The Best Way to Put Carbon Back in the Ground

KILL YOUR LAWN...and plant a grassland.
note: the smut fungus in this video is quite likely Sporisorium occidentale, a *basidiomycete" fungus infamous for parasitizing Big Bluestem.
Andropogon gerardii (Big Bluestem) and Sorghastrum nutans (Indian Grass) are arguably two of the most important grass species in North America, and together compose a large part of an ecosystem that offers the best chances for both carbon sequestration AND rebuilding middle America's rich topsoil.
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[@CrimePaysButBotanyDoesnt]

Smut Fungus in question is quite likely Sporisorium occidentale, a *Basidiomycete* fungus, not an asco. Apparently I'm not a mycologist (lol).

[@joedrinkwalter94]

Hey amigo look into SAND BLUE STEM and HORSE TAIL those are my 2 favorite grasses

[@clumsiii]

don't beat yourself up, bud, mycology is a mf but hey! I just visited Glenstone in MD - weird private art compound that's a free museum. No kids under 12 allowed so that's pretty fn cool. Long wait time but the meadows they've cultivated are part of their intended experience - and it shows. Actually the views of the grounds were better than the art imo. But your expertise could help them! I have no idea who's running their species mgmt in the meadows, but ya. Idk man - could be win/win

[@johnnehnevaj7503]

You language needs discipline!!!! Wonderful subject plant prairie.

[@clumsiii]

@@johnnehnevaj7503 lol - like you can rattle off 14 species in Latin off the top of your head. Getfkd

[@ArisaemaDracontium]

Quite coincidentally, I was not 5 minutes ago reviewing my photos and wondering what that smut was on the big bluestem in my photo. THANKS!

[@schnauzpig]

One of the biggest problems is that too many Americans are not allowed to get rid of their lawns.

[@CrimePaysButBotanyDoesnt]

Mob and torch those city hall meetings. Tar and feather if needed.

[@jtknight4647]

True. And the larger businesses or apartment rentals over water their lawns too for a ‘good curb appeal for biz’. Enough!

[@Fabdanc]

I've been seeing a lot more successful HOA challenges. You can register your lawn with a group like the Audubon Society as native plant habitat. But yeah... HOAs need to calm down.

[@MAC-op5fc]

Fight it. Things are changing and it's because people are fighting it. There are lots of good resources out there to help you on the www.

[@evilsharkey8954]

@@FabdancLike minded people need to get themselves elected to HOA boards and change the rules. Nobody likes yard Nazis.

[@tabithasherie3279]

The lawns are toasty brown and crisp in S Texas this summer. I started from seed: Muhlenbergia capillaris, Bouteloua curtipendula, Bouteloua gracilis, Eragrostis spectabilis, Schizachyrium scoparium, and praire dropseed -Sporobolus heterolepis my favorite ❤ all are green and lush despite no rain for 60+ days and daily 105F days, only one struggling, Koeleria macrantha which is a cooler season grass. Side oats grama have some of the coolest little spikelet with the most brilliant orange floret. Our native grasses have so much to offer both visually and ecologically.

[@Hayley-sl9lm]

It's nice to hear about people having some success in brutal weather -- gives us some badly needed hope 😊

[@belalugrisi1614]

Great work, Tabitha! Nuture the Natives! Best to you!

[@deed5811]

I started a patch of buffalo grass last year (Fort Worth, TX). It's native to Texas. Once it's growing well I shouldn't have to water it except maybe a bit in July/August most years. It doesn't really need to be mowed because it doesnt get super tall and it just arches over gracefully. Planning on expanding that next year. No meadow in the back yard, I love growing herbs and veggies to much. Front yard could go meadow though.

[@PathologicallyPositive]

Hell yea! I’ve put out about 12 native perennial grasses on my 20 acre pasture land in bell county Texas, with great success in the last few years! My favorite is side oats grama too! My horses seem to love them all, but especially the bluestem and Indiangrass. The four horseman on the prairie are a good place to start! I order from Turner seed

[@Unsensitive]

Crazy idea, grow what likes to grow in your climate! I'm now growing sunchokes, 2 types of kale, and canna lily in my food garden. All edible, and the largest input of effort is me pulling them out like a weed. I've not had to plant or buy kale in 6 years, cause it keeps coming back. Hell, one of my kales is literally a weed, even popping up in my lawn randomly. Flowers are varied but same idea for the most part. Stuff that loves it here.

[@jamielandis4606]

Not to mention, prairies help global warming by keeping the ground cool. Regular lawns retain heat.

[@CrimePaysButBotanyDoesnt]

Totally. Rates of evapotranspirative cooling are much higher when you've got actual leaves to cool with, instead of a mere inch or two of leaf blades as is the case with lawn

[@joanfrellburg4901]

The lawnmowers are buzzing all around me while I'm focused on the wasps on the butterfly weed I planted on my hell strip. Life is good.

