committee. Jackie and Joe continue their work by organizing work crews to help with site preparation.

Grounds crew members, Jim Hartford and John Harper removed two unhealthy hackberry trees and trimmed dead tree limbs to make way for the new limestone path at the meadow. Jim and John also removed existing sod, hauled excess soil, and salvaged tree trunks for repurposing. Delmar Westover and Matthew Heatherly removed sod and excess soil from the site. Joe Myers, in addition to being the “how-to” orchestrator of the strategy, spot sprayed for weeds in small areas inaccessible to larger equipment.

K-State Grounds crews and equipment provide a welcome donation to the construction of the Beach Meadow, a project sponsored by the Hummel family in memory of Professor William C. Hummel and Sara T. Hummel.

Look for future posts on the planting design and maintenance plan for The Meadow!