If I Plant My Seeds in Fall, Can I Burn in Spring?

Many customers wish to add seed to an existing planting in the fall.  They also want to keep the growth from the previous season to overwinter for habitat, continuing beauty and visual interest during the cold snowy months. This often leads to concerns about burning their prairie in the spring, as it would seem that [...]

Fire in Old Fields at Prairie Moon

The spring 2010 burn season has ended for Prairie Moon.  We use prescribed fire to manage prairie plantings, and in some places to encourage native plants that we have seeded into former pastures.  When properly timed, fire sets back aggressive non-native plants like smooth brome and gives an advantage to native forbs like Biennial Gaura, Nodding [...]

Large Woodland Burn

Our local newspaper; The Winona Daily News took some wonderful photos of a large woodland prescribed burn performed by the MN Dept. of Natural Resources on April 9th. From our ridge top office location we watched the smoke billow all afternoon. The burn site is only about 6 miles from Prairie Moon. It was a [...]

Fire For Woodland Restoration and Management

I received this question from John in Minnesota: “I have a small patch of maidenhair in a woodlot I’m restoring. ‘Restoring’ means getting rid of buckthorn over the last few years. Maidenhair Fern, Jack-in-the-Pulpit, May Apple, Bloodroot, Hepatica, Wild Ginger and 1 Trillium have showed up. I was wondering what fire would do in this [...]