[@nunyabisnass1141]

Ive been harping on the over development for tarmac like new roads and parking lots. They put up a mall 12 miles away about 30 years ago and the average temp went up slightly in that area, then they put another near my house 10 years ago, then by the first mall they put in an industrial park and 2,500 apartments. They had to cut down trees and clear the meadows each time, now what do you think happened to the weather patterns in the area after that? More heat, less rainfall, less snow, and because there's less snow, there's less spring melt refilling the wetlands, which they use as an excuse for more building because there are less wetlands... If you tell ppl it's a problem, they brush you off and ignore you saying it's exclusively a fossil fuel problem.

[@yeswellfrombrittany6907]

@@nunyabisnass1141 Urban expansion is totally a problem, as is water privatisation, you know watering corn to feed your burger, as well as war-induced migrations, poor working conditions... You can't yourself brush off the fossil fuel crisis for stupid neighbours, it's really real and bituminous roads are (I believe) part of that industry.

[@user-cv6rl2qy1g]

@@yeswellfrombrittany6907 I have a well, and I plan on keeping it. I will water my weeds when I feel like it. Screw your commie BS.

[@vincezito3547]

I've been trying to tell my wife this for years. Sad thing is people have no idea why they maintain a lawn or when it started. They just do it

[@eleonorabartoli2225]

Start your own patch...people need examples because they are scared. Lawns are very invasive, a pain to remove totally and keep at bay....be prepared with 5+inches of mulch...

[@WolfSeril107]

Lawns became popular with English nobility because they proved how wealthy you were- like today, large lawns required large landscaping teams, which few could afford. So of course the only rational thing to do for a middle class American, newly freed from the chains of aristocracy, is to create a massive lawn of imported grass that they have to spend all of their free time maintaining to show how cool and rich they are. It would be hilarious if it wasn't ruining all of our lives.

[@eleonorabartoli2225]

@@WolfSeril107 Not running mine anymore, although I still have ptsd from the city cars going by twice a week. I have all flowers in the front, and food forest in progress in the back. Also a more free and ethnically diverse city.

[@wmanadeau7860]

My lawn areas keep shrinking as the perennial beds keep growing. The strip between the sidewalk and the street went to native weeds, except a little 4 x 4 foot lawn area my kid reclaimed this summer. Start some perennial beds, add a berry bush for the birds here, some grasses there (call it broom, lol) Let them spread, and mow a smaller area every time. If nothing else, a mix of native plants helps the pollinators.

[@LaineyBug2020]

Not to mention if you get native grases and wildflowers for your area, the city and HOAs can't do anything about you not mowing because they're protected.

[@loganwrider]

Another native prairie grass that I love is little bluestem - Schizachyrium scoparium. Fits in with all the others you mentioned. Midwest prairies are awesome.

[@gd2234_]

Can you do a video on pycnanthemum (mountain mints)? They’re super under rated, and the gaps between populations (genetic diversity) are only increasing. They’re fan favourite of bees and other pollinators. Studies have even shown they often have more different types of pollinators than other flowers in an area!

[@donnavorce8856]

Yes. I planted hairy mountain mint in one pollinator garden last year. Very happy pollinators visit. It's seeding now but there's a few still blooming.

[@hhwippedcream]

Yes!!!

[@tylerk.7947]

Mountain mints are the Golden corral of pollinator plants. Just less trashy.

[@allyson--]

:-( sad to hear. how do you stay up to date on plant populations changing ?

[@hhwippedcream]

@@allyson-- depends on what region you live. I use calflora, jepson eflora and I naturalist in combination for stuff out west. I naturalist to ballpark it and ejepson/calflora for keying/distribution. Observations are usually dated.

[@patrick247two]

Builds 15 mm of soil per year. Every year.

[@williebeamish5879]

Aggressive govt subsidized row crop farming (corn/soybeans) for decades has accelerated the loss of topsoil in the midwest. Sad.

[@sagetmaster4]

​@@williebeamish5879donate to the LAND institute, they are working on perennial grains!!!!! This will mitigate issues with: soil loss, water use, and fertilizer usage. And it would be easier to intercrop with perennials so it would help with monocultures too!

[@ContinentalFan]

This is a fact I will try to use the rest of my life.

[@nunyabisnass1141]

I'm Ron burgundy?

[@johnwild-st4ed]

This is 100% false. You're not "building" an inch of actual soil in 100 years, let alone every 2 years.

[@joanfrellburg4901]

This is what a science class should be. Information that can actually benefit mankind for thousands of years to come.

[@analyticalhabitrails9857]

Theres a reason why the Government and the powers that shouldn't be don't teach the children's many, many important subject such as how monwy is created, where money comes from, and where the money goes. Let alone, the Word of the LORD.

