Restoring Native Sedge Meadow Vegetation with a Combination of Herbicides (Illinois)

Monotypic stands of reed canary grass (Phalaris arun-dinacea) are common in disturbed wet meadows, especially where a history of livestock grazing combines soil disturbance and excessive nutrients, both of which increase the aggressiveness of canary grass (Maurer et al. 2003). Efforts to control it with prescribed fire have shown promise only in areas of remnant sedge meadow vegetation, and here the spread of native sedges and subsequent reduction in canary grass have been slow. Past experience of the Natural Resource Management Crew indicated that mature canary grass is not difficult to kill with glypho-sate herbicide. The problem comes with regrowth from seed and dormant rhizomes, usually overwhelming the developing native plant community in restorations. The challenge then was to develop a method that allowed for follow-up treatment of the canary grass without interfering with the growth of native plants. After talking with Beth Jarvis, MCCD Plant Ecologist at the time, I chose a combination of Poast, a post-emergent grass herbicide containing the active ingredient sethoxydim, diluted to 0.9% a.i. and a native sedge-meadow seed mix without grass species.