I would really love for you to go back out there when he's actually doing the burn to show us how it works. Obviously even the fence is still standing, so he knows what he's doing, but I certainly don't. I'd like to see this in action!
We lost the last remnant eastern prairie over serpentine in NYC to woody plant succession. Could never get FDNY approval for a prescribed burn. Loss of numerous state endangered species. Glad to see fire making a comeback.
Sad to hear. I've been wondering about that serpentine on Staten Island. I have done work in Chester county Pa on serp. So many of those smaller sites have been lost to development or forest succession.
I wouldn't worry too much, if there is a natural fire, there's a good chance colonizing plants will come back for that first succession. Communities aren't static and are constantly cycling through stages of succession. It's not a bad thing that an area graduated to woody plants. What is a bad thing is our terrible fire suppression strategies. And that, deserves a petition. If you start it, let us know. I'm in NY and I'll sign.
I burn my yard in Aurora IL, looks very similar to this, although I do the front yard in natives too. I have a 'Conservation At Home' sign posted in the front yard so people know it's intentional rather than neglect. It's important to check local ordinances first. I have to get a burn permit first from Illinois, then submit that to Aurora for a city permit, then notify the fire department and cops the day of the actual burn.
It was very interesting to see this subject of making prairie gardens where lawns used to be in the New York Times yesterday. The writer of the article was from Cornell with lots of useful resources for people to access to do it themselves. HOAs seem to be the biggest issue for many people who want to do it.
@@lettersnstuff Not just the plants but the wildlife too. Seeing Bombus pensylvanicus all over the Salvia, Chamaecrista and monarda has been another highlight this year.
@@DefThroneI'm freaking out over the pollinator loss in my Georgia yard this year. Not in a high chemical use neighborhood, I don't use any. Left native grasses all winter for nesting etc. Nothing on the giant clump of Solidago, barely anything on the 6'×3' Eupatorium all in my ditch. Been watching nature in this yard 4 years, they're just not here 😢
@@katiekane5247 Interesting. And there's bare spots of soil for solitary bees and brush piles for bumble bees? Interestingly enough, I left brush piles for bees around the yard and I don't think any of them are being used. All the bumble bees seem to be coming from somewhere else outside my yard. Bare soil, brush piles, and dead stems seem to be the mixture for success (for bees anyways). I would look to the surrounding area and see if anything has changed, because it definitely doesn't sound like your yard is the problem. Your yard sounds rad.
If you research it, just across the river on the far southside of Chicago is the Burnham prairie nature preserve. Way before the scientist and naturalist found it's kind of hidden off the path , hiding right in the middle of everything location and made it a preserve in the 2000's we kids of the neighborhood new its magic. We spent many of days walking in its native grasses ,wildflowers, sedges, rushes and cat tails. Observing the animals, rare butterfly's, hundreds of insects and many birds that called it home, permanent and migratory. Then EVERY year when the cold wind would come and blow it dry. We would Set it a fire. At night just to watch it burn. It was spectacular to see and smell . It was isolated and safe to do and fun and naughty at the same time. . What we did not know then was we were giving it the greatest favor we could have given it. Fire. I got tears in my eyes as an adult when they declared it a preserve a safe place forever, it was magical kingdom to a kid.
Day 2 of asking for you to come out on one of the Cook County prescribed burns in the Forest Preserves with one of our crews. Most of us working there would be overjoyed to have you out with us and see what we try to do
Love it! Love it! Love it!. Your onto something with these short videos in suburbia Tony. Think about it. That's where the message needs to be delivered to. BTW, if you ever travel by Toledo I'd love to show you my prairie that's surrounded by agriculture on all sides. I did it all from seeds
Interesting. I thought you were supposed to burn in sections, so each section is burned once every three years. That's what I was taught in my Natural Areas Management class. I have a copy of Swink & Wilhelm's book. It's a great resource. My front yard offends the neighbors.
Totally talking out of my ass, but... I'd imagine by burning every year he's keeping the duff from accumulating so well that it's nearly impossible for the fire to get out of control. Waiting for three years of dead plant matter to accumulate might make that harder.