[@aarondingus3548]

Thanks for spreading the good (botanical) word. This channel DOES inspire people to make positive life and ecological decisions! 🔥🍁

[@TheBelrick]

anti carbon, pro hysteria for purposes of transferring wealth and power out of the hands of the people. Are the worst creatures on this planet. Pack of ignorant, easily deceived sycophants.

[@inigomontoya8943]

Heartbreaking. I work As a landscaper and we were hired to mow a 10 acre field of nothing but milkweed and golden rod. The good news is it only gets cut once a year and regrows but the amount of life using it when we had to cut it was staggering.

[@Senthiuz]

10 acres is enough to overwinter a small herd of cattle. Sad to just cut it down, everyone loses. -Landowner can get paid to mow their lawn -Cattle fill the niche that bison used to have -Most of the nutrients go in one end and out the other -grass fed beef is more valuable -responsible grazing provides enough stress to stimulate growth, making the plants come back even stronger -some plants have seeds that benefit from going through an animal -steaks kzbin.info/www/bejne/hnqrdaCiirZgZ9E

[@inigomontoya8943]

@@Senthiuz I could not agree more, and the quality of beef, growing off of all those established perennials would be amazing basically medicinal

[@Mockingbird_Taloa]

There really is something special about walking through a patch of prairie that is all or mostly Indigenous plants. You can see and feel how everything works together so much better than in the highly 'managed' cow pastures that have largely taken the place of healthy prairies. Thank you for making this available to people who don't have a local patch of native prairie to explore & for edumacating those of us who used to describe the gasses with phrases like "that one that goes rust red in the winter" or "the big one with the purplish seeds."

[@claudiamcbride9746]

Thank you! I wish more ranchers would realize this is what they need in their pastures.

[@drakemiller2617]

Awesome video. As an old school environmental biologist trained in the Kansas prairie, I appreciate this content.

[@munkeyluv2011]

Reminds me of this one time I had to go to an award dinner for work and some yuppie got an award for carbon capture technology implementation. I was thinking the whole time there was no way some coal powered machine is more effective than the carbon munchers mother nature already gave us. I'm 100% sure that it was a grift to get some green energy tax breaks for the company.

[@placidpond]

Probably served roast beef there!

[@BrockCombs]

It’s also worth mentioning that native habitats, state parks and the like are not enough. A lot of people will say that we have enough of these plants “somewhere else” and use that as an excuse to keep their turf grass. They will see a video like this and think, well thats enough. We can’t keeping thinking that nature is over there in that park or that natural area or someone else will plant all that stuff.

[@WolfSeril107]

I want to give people like that a big satellite map of Illinois and have them color in all the areas that are natural prairies, then see if they still feel the same.

[@ratherbwithhorses]

the states are probally the worst stewards of the land

[@veryberry100]

Living in maritime Canada I love taking my walks by grassy field's like this. The sound of all the bugs in harmony is meditative. I find it interesting that these fileds look very similar to ours with some small differences in species. Love seeing how different local ecosystems work, keep up the awesome videos!

[@StoneE4]

Nothing against _Andropogon gerardii_ (Big Bluestem) and _Sorghastrum nutans_ (Indian Grass), but one of my favorite grasses is _Chasmanthium latifolium_ (River Oats, Northern Sea Oats). They've got cool looking seeds that really add to the looks of a garden during the late fall and winter months.

[@thistles]

I love sea oats! I saw some in a dried arrangement when I was a kid and fell in love. I still get excited when I see them 😊

[@katiekane5247]

@@thistles same! They work well in part shade too

[@thistles]

@@katiekane5247thanks, good to know! I’ve got just the spot 😊

[@luke_fabis]

Man, the world needs a lot more people like you. Maybe not subject matter experts, but definitely people who give enough of a shit.

[@gusz77]

Buffalo grass (Bouteloua dactyloides) is what we planted down here in TX. It is pretty and dainty but tough in a drought.🐞It also doesn't get too tall 😉

[@CrimePaysButBotanyDoesnt]

It's an awesome species

[@willdog3]

I like your energy, we need more people to be this hardcore into native plant species

[@troygoss6400]

Another important north American grass is little bluestem Schizachyrium scoparium.

[@jd3497]

The USDA was working on a horticultural selection of Little Bluestem as a lawn replacement.

[@troygoss6400]

For little bluestem to work as a lawn replacement, it would have to be mowed supper high as it's a bunch grass.

[@robertfallows1054]

I do have a lawn I do live in a Chicago suburb. I have converted small areas to native prairie flowers. I’m getting the urge to plant some prairie grass. If only I lived further away I could avoid all the village codes. Hope this video goes viral.

