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Any advice what seeds to sow in a disturbed wooded area?

17 years ago

Hi - Someone in town here owns a wooded lot adjacent to my property. For some reason he periodically gets into a mini-bulldozer and starts pushing dirt around, basically eradicating whatever is growing and leaving bare topsoil showing. This is probably the reason for our garlic mustard proliferation this year, coming onto our property from his. I'm sure Ailanthus and Japanese Knotweed and several other things will take over soon. So I was thinking of trespassing over there and throwing a bunch of native seeds around and hoping to get something to grow before the invasives take over. Crazy??? What would you suggest?

Or, from a more reasonable perspective, I guess I could try to make this guy's acquaintance and discuss it....

Any ideas or opinions?

Thanks,

Pat

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Comments (4)

Judy_B_ON
17 years ago
Most of the woodland species are slow to germinate and slow to grow. How often does he bulldoze? -- you may find that he knocks down the stuff you seed before it gets started. Bare soil attracts annual weeds and you will need to weed out the bad stuff for several years to allow the good stuff to grow. Planting plugs or plants would be faster, more successful but also more expensive. Putting a 3 inch layer of mulch over the bare soil would be the best way to prevent the weeds.

Also, the soil likely already has woodland native seeds in it which will sprout, they will need assistance in competing with the annual weeds.

Does your town have a weed law that would force him to eradicate the garlic mustard, knotweed etc.

Talking to the landowner is a very good idea. If he is not planning on building soon, he may just be bulldozing down the weeds every so often. If you offer to help him seed in or plant natives maybe he would be happy to stop "dozing.
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penserosa
Original Author
17 years ago
Thanks Judy. You're right, anything I would surreptitiously plant would be bulldozed next time he goes through. I don't know about a weed law in our town, will have to research that. The other day I saw two ailanthus already 6-8 feet high, so I'm gonna have to jump on this if I want to make a difference!

Thanks so much for your input.
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Jewel weed seems to handle disturbace o.k. where I am and even survives amidst the dreaded garlic mustard.
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Jewelweed is a fast growing annual that quickly covers bare soil and grows well under diverse conditions.Its should be sown late fall early spring and will outgrow just about anything.You will need to colect your own seeds though,as I have never seen it sold anywhere.I make sure of its presence in any area before disturbing the soil there and always sow it in areas its is absent.It should be ubiquitious.
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