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ERDC/CRREL SR-02-2
Disturb lands as little as possible to maintain soil structure, surface
organic material, and soil moisture. This might involve use of herbicides,
fire, or light cultivation.
When preparing a seed bed, it should be firm, but not compact, to allow
good soil-to-seed contact.
Always plant just prior to the season with the highest chance of
Plant the most competitive plant material available for the given
objective.
Know proper depth of seeding for different species. For example, shrubs
need to be at the surface, bluebunch and western wheatgrass should be
less than 3/4 inch deep, and Indian ricegrass needs to be 2 to 3 inches
deep to break down the seed coat.
Use good common sense, scientific expertise, and past experience.
When choosing plant materials, use the best material for the given situation
and objective. If the objective is to provide a quick hardy ground cover in a
frequently disturbed site or to prevent erosion and stop or slow the spread of
invasive weeds, then choose competitive plant materials with fast establishment.
If the objective is restoration to native grass species, then ask the following
questions during the planning stage:
What activities are present, such as military training, livestock and
wildlife management, fire control, recreation, or soil erosion? Keep in
mind that some activities may limit the use of materials that are slow to
establish, whereas many grasses will die if not "used" by grazing,
burning, or other activity.
Are there invasive weeds on the site?
What is the soil condition? Are there climatic changes?
Is nature ever static? Is restoration feasible?
What intermediate steps may be necessary?
These are important questions. Because of the current multiple uses on the
land, restoration may not be feasible, or intermediate steps may be necessary
because of conditions such as erosion, invasive weeds, and repeated fires.
Perennial native triticeae grasses are usually more difficult to establish than
introduced counterparts. This is caused by seed dormancy, poor seedling vigor,
and a reduced tolerance of natives to defoliation, grazing, and traffic. These
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