[@katharine5606]

Exact same sentiments. Wish I did not have vintage trees all around me, providing my Chicago suburban lot with too much shade. I cut down one tree which is a start, but hard to get my neighbor to do anything about their massive tree shading my yard a good portion of the day. Oh well, we’re trying… more native flowers and grasses to go in as I can!

[@robertfallows1054]

@@katharine5606 after i posted my comment I was thinking where on my property would there be enough sun. I love trees but forest and prairie are separate. A neighbor had to cut down old trees and the amount of sunlight it let in was crazy.

[@flakesinyershoe8137]

​@@robertfallows1054I've got a 200ft x 200ft field that's surrounded on all sides by oaks and the prairie grasses/wildflowers do pretty well in it.

[@CrimePaysButBotanyDoesnt]

Try it out and be willing to take it on when the city cites you. That's the only way this stuff changes.

[@kelseysm3555]

​@@katharine5606Hi Katharine, consider looking into creating something like a savannah! I understand that the Chicago area used to have sweeping savannahs, in addition to prairie. They supported a lot of cool plants like sedges, Purple Milkweed, etc.

[@artistlovepeace]

You are doing a great job! Thank you. Very influential to me. I fucking hate lawns.

[@fuxan]

Same...I wish people could see the yard we maintain (I don't like to say we ever own anything...we steward and share) we use 300 plus natives and I will never ever ever use a non-native especially since a native is part of our evolutionary history of that area.

[@soilcreepsandgardengeeks71]

Absolutely love our native grasses. Get me jazzed just as much as Forbes. A. geradii is electrifying right now. I’ve got big blue, little blue, Indian grass, bottlebrush grass, Canada wild rye, and switchgrass in my yard….. I’ve got a pretty good diversity of Forbes as well. I have a small Prairie in my yard and guess what, I also have a lawn. It doesn’t have to be one or the other. Learn a little botany, learn your native flora, awaken your ecological awareness, read Leopold, learn soil ecology… if I can do it, anybody can. I also have my open lawn space as well. I have 4 kids ages 9 and under and open lawn is essential…At the same time, my nine year old son can wax poetic about the finer points of Silphium terabinthinacium. I immerse all of my kids in nature almost daily. I’m lucky enough to have a super bio-diverse railroad remnant prairie a 5 minute walk from my back yard. Plus, we get ourselves lost in no man’s land and have discovered some awesome native flora in nooks and crannies wedged into an otherwise hyper-developed DuPage county. That’s one of the underpinned problems with the whole kill your lawn approach to this thing(don’t get it twisted, I am fully on board with the philosophy and the reasoning), it’s a whole bunch of preaching to the choir. We’re never going to convince the lawn lover to kill their lawn, but we can convince him or her to learn to love our native vegetation and get a little bit of it into their yard. Making the average homeowner feel like an asshole for having a lawn isn’t as effective as convincing them of the benefits and beauty of gardening for ecological benefit. convincing them to get out and pay closer attention in our preserves and bring that element into our yards. I fell in love with the prairies enough to steward and advocate for them. Again, if a dip shit like me can do it anybody can. As well as convincing local municipalities to landscape with the same approach, which is something I am fighting for at board meetings and firing off emails. I’m out here putting rubber to road. Several years back, I started a KZbin channel that preached a soil health approach to lawn care. I showed that a chemical free biocide free approach to lawncare was possible. You’d be surprised how many lawn practitioners took an interest to it, and how many of them wanted to hold a lawn with as little environmental impact as possible. After a while, I had people reaching out to me, asking where they can get seeds for native plants and stuff. If we can convince as many homeowners as possible to manage their land in this way, imagine the impact. To borrow from Doug Tallamy’s Backyard National Park initiative, all it takes is several keystone plants…Or more if you start falling in love with it like I did. Sorry this was long I’m a classic rambling motormouth. Nothing but love. Thank you for doin it the way you do brother. Loved this one, been waiting forever for a solid return to chicago flora and have been blown away. Thank you🤝🤝

[@jeandarbyshire4391]

I was raised in the Flint Hill that is about all that is left of the tall grass prairie. Love this video!❤️

[@Bootsz2010]

What kills me here in Northern California, how they rip out ancient oak trees along stream beds or anywhere actually, and put in these mini McMansions with tiny yards. If you go out to the edge of the suburbs they're just destroying more and more walnut and fruit orchards for subdivisions. My question is, where they going to get the water? Okay we have water up here in Placer County, but possibly not enough for the future or in drought years! Shouldn't the county giving out the permits figure that out before they build thousands more homes in the next years? I'm happy I live in the mountains here with the forests and rivers. I wish Tony was here to do geurilla planting! I know we have invasive plants here everywhere. 😢

[@RaraAvis1138]

