Do you find yourself thinking, is it better to seed my plot of land or should I use seedlings?
A study in Alberta aimed to answer that question, particularly with reclamation sites in mind, where native plants face fierce competition with invasive plant species.
Land reclamation aims to minimize the effects of environmental degradation such as mining, grazing, and damming of rivers. Without reclamation, the legacy of over exploitation of resources would be ever present on the landscape - mine tailings, abandoned concrete and rebar, and other man-made waste. In these disturbed spaces, invasive weeds are often carried in on equipment and left to colonize the spaces devoid of vegetation.
Restoration practitioners aim to curb the spread of invasive species, and instead populate reclamation sites with native plants. The questions that remain are by what process should native plants be introduced - via seed or seedling, and when?
Arychuk et al. found that a suite of species, most of which we grow here at Great Bear, have scientifically significant responses to application to reclaimed grazing sites. For example, Wild Blue Flax, established better by seed in the Spring; whereas when transplanted as a seedling, it had equally successful establishment in the Spring and the Fall.
Study site location must always be considered when comparing findings with your own experience - this study was conducted in Alberta, where similar to us in Western Montana, the long, cold winters have serious effects on perennial growth and survival. Winter die-off of invasive weeds reduces competition for Spring establishment, and root reserves accumulated over an entire growing season in the spring-planted forbs gave them an advantage over fall transplanted and seeded species.
Overall, the study found that Spring seeding and transplanting both resulted in better establishment and growth across the 12 study species. However, plants that were seeded in the fall produced higher quantity and quality of seeds in their second growing season. Both Spring and Fall seeding and transplanting provide different advantages.
If you would like to read more about the results of this relevant and interesting study, you can do sohere.
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