@@mackavicious True. We burned large acreage in class. I can see where three years of duff might be too much for a home fire. My home prairie I keep the fire low, I basically stand on top of it with a hose at the ready. No one has ratted me out, yet.
PhD in natural ecology and human ecology here. According to the research I've done over the last 10 years, sectional burning usually applies to larger areas. Small, individual yards/gardens all over the world are usually burned at one time. The surface area burned is a large factor in how likely an area is to get out of control, but families on every continent except Antarctica have been burning their household gardens since humans started living semi-settled existences, and it is still done regularly over 4 continents today. That said, if every household burned their garden at the same time, this could create issues, and so an entire village would stagger their household garden burnings in coordination with other families, but you'd still burn your whole garden on the same day. There are a lot of other issues with burning every year, like large amounts of particulate pollution and potential long term damage to the soil (which has to be managed carefully), which is why I would strongly recommend *against* this approach unless you are an ecologist and/or hate breathable air. In other words, don't try this at home unless you know what you're doing or you're under the supervision of someone who knows what their doing.
@@bearswithglasses I'm concerned about air pollution too, I wonder if it would help to just do it once at the outset of establishing a meadow? Like my property was neglected for YEARS and is full of decades of weed seeds that have been deposited in the seed bank and I've been trying to manage with mechanical weed control but it definitely feels like a losing battle. I don't think I could burn now though without damaging my shrubs...
one good reason to not burn everything, every year, is for solitary bees, mantids, butterflies, etc that may use the dead hollow grass stems and twigs for their cocoons and eggs. a lot of them must get roasted in the burns.
beautiful yard Gerry. its not only beautiful but its funtional in that it provides shelter and nourishment for all the life that lives in that yard. People look at me like im nuts when I tell them to let their yard grow, and to start harvesting food from it yourself. dandelion, dock, wild lettuce,... I would imagine that one or even two burn couldnt produce half of the toxic PPM's of a mower running 20-30 times a year.
I'd rather my neighbor burn her yard once a year than having to hear loud mowers and leaf blowers every two weeks that fill my home with the smell of gasoline.
No bullshit I love when you narrate over a nice two stroke engine. I prefer a Central American dirt bike but I’ll settle for a mid western leaf blower.
AIR POLLUTION?!? Versus cars - barbecuing - lawn mowers? Who worries about respiratory problems for any of that? Wish my neighborhood looked like this sanctuary instead of an urban wasteland.
Guy mowing his lawn gets cops called. Gerry is a man after my own heart. My neighbors are mowing sometimes THREE TIMES A WEEK. And they often start about ten minutes after I get home after a hard day of labor and am sitting in my forest on my bench watching plants and pollinators and birds. Ugh. It's so frustrating. Never thought to call the cops. lol Seriously though thanks for sharing this backyard bonanza of beauty. Cheers
I burned half a field in Indiana and the next year, the burned side was 10 feet tall with native plants and full of wildlife, birds and insects mostly, but it screamed with the sounds of the forest. The unburned side was dead quiet and basically just grass. **** your grass!
His yard rocks!!!! This made my morning and quenched the bs from yesterday. More beautiful than any 'english'/longwood garden fakery. Thanks for paving permission of reality. 💗💗💗
I literally watched this three times in a row lol. What a cool guy, and inspiring that this is happening right where I live! Someday when I own a house I want a prairie garden. Thanks for sharing!
Family moved out to the Fox Valley and there are a lotta tallgrass and wetland prairies around here! They burn em in my backyard Theres also a ton of warehouses popping up now where farms used to be, making the land look like trash.
When I was a kid, it was very common to see people in my hometown burning their dead grass in the spring. People were very cautious about it, of course. That smell always brings me back!
Most places I know (I'm in New England) you can call the Fire Dept and get a controlled burn. I'm pretty sure the zoning where I am requires them for a controlled burn actually. But that's a safe way to make sure you don't overburn or lose control due to fuel or wind or whatever.