We bought a house and I don't let my husband touch our small 1 acre tree covered plot. I'm letting everything grow so I now what is here. I'm from the north living in the south and don't know what is here. The grasses are growing in large clumps are gorgeous! Sooo many medicinal plants. I'm getting ready to seed golden rod, dandelion, crimson clover, and have wild seeds of mullein, lambs quarters, prickly lettuce, purslane, all of it. I would love phlox to grow but haven't had luck with it. The difference in soil quality just from letting the leaf litter, earthworms and millipedes do their thing makes my heart sing! Keep up the good work!🌱🐞🐝🌻

[@nothing12q]

Are you from europe? if you are not please dont plant mullein it invasive

[@lairdhaynes1986]

Neither are dandelions, crimson clover, or lambs quarters. Krigia is a native sub for dandelion, and there are native clovers that could sub for the crimson. I don't know what kind of purslane you're planting but there are both invasive and native species. Please opt for a native.

[@RaraAvis1138]

@@nothing12q no I'm not but here it's medicine😊

[@RaraAvis1138]

@@lairdhaynes1986 things I've gotten from a friend's property. The people who lived here before were gross. I pick more metal and beer cans out of the dirt than I do anything else. I'm getting there though, it's only been two growing seasons and my soil is just getting good.

[@christopherreed7972]

I enjoy watching your videos. It’s good to know that there are people out there who have as much or more passion for our native flora and fauna. I’ve been gardening/landscaping with CA native plants since 2009. My passion grew after buying a ceanothus many years ago and being amazed at the amount of pollinators it attracted….. can’t get that from a lawn. Anyway cheers for now. I’m hopeful that more people will catch the bug and native landscapes will become more and more popular.

[@Hayley-sl9lm]

Ceanothus is a gateway genus 😂😂.

[@analyticalhabitrails9857]

Well it is. I'm just trying to find a permanent spot and I'll start that from then on!

[@TheLukeSchnabel]

I remember I subscribed along time ago, but I haven’t caught any of your videos in a long while. I see them occasionally pop up in my feed, but today the Clickbait got me I now remember why I subscribed in the first place. Fantastic channel keep it up.

[@GardenerEarthGuy]

I bought a few pounds of Big Blue Stem that I'm going to start in about 16 trays to a flat, using grodan crutons mixed with peat. I'm going to plant out a few areas on my land and have plenty to share.

[@nikkireigns]

Where did you get the seeds from?

[@GardenerEarthGuy]

@@nikkireigns I bought a few pounds on eBay... I've bought seeds from there for several years with mostly great results. Great seed counts... I think I paid $8 for 3 pounds. That's a bunch of seeds and cropping them up in flats- probably didn't need that many. I'm in Florida Panhandle and have seen Big Blue Stem growing wild, along with Little Blue Stem.

[@drerod8543]

Just moved into a new housing development in central cali. Im next to a field. Accidentally killed half my front lawn earlier this year and the natural grass from the area is starting to fill in all the dead patches

[@myrmepropagandist]

I love it when you point out the smuts and parasites and galls the best.

[@andrewgraves4026]

Thanks a ton for the hard work to bring me more frequent videos. You’re very important to me.

[@ethanbaldino2617]

Coming from a biologist in South Florida, I can confirm that grasses are indeed a pain in the ass. Awesome stuff as always man. Thanks for doing to good work of educating the masses.

[@allyson--]

do you know any good resources for graminoid learning? I feel as if it's a tricky task when deailing with such variability & overlapping chracteristics betwen species

[@betha5893]

Great video! One and and half acre of my two acre property is in native grasses, sedges and soledago here in Eastern PA. My lawn is mostly groundcover s and pollinator gardens. I love it this time of year! The colors are amazing! I always remember, sedges have edges, rushes are round, and grasses have joints 🙃 lots of great wildflowers and milkweed as well! Gotta love it! 😊

[@NotesNNotes]

you are one of my FAVORITE channels! thanks for speaking frankly about grasses :)

[@jacobjerny7502]

Dalea purpurea is critically endangered in Alabama I believe, because of prairie neglect.

[@eleonorabartoli2225]

I have been rescuing Blue Grama from bulldozers, a lot of other flowers, yuccas and cactuses too. During the shutdown the grass was not mowed and in the spring the most beautiful flowers appeared, all colors. It was magical. There was even a tiny annual grass with little inflorescences.

[@jaylittleton1]

This makes it easy to imagine vast (freakin' huge) herds of Antelope, Bison and other native animals thriving on the land. Thank you. You also got me curious enough to look up if the Sorghastrum nutans is closely related to the Sorghum plant.

[@linden5165]

I had no idea the roots went so deep! Amazing!! 🤩

[@sami.ehlers]

Thanks! I love it when you visit prairies. You get me hyped up about the plants right around me (in Manitoba, Canada).

