Native Grasses Hike, August 2009

The following pictures are from the Native Grasses Hike lead by Peter Jemison on August 16, 2009. This hike showcased the newly planted native grasses and forb plot at the corners of School Road and Boughton Hill Road as well as the one at the corners of Murray Road and Boughton Hill Road. These plantings seek to return these plots of land to the plants indigenous to this location prior to European contact.

Many may not realize that the quite a few of the plants and grasses that commonly grow around them are not native to North American and were purposely or accidently brought here by the Europeans. Period records of the Seneca and European contact at Ganondagan indicate that there were areas of wild grass and forbs. Forbs is a botanical term that means non-woody, broad-leaf plants that do not include grasses, sedges, or rushes. The term is often used for non-grassy plants that live in grasslands.

The three types of native grass varieties planted in the two plots were Big Bluestem (Andropogon gerardii), Little Bluestem (Schizachyrium scoparium), and Indian Grass (Sorghastrum nutans). Some of the various forbs and wildflowers that were interplanted are included in the slideshow below.

All photos are © copyright Kimberly Burkard 2009. All rights reserved. Any redistribution or reproduction of part or all of any these images in any form is prohibited.

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All photos © copyright Kimberly Burkard, David Mitchell, & Friends of Ganondagan.

This website and its content is © copyright of the Friends of Ganondagan 2009. All rights reserved. Any redistribution or reproduction of part or all of any the contents of this website in any form is prohibited.