Can't STAND gas leaf blowers...Stihl products trigger me... Also I burn in our HOA and I use a small propane or drip torch...and I wet the areas I don't want to burn and I do so when there are good wind and RH conditions. Also I'm only on 0.18 acres. And I agree on the slight breeze...you want the wind blowing towards the aft side of the burn line. Wind against the direction the fire is intended to go. It's all about prep.
@@katiekane5247 yeah, we lost an old neighbor that way years back. 90 years old and was raking leaves. Set the pile on fire and it blew back on him when the wind switched.
I’m doing it…. Finally got rid of the Asian day flower, Lilly of valley, creeping Charlie and the dam tree of heavens… Also like say “thank you” to him, he’s a rare older man who gets it.
Gorgeous! I notice the goldenrod stems in my yard always have bees nesting in them. Seems like burning would make it very hard for them to have safe places to raise their young.
If you ever make it out to northwest Chicago burbs, our yard is 3/4 acre prairie! Would love to show you around all the stuff that the previous owners put in that we get to enjoy now
A glorious yard !! He sure has reason about the lawn freaks. I love how wild habitat based gardens are so different every year. It takes sensitive thinking intelliegent people to get them. You gotta let go of the mow, blow & go !! I'd love to see a video of him doing the burn. In europe we scythe off our meadows, there is no fire ecology in our grasslands. And maybe another video of him detailing all of what grows there ? Thanks for posting Mr Santoro !
The reason why prairies should NOT be burned every year is that the entire population of insects overwintering in stems and leaf litter is killed. If you do burn something every year, it is best for those insects if you only burn sections, alternating from one section to another from year to year, so that not all of the overwintering critters die. I understand that it's good for fire safety to keep the fuel to a minimum, but one of the most important benefits of growing native plants is to grow more insects and critters that supply the lower levels of the food web.
This gets me thinking about how the environment near Las Vegas was shaped year by year, I reckon it was too sparse for fires but bighorn sheep or rabbits could certainly keep things under control.
I would think that a burn wouldn't be the best idea because part of the idea of those plants is to support the ecosystem. There are insects living in the plants. Native bees in the stems and specifically with the goldenrod the goldenrod gall fly.
Hey Joey have you seen the fire adapted Castanea asheii while in Georgia? It actually needs fire to keep it productive. It only gets 4-6 feet tall and if the stems get too old they lose productivity and become blight susceptible.
Hey there Mr Crime Pays. We're studying Horticulture at an ecologically aware college of "Land based science" and have a bunch of Nomenclature to study and remember. Do you have any advice on the retention of Latinate vocabulary? Because that's a steep learning curve if you're dyslexic but love plants.
Thanks for that Solidago ID mini lesson, now I know I likely have altissima growing in my yard! I've been looking into small native prairies cause I want to grow some in my back yard, and that's the one thing I'm worried about. I'm not sure I could get permission to correctly and safely do burns. (In my area the houses are built too close together). We've had several houses burn down on my street so I probably couldn't get away with it like Gerry is lol. One of the websites for Ohio Seed Mixes talks about mowing to 6-8 inches at different times, and de-thatching to help maintain things, but I'm worried about tick build up, cause even though I live in suburbia, we do have a lot of little things that aren't which nice nice, except for the ticks :\
Why dethatch if the thatch is rich in nutrients? Isn’t part of the point of management practices such as prescribed burns to enrich soil? Just something to think about
@@clvrcookie Thatch needs to be loosened up to decompose, or burned in order to be of any use to other plants. All it does if you leave it to form a mat is smother everything. I sincerely do not believe I can safely do a burn without help from the fire department, so I'm researching other management methods, or more realistically I will probably raise prairie plants without fully having a prairie setting. Just allowing the volunteer goldenrod in my yard stay has attracted and fed so many insects I hadn't previously seen before, and birds have been enjoying my yard for several years because I already have some plants they like to feed on.
@@bluefish239 makes sense thanks for the quick reply! I too let some goldenrod, perennial sunflower (Helianthus tuberosus) and purple coneflower grow and they’ve attracted tons of very curious species.
I could listen to him and his mellow outlook for much longer that seven and a half minutes (but with a mic). I also wish I had his easygoing approach to burning. I’m terrified to do so and draw the ire of the local red neck lawn cops and fescue fuckers.