[@user-nx1qr7hg3q]

Love your info, your attitude AND your accent! Keep spreadin' the news!

[@RussWilson]

Love your videos. We have 25-30 acres with native grasses: Big Blue, Indian, Eastern Gama, Costal Panic, and Switch Grass, along with a ton of other species. They are part of our grazing system. We have counted over 25 species growing in the fields. The water infiltration is high in those fields 60 IPH in a lot of the fields. Thanks for the videos.

[@coollizzylou]

I'm going to college for botany and yesterday I had the opportunity to listen to park manager Andrew Braun from Prairie State Park in Missouri talk about the park and what he does. The park is some of the last remnant tall grass prairie in the state so it's really really special. It was an incredible experience and I'm so excited to be able to volunteer there in the future!

[@lindseycarboneau186]

This was genuinely the best 12 minutes of my day. Thank you

[@headybrew]

"It is utterly F***ng soothing." lol

[@beverlybelcher3423]

What a beautiful prairie! It looked so vibrant and healthy!

[@nodescriptionavailable3842]

I have a video game based on very early America with truly epic music playing and when he said "This is America!" in the beginning, I got chills! Synchronicity bro!

[@goldenwithahintofboss8787]

Problem is zoning laws , fines and government busy bodies telln us how to live and what our land should look like

[@katiekane5247]

Written with help from the chemical companies!

[@williebeamish5879]

Exactly. Nailed it. Although some areas, the more progressive ones, are changing. Native plants are becoming much more popular up here in the northern tier states, along with organic foods and coops.

[@GardenerEarthGuy]

You have a right to a food garden in Florida, but if you live in an HOA- you're pretty much screwed.

[@flor9389]

It’s the HOAs. They’re the busybodies

[@theemaygoogleme151]

Sitting watching deer eat my native grasses as I watch this. There is comfort in that.

[@j1995xxx]

so great to see the "kill your lawn" benefits so thoroughly shown in this video. grateful for this channel!!

[@Nembula]

I'm. Looking at my hay field here. The blue joint is marginal now as that section of the open space was no longer cut each year with the advent of tractors. It used to grow almost eight feet tall, my aunt told me. They were the last to cut it, they used oxen as tractors would mire in the soft interval land soil. It is gratifying to see more farmers turning to sustainable agriculture as it tends to promote a more natural habitat. Native grasses seem to do better with an annual dense grazing program with a prolonged rest for the grasses. Livestock is run through briefly but densely, mimicking the action of the herds of Buffalo and antelope as they migrated across the landscape. Botany should pay it is what we are feeding ourselves with.

[@greatodinsraven]

New subscriber. Thank you for spreading the message!

[@christianecroy7400]

Turkey neck visual reference is on point.

[@katiekane5247]

Trying my best to get this going. The damn invasive Honeysuckle is hard to eliminate. Sad that the native Honeysuckle is rarely seen anymore. Asian plants don't belong in the USA, so many have overrun our habitats, Kudzu was actually planted by USDA not long ago.

[@RaraAvis1138]

We have so many grape vines and other invasive vines and clingers I couldn't keep back. Now I know which ones are edible and what's not😆

[@Hayley-sl9lm]

For me it's frigging Himalayan blackberry. I hate herbicides but I had to break down and use some on that shit. I have three native honeysuckles but they are young and haven't really got going yet, I'm looking forward to the day they flower 😊🥰

[@GarrettXHolder]

🔥🔥🔥

[@gd2234_]

My favourite fact about native grasses is that one square acre of established wetland/native prairie can absorb 9in of rain PER HOUR. Fuck the Des Plaines river and the amount it floods. Let’s restore our wetlands/prairies

[@joeyj6808]

I remember seeing patches of prairie like that in Indiana, when it dawned on me that - as you said - it used to cover the whole Midwest. Now only little preserved patches remain. I loved that ecosystem, and I miss it here in Seattle.

[@TheBelrick]

If NA was still prairie you wouldnt be alive and that is ironic considering ....

[@joeyj6808]

I am willing to make that trade! Who do I talk to?@@TheBelrick

[@waykeeperfarmandnerdery]

I love you and your work so much. Thanks for being you!!

