Home > Our Reserve > Stewardship > Grassland Renovation Project

Grasslands are among the highest-priority restoration habitats in the state. Grasslands (meadows) are successional fields: without regular disturbance such as mowing or burning, they eventually are taken over by trees and shrubs. Many of New Jersey's most vulnerable birds and other wildlife are dependent on grasslands for habitat and as grasslands disappear this wildlife too is disappearing.

Native warm-season grasses are best suited for these native wildlife species. The warm-season grasses are unlike typical suburban lawn grasses, which thrive in cool seasons, need lots of water and fertilizers, and go dormant in the summer. Native warm-season grasses are adapted for the cool wet springs and hot dry summers that are typical of our watershed's climate. They provide breeding habitat in summer, and food and cover during other seasons.

Beginning in 2004, the Association secured grant funding to improve 44 acres of existing fields on the Reserve. The first 23 acres were seeded with native warm season grasses in the Spring of 2005, with the hope that such planting would encourage the return of grassland nesting birds (including Meadowlark, Bobolink, Henslow’s and Grasshopper Sparrows) known to have frequented the fields previously.

As part of a statewide initiative to promote habitat restoration for grassland birds, grants were procured through the Natural Resources Conservation Service: one with the Grassland Reserve Program (GRP) and the other with the Wildlife Habitat Incentive Program (WHIP).

Many municipalities and landowners in the Northeast region have restored grasslands, but few have opted to prepare their fields without using herbicides. Noting the proximity of Honey Brook Organic Farm, and our own mission to promote environmental practices that protect water quality and promote biodiversity, we committed to preparing and maintaining our site without herbicides. This activity has consisted of cutting heavy brush, repeated disking to compromise weeds and undesirable cool season grasses, planting cover crops with allelopathic properties and mowing at strategic times during the growing cycle to favor conditions for warm season grasses.

The following seed mixes were used, depending on site conditions within the fields:

Dry Mix Indian Grass Deer Tongue Riverbank Wild Rye Black-eyed Susan Purple Coneflower Partridge Pea

Wet Mix Big Bluestem Switch Grass Eastern Gamma Grass New England Aster Blue Vervain Partridge Pea

Establishment will be slow, possibly as much as 3-4 years, after which we intend to compare mowing vs. controlled burning as maintenance strategies. Stay tuned.

If you come to the Reserve looking for these fields, the GRP fields are to the west of the Pond Area, accessible off the loop road there. The WHIP fields are to the east of Wargo Road and to the south end of Wescott Boulevard in the Princeton Farms development.

For more detailed guidance on establishing and maintaining grasslands without chemicals, see our publication Establishing and Managing Grasslands Naturally.