I bet that by burning, the tick population is kept pretty darn low. Also, my back yard looks somewhat similar, only more trees and shade tolerant plants. I have only ever seen one tick here, despite traipsing through the weeds daily.
I'm here in a subfuck-division in Island Lake. If I burn anything or do anything they don't approve of in my yard, the peeping neighborhood neighbors correct me. Since when is a guy not allowed to express himself in his yard? They on the other hand set up fire rings and burn household garbage in their backyards. Go figure. They don't like my natural butterfly garden that is my front yard. My rear deck is a feral cat sanctuary and they don't like that. Life sucks sometimes. 😢
This channel has a video from when Joey was in west Texas, in that video he showed how his friend was using a sod cutter to kill his lawn. Then he'd turn the patch of sod upside down and use it as mulch for his new native plant plugs.
Can also just sheet cardboard down (acts like a natural weed barrier than just decays six months later) and cover with mulch . The best mulch is free mulch, from a city dump yard or from chipdrop.com. You can also call local arborists and see if they need a place to dump after a job
How does this puts with a CZcams channel get invited to Gerald Wilhelm’s house?!??? And even gets the whole Solidago canadensis vs S. altisumum thing personally explained to him?? Now go do Somme Prairie Grove.
I would really love for you to go back out there when he's actually doing the burn to show us how it works. Obviously even the fence is still standing, so he knows what he's doing, but I certainly don't. I'd like to see this in action!
Yeah, seconded. I'd like to do a controlled burn on my property but I'd prefer to see it in action first.
agreed! seems like a great educational opportunity. (also, I'll take any reason to hear Tony speak)
Would also like to know how to not burn my fence doing this
We lost the last remnant eastern prairie over serpentine in NYC to woody plant succession. Could never get FDNY approval for a prescribed burn. Loss of numerous state endangered species. Glad to see fire making a comeback.
Sad to hear. I've been wondering about that serpentine on Staten Island. I have done work in Chester county Pa on serp. So many of those smaller sites have been lost to development or forest succession.
I wouldn't worry too much, if there is a natural fire, there's a good chance colonizing plants will come back for that first succession. Communities aren't static and are constantly cycling through stages of succession. It's not a bad thing that an area graduated to woody plants. What is a bad thing is our terrible fire suppression strategies. And that, deserves a petition. If you start it, let us know. I'm in NY and I'll sign.
Just chuck a match
That sucks. Cities and states need to wisen up and listen to the people who know about this
The seedbank will still be there waiting for the next dry thunderstorm.
I would love to see the soil composition between his yard and the neighbors
That would be a great visual! Compare core samples down 6"-1', run the soil tests. Terrific idea 💯
agreed
I would love to see another video showing Gerry burning the yard when it's ready!
I burn my yard in Aurora IL, looks very similar to this, although I do the front yard in natives too. I have a 'Conservation At Home' sign posted in the front yard so people know it's intentional rather than neglect. It's important to check local ordinances first. I have to get a burn permit first from Illinois, then submit that to Aurora for a city permit, then notify the fire department and cops the day of the actual burn.
It was very interesting to see this subject of making prairie gardens where lawns used to be in the New York Times yesterday. The writer of the article was from Cornell with lots of useful resources for people to access to do it themselves. HOAs seem to be the biggest issue for many people who want to do it.
This is why we need to start going to local city meetings more and start making some noise!
when houses become investments instead of homes where people live, everyone loses. fuck your property value, I want nice flowers in my yard
@@lettersnstuff Not just the plants but the wildlife too. Seeing Bombus pensylvanicus all over the Salvia, Chamaecrista and monarda has been another highlight this year.
@@DefThroneI'm freaking out over the pollinator loss in my Georgia yard this year. Not in a high chemical use neighborhood, I don't use any. Left native grasses all winter for nesting etc. Nothing on the giant clump of Solidago, barely anything on the 6'×3' Eupatorium all in my ditch. Been watching nature in this yard 4 years, they're just not here 😢
@@katiekane5247 Interesting.