[@halfcockedgirl]

It’s the necessity for fire as maintenance that has me hesitating to try and pull the trigger on doing more than just planting individual natives as ornamentals in discrete beds. I’m not physically capable of managing even a small-scale fire like that, and while I can pay a company to mow the crabgrass down to avoid fines, I don’t know if anyone I could pay to do a controlled burn on my little suburban plot. But at the same time, I’ve had just two beds of native prairie flowers for a few years now (in addition to the vegetable garden) and the increase in the w uantity and diversity of pollinators and birds that are showing up is blowing my mind. I live right next to an eight lane highway. This was the first year I had monarchs laying eggs on my milkweed, and I’ve seen some neat little migratory songbirds stopping by that I can usually only see if I go out to a nature preserve. Last week I even saw a hummingbird for the first time since moving here 7 years ago! So yeah it makes me wonder who else might turn up if I managed to expand past a few flowerbeds. But yeah the need for fire is what’s stopping me. That and all the huge shade trees in the backyard. I’m just glad this sort of thing is becoming more popular because the more widespread it is, the higher the likelihood that someday there will be a service I could pay to do periodical controlled burns!

[@tylerk.7947]

You don’t have to have fire to manage a really nice Meadow!

[@brandon9172]

Would you not be able to get a goat or some other animal to manage it? Where I live the native grasses never burn, they just get trampled by herds of elk. Does prairie grass fully need fire?

[@CinisiCinisi]

Thanks for coming out! Come back some time soon. Jack Pizzo

[@thekingoffailure9967]

yEA HE CAME OUT AS A LAWNOPHOBE

[@morayjames92]

thanks for the interesting and useful video.

[@poodwood]

Really enjoying these new videos. Thank you

[@kevinkrochak2546]

Thank you for doing what you do!

[@timothybarker3589]

Homeowners Associations are all having strokes right now lol. I gotta say it bro, you inspire me to learn more about the fauna around me. Thanks a lot bro.

[@vagabondcaleb8915]

Coolest video I've seen this month. Wish I could like it twice.

[@catherinemcnamara1141]

I'm in NZ. I stopped mowing my lawn (other than trimming seed heads) a few years ago. It's not very tall cos the soil is so compacted, but I saw a skink in there only a couple of months back! I'm slowly adding native plants in to make it even more skink-friendly, and hopefully they'll be good neighbours and help keep slugs down in my vege garden!

[@TylerSmithMusic1]

Love your enthusiasm

[@TanyaBucci]

Love your work.

[@farty555]

That intro was pure gold

[@bsammo5205]

NOT MENTION THE NATIVE BIRDS THAT WILL ARRIVE & THRIVE NICE

[@danieldow3094]

Gneiss!!

[@beastinthesky6774]

I watched this video weeks ago and it turned me on to Andropogon and some other of these dope ass grasses. Then I realized I had some growing in this little strip of land I've been rehabbing into Florida sandhill/sandy flatwoods "prairie garden" type space. For the most part it created itself through neglect, the soil seed bank popped out some Pityopsis, Croptilon, Heterotheca, and some other cool stuff, including a few Andropogon apparently! Big one and a bunch of little ones. I'm in the process of putting a bunch more seeds in the area so hopefully next year it's popping even more... and continually to pull some other stuff that crowds out the cool stuff I want. (Lookin at you, Bidens pilosa) But yeah man, Andropogon is such a gorgeous genus. I love standing out there and thinking about how deep the roots go.

[@venisontron]

Hey Joey, speaking of grasses, can you talk a little about the upcoming Phyllostachys nigra bamboo flowering event in Japan? What do we know about it, are there any historical records about the last time it flowered, do whole forests of it just die?

[@jd3497]

My nigra clone started flowering two years ago, my main patch of it dies last fall. Even survival shooting that came up last spring are showing the start of flowering.

[@MAC-op5fc]

I love that you are doing these videos about the importance and beauty of native plants.

[@FreedomToRoam86]

Most entertaining educational channel on KZbin. And cool that a non-Plains Indian science type knows what we call Big Bluestem!

[@Quixotic311]

The Mitch McConnell joke earned you the subscribe, my dude.

[@Trapspecial]

Joey, so glad I found you, and, subscribed. I am in NE PA. I have a 2 acre old hayfield that I have been mowing. No more. Gonna order some big blue stem to start with. Will order some more native grasses and flowers soon. Thanks so much for the common sense.

[@regolith11]

Cool thing about fires, they do release some carbon but some is left behind as char and that will persist for an extremely long time. Relative to regular decomp, I Believe burning deposits more carbon long term.

[@Ghostworld_]

There's a lot growing next to my house here in Chicago and it looks so beautiful the way the grass has gone into seed.

[@redbloodedbutterfly]

Thanks for more Midwest videos! Could you please talk about what size of an area needs to be burned and why? For example, if I have an urban micro prairie or a standard Chicago backyard, do I need to burn or mow the native plants? Or is pulling invasives and thinning exuberant natives enough? In areas where wildfire is unlikely, is the need to burn related to ticks or something else? Thanks.

[@michaelzajic6231]

Hey Guy, Keep on keeping on! Good spout. Liked your colorful Chicago language.

[@Debaser987]

Another neat thing about Indian Grass and the Blue Stems are that they both also flowering grasses! When they bloom, it makes the top look like lil colorful chandeliers.

