Native Plants
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Friday - August 20, 2004
From: Austin, TX
Region: Southwest
Topic: Managing Roadsides
Title: Non-invasive alternatives to winter rye
Answered by: Stephen Brueggerhoff
QUESTION:
Re-vegetation requirements include winter rye, which is considered by some to be invasive to native wildflowers planted along the roadway. Is winter rye considered invasive to native wildflowers?ANSWER:
Perrenial Ryegrass (Lolium perenne; introduced cool-season perennial bunchgrass) & related Annual Ryegrass (Lolium multiflorum), are effective competitors for native vegetation as they temporarily produce a dense turf coverage, & are also effective at re-seeding after flowering in the early Spring, providing propagules that emerge the following late Fall providing problems with persistance. It is because of its "success" providing a quick cover that it is utilized in re-vegetation mixes along roadsides and areas requiring control for erosion. There are 3 species that would be a better choice for consideration in seedling mixtures, 2 native to the Continental U.S., all cool-season grasses, cassock or open type bunching grasses and not providing problems associated with persistance. Canada Wild Ryegrass ( Elymus canadensis (Canada wildrye) perennial native), Virginia Ryegrass (Elymus virginicus (Virginia wildrye) perennial native), and Cereal Ryegrass (Secale cereale; annual non-native). I recommend contacting your state Department of Transportation office to find out more about their roadside management programs.More Managing Roadsides Questions
Do any laws prohibit killing roadside wildflowers?
April 09, 2013 - Is there any law or regulation at the state level that prohibits, or at least discourages, mowing or spraying herbicide on the highway roadsides before the wildflowers have set seeds or did we lose th...
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Pictures of Bastard Cabbage from Dallas TX
April 07, 2012 - HI! Re your March 12 posting:
The USDA Plants website pictures two very different looking plants identified as Rapistrum rugosum (bastardcabbage). Would you please post a photo with leaf and bloom ...
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Moving plants for extreme drought from Greencastle IN
August 23, 2012 - In exceptional drought here in Indiana, I am looking at weeds that may become my next perennials! How do I move what my dad called ragged robins from the edges of roads. They are blue and could be wil...
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Rescue of roadside plants in Ashe Co.
October 27, 2011 - I live in a wooded area off of a dirt road that is going to be widened and paved by the state. There are many native plants and shrubs growing on the side of the road in areas that will soon be pavem...
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Wildflowers being mowed in Canyon TX
June 03, 2012 - Can I receive a letter from someone there to put up in our neighborhood? I live in an area very close to Palo Duro Canyon. A developer out here mows down the wildflowers along the one lane road. It ...
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