And there's bare spots of soil for solitary bees and brush piles for bumble bees? Interestingly enough, I left brush piles for bees around the yard and I don't think any of them are being used. All the bumble bees seem to be coming from somewhere else outside my yard.
Bare soil, brush piles, and dead stems seem to be the mixture for success (for bees anyways).
I would look to the surrounding area and see if anything has changed, because it definitely doesn't sound like your yard is the problem. Your yard sounds rad.
Thanks for turning us on to the cool people of the Chicagoland area. Nice!
If you research it, just across the river on the far southside of Chicago is the Burnham prairie nature preserve. Way before the scientist and naturalist found it's kind of hidden off the path , hiding right in the middle of everything location and made it a preserve in the 2000's we kids of the neighborhood new its magic. We spent many of days walking in its native grasses ,wildflowers, sedges, rushes and cat tails. Observing the animals, rare butterfly's, hundreds of insects and many birds that called it home, permanent and migratory. Then EVERY year when the cold wind would come and blow it dry. We would Set it a fire. At night just to watch it burn. It was spectacular to see and smell . It was isolated and safe to do and fun and naughty at the same time. . What we did not know then was we were giving it the greatest favor we could have given it. Fire. I got tears in my eyes as an adult when they declared it a preserve a safe place forever, it was magical kingdom to a kid.
Day 2 of asking for you to come out on one of the Cook County prescribed burns in the Forest Preserves with one of our crews. Most of us working there would be overjoyed to have you out with us and see what we try to do
Love it! Love it! Love it!. Your onto something with these short videos in suburbia Tony. Think about it. That's where the message needs to be delivered to. BTW, if you ever travel by Toledo I'd love to show you my prairie that's surrounded by agriculture on all sides. I did it all from seeds
Interesting. I thought you were supposed to burn in sections, so each section is burned once every three years. That's what I was taught in my Natural Areas Management class. I have a copy of Swink & Wilhelm's book. It's a great resource. My front yard offends the neighbors.
Totally talking out of my ass, but...
I'd imagine by burning every year he's keeping the duff from accumulating so well that it's nearly impossible for the fire to get out of control. Waiting for three years of dead plant matter to accumulate might make that harder.
@@mackavicious True. We burned large acreage in class. I can see where three years of duff might be too much for a home fire. My home prairie I keep the fire low, I basically stand on top of it with a hose at the ready. No one has ratted me out, yet.
PhD in natural ecology and human ecology here. According to the research I've done over the last 10 years, sectional burning usually applies to larger areas. Small, individual yards/gardens all over the world are usually burned at one time. The surface area burned is a large factor in how likely an area is to get out of control, but families on every continent except Antarctica have been burning their household gardens since humans started living semi-settled existences, and it is still done regularly over 4 continents today. That said, if every household burned their garden at the same time, this could create issues, and so an entire village would stagger their household garden burnings in coordination with other families, but you'd still burn your whole garden on the same day.
There are a lot of other issues with burning every year, like large amounts of particulate pollution and potential long term damage to the soil (which has to be managed carefully), which is why I would strongly recommend *against* this approach unless you are an ecologist and/or hate breathable air. In other words, don't try this at home unless you know what you're doing or you're under the supervision of someone who knows what their doing.
@@bearswithglasses I'm concerned about air pollution too, I wonder if it would help to just do it once at the outset of establishing a meadow? Like my property was neglected for YEARS and is full of decades of weed seeds that have been deposited in the seed bank and I've been trying to manage with mechanical weed control but it definitely feels like a losing battle. I don't think I could burn now though without damaging my shrubs...
one good reason to not burn everything, every year, is for solitary bees, mantids, butterflies, etc that may use the dead hollow grass stems and twigs for their cocoons and eggs. a lot of them must get roasted in the burns.
You should see if he'll welcome you back to film his burn.
We need a collab episode with @NaturalHabitatProject out of Alabama🔥🤟😤
S. canadensis looks like Sideshow Bob.
beautiful yard Gerry. its not only beautiful but its funtional in that it provides shelter and nourishment for all the life that lives in that yard. People look at me like im nuts when I tell them to let their yard grow, and to start harvesting food from it yourself. dandelion, dock, wild lettuce,... I would imagine that one or even two burn couldnt produce half of the toxic PPM's of a mower running 20-30 times a year.