[@themarkofpolo]

'Merica!! Just walked a restored prairie near KC yesterday. So nice.

[@limitlessends]

I have a year four patch of prairie and I dug up a couple of the plants to transplant elsewhere and man, I tell you, prairie soil is DIFFERENT. So soft, so moist. Absolutely stark compare to the soil under my turf grass.

[@Garblegox]

I finally came up with a book to make. I bought a bunch of book binding gear, paper, etc, plus I live by a Staples, all I need is ideas for small-batch hand bound books. (rn it's a lot of nice blank notebooks) Abbie Hoffman inspired me since I was a kid, and I've wanted ways to put _Steal This Book_ into practice, even though we live in an internet age. I've been slowly learning from you how to deal with invasive plants, and getting fired up about the negative impact they have on my environment. But as I walk around, I'm not prepared yet to just scan the greenery and know for certain whether I'm looking at an invasive. I want a book that tells me what to expect in my area, from someone who's familiar with it. All the info is too diffuse to just pick up and run with in a day. But I can sort out the botany situation in my city, compile the info, and boil it down for somebody outright looking to bounty hunt invasive plants. I know the nicknames for the sub regions, the microclimates, the demographics, and here's where this plan actually takes off: There's a couple dozen 'Little Free Libraries' scattered everywhere. Each page like a bounty poster, wanted DEAD, with all the info you'd need to find and kill your targets, impact on the environment, and native replacements. It's the book I've wanted to own for about a year now, and now I can make a few. The lawns around here are going native at an accelerating pace, I bet this city is ready for this.

[@nlbhaduri]

YES! And thank you for continually sharing this great information! STANDARD LAWNS ARE A WASTELAND!

[@cogentdynamics]

I love your video! Can you recommend native grasses that can deal with only partial sun like I have here in the Carolina mountains? I want to do what you say, have always wanted native meadow plants. I have erosion issues and tall fescue and clover is what I have been able to establish.

[@pamelasmith7740]

I have some pretty grasses growing in my yard but the make me mow them. Several carex and some grasses that flower pink and purple. I live on a creek and was so happy to see I have elderberry, FINALLY growing on my bank. They're hard to start from seed when the damn that used to control the flow has been removed turning my back yard into a lake for 30 minutes or so and several 3-4 ft rushes washing away everything that isn't well rooted. Love seeing native wildflowers pop up along the creek like blue vervain and the little purple mist flowers.

[@MrGreenotwo]

Keep up the good work. I always enjoy your videos dude ! I too herbs and fungi.... chicken of the woods in the prime around here. Gonna go find pounds.

[@earthling_eden]

fantastic video, thank you 🌾

[@lynneann9166]

I love your channel. ❤❤❤

[@1suitcasesal]

I'm a lawn hater too. Mature grass sends rain water down it's long roots into aquifers which supply us with water. Blue Gamma Grass grows all across the southwest and North West and interior regions. It is a high protein grass which fed the Buffalo, elk and pronghorn antelope.

[@annienewman8312]

when i took over the garden from my dad at the my parents' house, i let nature fix the damage my dad did. took a few years, but not it is nice soil. i let areas stay wild and natural. so much life.

[@louispapaceit5612]

It is peace, it is tranquility and it is utterly fucking soothing.

[@bobeeman9730]

I have found you just quit mowing, i am still learning though and have some spots mowed twice a year, just maybe able to do a fall trim though. I wish sickle bar mowers where more popular, modern mowers are way to low even on thier highest settting. Its nice to be able to see whats around your house. Wildlife is diverse and the most feared of all is a skunk. i also get to compost some of it for the garden.

[@balskee]

Thank you - great video.

[@frankmacleod2565]

Excellent work

[@TeresaWellsRevisited]

I only recently got some of the Andropogon. I read it can also help support (structurally) native pollinators who would otherwise be incredibly floppy. I planted a bunch of cleome and yarrow and both have flopped badly this year, so I'm hoping the bluestem helps. It's a gorgeous plant, aside from being so beneficial to soil health.

[@threeriversforge1997]

One thing to watch out for with native plants is soil that's too good. Sounds weird, I know, but native plants have evolved to survive in the harshest conditions, with soil that's not the thick rich stuff gardeners tend to think is good dirt. Even just watering them too often can lead to flopping. I just planted a Panicum virgatum 'Cheyenne Sky', and aside from the initial soaking when I planted it, I've not done a bit of watering in the last week. A little rain shower has been all the moisture the plant has received, and it looks fantastic even though it's on a slope in sandy soil that drains real quick.

[@stevenvarner9806]

For my home in Escondido I chose Stipa cernua, Stipa pulchra, and Muhlenbergia rigens. The S. cernua is the most successful and is forming nice big patches.