I finally found a plant that will take over tall fescue – wingstem, but I’m not sure I like it. Let me explain. Both plants are invasive, tall fescue (Festuca arundinacea) is a non-native invasive plant; wingstem (Verbesina alternifolia) is a native plant that is invasive. Invasive Plant Definition What...
I have been involved with over 500 miles of riparian buffer plantings and have witnessed plenty of failures and successes. I would like to share with you what I believe is the recipe for success, that being TREE CANOPY CLOSURE IN TEN YEARS. I’ll get right to the point then...
I’m standing in the middle of the footbridge across the Potomac River at Harper’s Ferry looking downstream. Beneath me flows the nation’s river that at this point in its journey, drained six million acres of land. Just downstream to my right the waters from another two million acres join the...
I recently attended a "Stream and Buffer Ecology Workshop" at the Stroud Water Research Center in Avondale, Pennsylvania. Stroud is a world-class research facility for fresh water science. This year their “Moorhead Environmental Complex” was awarded a “Platinum LEED” rating, which is the nation’s highest certification for green construction. The Stroud...
A watershed moment for the Shenandoah River and the Chesapeake Bay occurred on Tuesday the 23rd of April. Ownership of the former Virginia National Golf Course located on the banks of the Shenandoah River in Clark County was handed over to Shenandoah University . Dr. Tracy Fitzsimmons, President of the University said...
The Chesapeake Bay Foundation asked me to write several articles about farmers doing their part to improve the soil and water resources on their farms. These articles are designed to showcase how and why, these farmers installed Best Management Practices such as “stream-side fencing” to exclude livestock from streams. The...
When converting grasslands to forest it has been a common practice to plant bare-root, hardwood tree seedlings directly into the sod. Most recently tree shelters have been used to increase the growth rate and survival of hardwood (not pine) tree seedlings. Shelters are recommended in Virginia's Hardwood Tree Planting Guide. Many...
This week's flood prompted this post on how we deal with floodwater from our river with our cattle. It was an out-of-bank flood event but it didn't wash our cattle crossing out because we've learned to work with the river not against it. Middle River is a tributary of the...
The Chesapeake Bay Foundation (CBF), the Bay states, the District of Columbia, federal agencies and thousands of volunteers including teachers and farmers have been working to restore the Chesapeake Bay since the passage of the Clean Water Act in 1972. There are many successes. For example many of the localities...
One evening when I lived in town a lawn fertilizer truck stopped in front of the house. The driver got out and asked me if I wanted him to fertilize my lawn. He didn’t know I was an agronomist. I politely said, “no thank you.” He then proceeded to tell...
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