I just do what I do. No truer words.
I'd rather my neighbor burn her yard once a year than having to hear loud mowers and leaf blowers every two weeks that fill my home with the smell of gasoline.
No bullshit I love when you narrate over a nice two stroke engine. I prefer a Central American dirt bike but I’ll settle for a mid western leaf blower.
leaf blowers are the bane of the world - the most useless machines ever made
Can't let one leaf soil their grass! They blow them into the road like they're gonna stay there 😂
it DRIVES me nuts - I get so angry - we need another stick to End all Useless Blowing@@katiekane5247
Leaf blowers are actually really useful when doing a controlled burn.
The only time I use mine is when I'm sanding rusted metal and blowing the rust away.
you can use 'em to blow tear gas away from protesters like they did in Portland, but it's not much use anywhere else
AIR POLLUTION?!? Versus cars - barbecuing - lawn mowers? Who worries about respiratory problems for any of that? Wish my neighborhood looked like this sanctuary instead of an urban wasteland.
parks near me are absolutely covered by goldenrods, they are definitely a lot prettier than grass
Cool, I bet the cats love his yard.
Guy mowing his lawn gets cops called. Gerry is a man after my own heart. My neighbors are mowing sometimes THREE TIMES A WEEK. And they often start about ten minutes after I get home after a hard day of labor and am sitting in my forest on my bench watching plants and pollinators and birds. Ugh. It's so frustrating. Never thought to call the cops. lol
Seriously though thanks for sharing this backyard bonanza of beauty. Cheers
Thanks! I really liked that video!
I burned half a field in Indiana and the next year, the burned side was 10 feet tall with native plants and full of wildlife, birds and insects mostly, but it screamed with the sounds of the forest. The unburned side was dead quiet and basically just grass. **** your grass!
The irony of the mower in the back 🤦♂️
Taller plants also muffle noise , it'd quiet things a degree
Oh man I was wondering what it looked like listening to the podcast, fucking fantastic. Gerry looks and talks like Michael Shannon btw.
His yard rocks!!!! This made my morning and quenched the bs from yesterday. More beautiful than any 'english'/longwood garden fakery. Thanks for paving permission of reality. 💗💗💗
Love the vibes you have with the old timers love these videos
That was an awesome video
I literally watched this three times in a row lol. What a cool guy, and inspiring that this is happening right where I live! Someday when I own a house I want a prairie garden. Thanks for sharing!
❤ Gerry so reminds me of my late great grandfather from Chicago. ❤
Family moved out to the Fox Valley and there are a lotta tallgrass and wetland prairies around here! They burn em in my backyard
Theres also a ton of warehouses popping up now where farms used to be, making the land look like trash.
When I was a kid, it was very common to see people in my hometown burning their dead grass in the spring. People were very cautious about it, of course. That smell always brings me back!
Most places I know (I'm in New England) you can call the Fire Dept and get a controlled burn. I'm pretty sure the zoning where I am requires them for a controlled burn actually. But that's a safe way to make sure you don't overburn or lose control due to fuel or wind or whatever.
Can't STAND gas leaf blowers...Stihl products trigger me...
Also I burn in our HOA and I use a small propane or drip torch...and I wet the areas I don't want to burn and I do so when there are good wind and RH conditions.
Also I'm only on 0.18 acres. And I agree on the slight breeze...you want the wind blowing towards the aft side of the burn line. Wind against the direction the fire is intended to go. It's all about prep.
" Wind against the direction the fire is intended to go" Thanks for the helpful insight
@@katehartley2333you damn sure don't want it blowing towards you. Opposite wind seems counterintuitive
@@katiekane5247 yeah, we lost an old neighbor that way years back. 90 years old and was raking leaves. Set the pile on fire and it blew back on him when the wind switched.
Oh, my gawd that's beautiful!! ❤❤❤❤❤
Would love to see footage of a burn if you do one this year!
