Clement,

Good luck! I collected "Western" Fescue seed from the Mima prairie south
of Olympia to seed a portion of my backyard, rescued from Himalaya
Blackberrys. The seed 'took' quite well, but within 2 years was choked-
out by the Agrostis (bentgrasses) and Poa (bluegrass) from my and my
neighbors' yards.

The soils for my backyard were not "prairie" soils,
but were disturbed materials, some fill, some just plain glacial till
soil subjected to farming and subdivision over the last 60 years.
Compacted. Subject to runoff from the road. Not at all like the native
prairie sites.

In any event, re-creating a "pristine" ecosystem of whatever scale
depends on more than simply replanting some native species. In a
system filled with "exotic" species, we have lost the opportunity to
mimic the original.

Our systems are filled with all sorts of 'weeds': There are no Native
lawn grasses, most of our yards have introduced exotic shrubs, and we
will never eradicate the opossum, starling, or brown slug from western
Washington. We just have to take care of what we have left. In so
doing, we need to set a goal of what we want to do with such a site as
your fill area, and then attempt to achieve it. Just to want "more
native plants" may be an unattainable goal over the long run....
Is it better to want an "open site with large oak trees interspaced", and
maybe have to settle for red oaks with a tall fescue/perennial ryegrass
understory?

Jon. Anderson
Olympia, WA
anderjda at dfw.wa.gov


On Wed, 7 Jun 1995, David Manuwal wrote:
> From: Clement Hamilton <cwh at u.washington.edu>
> Subject: Ecological Research Natural Area (Montlake Fill)

>It outlines our goals for the ERNA. One is to increase the native component
> of the fauna and flora, at the expense of broom, blackberry, and the
> other exotic players. We also wish to maintain and to increase the
> diversity of biota and of habitats. No one envisions a woodland, for
> heaven's sake, and three small patches of Garry oak (most of which are
> likely to not survive -- like buying lottery tickets!) are consistent
> with open understory. Our major restoration emphasis, in fact, concerns
> the grasses and forbs -- Kern Ewing and his students are experimenting
> with various ways of introducing natives such as Idaho fescue, so that
> they can outcompete the exotic grasses and forbs.
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^