I’m doing it…. Finally got rid of the Asian day flower, Lilly of valley, creeping Charlie and the dam tree of heavens…
Also like say “thank you” to him, he’s a rare older man who gets it.
Bloody brilliant! Cheers, for this. Nice. Cheers, from Smokey Oregon. 🙏
bet this guy has tons of birds and insects visiting and living in his yard too.
Always a pleasure to watch👍🏼
We need more neighbors like this guy.. Great job and keep doin what you do🤙 much love from Indian River County Fl
This is very interesting. Would be cool to see this process someday!
Gorgeous! I notice the goldenrod stems in my yard always have bees nesting in them. Seems like burning would make it very hard for them to have safe places to raise their young.
If you ever make it out to northwest Chicago burbs, our yard is 3/4 acre prairie! Would love to show you around all the stuff that the previous owners put in that we get to enjoy now
Love this. Does he seed it yearly. What is his seed source?
No need to seedit again once you already have stuff there it will seed itself
So nice to see people like him! Refreshing!
Would be sick if you came back when the guy is getting ready to burn his yard again just sayin
He does indeed have an amazing yard!
What does Gerry think about the bees and insects that lay eggs in the dead plant stalks? Given that he burns every year. Thanks
I'll ask him. He's still got plenty of bees and insects compared to every other yard within a mile though.
Its not even the mowers all the time anymore, its the damn 95db blower going off because the homeowner cant be bothered to sweep.
Fire is very good tool...starting to think like that...
Nice.
Love this guy!
A glorious yard !! He sure has reason about the lawn freaks. I love how wild habitat based gardens are so different every year.
It takes sensitive thinking intelliegent people to get them. You gotta let go of the mow, blow & go !!
I'd love to see a video of him doing the burn.
In europe we scythe off our meadows, there is no fire ecology in our grasslands.
And maybe another video of him detailing all of what grows there ?
Thanks for posting Mr Santoro !
I'm offended . . . That you didn't tell me to go f#¢k myself at the end of the video 😄
the guys with the gas blowers are as annoying as the cars with modified exhaust.
arghhh how could i miss that .4mm difference!
This is exactly what I’ve done in cincinnati, it’s been a life changing experience.
I was literally just telling my neighbor about using a torch to burn her metal fence line
Doesn't this deprive a lot of insects of winter habitat? Ever year seems extreme. You wouldn't see renewal that rapid naturally.
Apparently not. His yard was buzzing with life
We need more Gerrys 🥰
The reason why prairies should NOT be burned every year is that the entire population of insects overwintering in stems and leaf litter is killed. If you do burn something every year, it is best for those insects if you only burn sections, alternating from one section to another from year to year, so that not all of the overwintering critters die.
I understand that it's good for fire safety to keep the fuel to a minimum, but one of the most important benefits of growing native plants is to grow more insects and critters that supply the lower levels of the food web.
This gets me thinking about how the environment near Las Vegas was shaped year by year, I reckon it was too sparse for fires but bighorn sheep or rabbits could certainly keep things under control.
Nice
See if you can come back and visit when he does do the burn!
I would think that a burn wouldn't be the best idea because part of the idea of those plants is to support the ecosystem. There are insects living in the plants. Native bees in the stems and specifically with the goldenrod the goldenrod gall fly.
Hey Joey have you seen the fire adapted Castanea asheii while in Georgia? It actually needs fire to keep it productive. It only gets 4-6 feet tall and if the stems get too old they lose productivity and become blight susceptible.
What do you think about growing Thistle plants in your yard?
So awesome!
nice
What a champ. Its a big win when the thing that makes him happy also makes the pollinators happy too!
Go back and film the burn when he does it.
This guy ended his lawn. It's with the fishes
This is Tony in 30-40 years 😅
Yous didn't end the video right.
Now I'm not sure if it was yous 😮
Hey there Mr Crime Pays. We're studying Horticulture at an ecologically aware college of "Land based science" and have a bunch of Nomenclature to study and remember. Do you have any advice on the retention of Latinate vocabulary? Because that's a steep learning curve if you're dyslexic but love plants.
Could I burn the Bermuda grass out of my yard? Like eventually ... would it stop it from coming back?
That's bloody choice.
Thanks for that Solidago ID mini lesson, now I know I likely have altissima growing in my yard!
I've been looking into small native prairies cause I want to grow some in my back yard, and that's the one thing I'm worried about. I'm not sure I could get permission to correctly and safely do burns. (In my area the houses are built too close together). We've had several houses burn down on my street so I probably couldn't get away with it like Gerry is lol.
One of the websites for Ohio Seed Mixes talks about mowing to 6-8 inches at different times, and de-thatching to help maintain things, but I'm worried about tick build up, cause even though I live in suburbia, we do have a lot of little things that aren't which nice nice, except for the ticks :\
Why dethatch if the thatch is rich in nutrients? Isn’t part of the point of management practices such as prescribed burns to enrich soil? Just something to think about
@@clvrcookie Thatch needs to be loosened up to decompose, or burned in order to be of any use to other plants. All it does if you leave it to form a mat is smother everything.
I sincerely do not believe I can safely do a burn without help from the fire department, so I'm researching other management methods, or more realistically I will probably raise prairie plants without fully having a prairie setting. Just allowing the volunteer goldenrod in my yard stay has attracted and fed so many insects I hadn't previously seen before, and birds have been enjoying my yard for several years because I already have some plants they like to feed on.
@@bluefish239 makes sense thanks for the quick reply! I too let some goldenrod, perennial sunflower (Helianthus tuberosus) and purple coneflower grow and they’ve attracted tons of very curious species.
Isn't every Year kind of overkill, but still really cool doing something similar with about half a football field at my moms
I'd love to see his yard in midsummer
Cool guy love hearing his perspectives. And some nerds listen to the whole podcast not just half of it ;)
I burn my 98 hectares I got few hectares of littoral rainforest ilive on small coastal town iam th only 1 with land or rainforest in my town
Thank you for taking the time to share the work and perspective of these folks
I would love to hear more from Gerry
I love this dude. what a geourgous view
I could listen to him and his mellow outlook for much longer that seven and a half minutes (but with a mic). I also wish I had his easygoing approach to burning. I’m terrified to do so and draw the ire of the local red neck lawn cops and fescue fuckers.
I have only one thing to say. HOA.
great yard!
I love the idea but I'm not risking total tick death on myself every time I walk through my backyard.
I bet that by burning, the tick population is kept pretty darn low.
Also, my back yard looks somewhat similar, only more trees and shade tolerant plants. I have only ever seen one tick here, despite traipsing through the weeds daily.
I want to see the burn.
burn it all down. the suburbs i mean.
I'm here in a subfuck-division in Island Lake. If I burn anything or do anything they don't approve of in my yard, the peeping neighborhood neighbors correct me. Since when is a guy not allowed to express himself in his yard? They on the other hand set up fire rings and burn household garbage in their backyards. Go figure. They don't like my natural butterfly garden that is my front yard. My rear deck is a feral cat sanctuary and they don't like that. Life sucks sometimes. 😢
The award for handsomest botanist in the world is yours 🏆
How would one transition from turf grass? Rip up the grass or cardboard smother? Rather not use glyphosate.
This channel has a video from when Joey was in west Texas, in that video he showed how his friend was using a sod cutter to kill his lawn. Then he'd turn the patch of sod upside down and use it as mulch for his new native plant plugs.
Can also just sheet cardboard down (acts like a natural weed barrier than just decays six months later) and cover with mulch . The best mulch is free mulch, from a city dump yard or from chipdrop.com. You can also call local arborists and see if they need a place to dump after a job
Are there professional companies that'll burn a lawn in Chicagoland area? I've been wanting to do this for a while but having trouble finding someone
Check to see if your town has a natural resource commission! Prospect Heights does and they will burn every spring
Pizzo
How does this puts with a CZcams channel get invited to Gerald Wilhelm’s house?!??? And even gets the whole Solidago canadensis vs S. altisumum thing personally explained to him??
Now go do Somme Prairie Grove.