Poachea (Grass)

The general importance of the grass family to the prairie and other notes.

The grasses contribute most of the prairies plant biomass and provide fuel for prairie fires.  Humus form the delay of their dee and extensive rood systems are mainly responsible for the rich, black color of grassland soils.

The growth habit of prairie grasses is sod-forming or bunch-forming, or both.  Sod-forming grasses, such as cordgrass and witch grass, reproduce sexually from seed and asexually fro underground stems called rhizomes.  The rhizomes extend horizontally from a few inched to a few feet to form the parent plant and produce new shoots from their tips from the nodes along the stem.  This results in a dense strand of shoots that compactly occupy the soil.  A few sod-forming grasses also reproduce from horizontal stems above the ground called stolons.

Bunching-forming grasses have an erect growth of shoots at their base. These shoots are called tillers.  Little bluestem and prairie dropseed are bunch-forming grasses. Like sod-forming grasses, bunch-forming grasses reproduce sexually and asexually.  Sometimes a grass species, such as big bluestem , may have son-forming and bunch-forming growth habitats.

Besides the taxonois classification, prairie grasses may be grouped according to their climatic origin as the cool-season or warm-season grasses.  Cool-season grasses, such as needlegrass and bluejoint are of other origin  They renew their growth in early spring and usually mature from April to early July.  Cool-season greases become semi-dormant during the hot summer months and renew growth during autumn.  By contrast, Warm Season grasses, such as big and little bluesteam, begin growth late spring and grow continuously during the summer and into early fall.  They mature during mid-fall.  Warm-Season and cool-season grasses mingle freely as their requirements overlap.

Grasse have several anatomical features which enable them to flourish in the relatively harsh environment of the prairie.  Some of the anatomical feature include:

• The deep root system that reaches depths of 2-4 meters and branch profusely, enabling the grasses to obtain water during periods of drought.
• Tough steam reinforced buy silicon oxide, which enables the grasses to withstand high winds and
• Specialized hinges cells in the upper epidermis of the leaf. During periods of drought, they lose water rapidly, then contact and cause the leaf to roll up in the long tube.  The pores thought which water vapor is normally transpired are now inside the tube, while the exposed lower surface of the leaf is highly resistant to water loss.

Many of these grasses provide eco-friendly and sustainable landscaping techniques.  Many landscape designers are using natural prairie grasses to cut down on maintenance costs, improve the natural habitat for local wildlife, reduce soil erosion and reducing the use of herbicides and pesticides. To order

Snow Management

Winter is upon us and that means chill winds and hours upon hours of snowfall. In some places, snowfall can pile up several inches and cover everything in white sheet of nothingness. While it may be a pretty sight, the consequences are far from pretty.

Yes, we want a white Christmas, but when the snow stops life in its tracks it can be really inconvenient. Snow deposition can prevent vehicular flow, halt businesses from operating and may require schools to close down. Life as we know it can get hampered severely by continuous snowfall. So, below are some ways to deal with the problem to an extent:

• Chemical de-icing:

Chemicals such as the normal rock salt or sodium chloride are used to melt away the snow. This technique is really cheap since everyone has salt in their homes and sprinkling some can help thaw the snow and make it less of an obstruction. However, the method will only do the trick if conditions are not too cold and there is some water present among the snow for the salt or other de-icers to do their job.

• Using snow blowers, shovels or snow pushers:

Another way to deal with the menace of excessive snow outside your pavement or sidewalk is the use of snow blowers or shovels or even snow pushers. These are easily available and are extremely affordable. Snow blowers make use of the air pressure to ‘blow’ away the snow, acting as a reverse vacuum.

Similarly, shovels can be used to soften and move snow from an area that needs to be cleared to an area which is not a pathway. Snow pushers also act to achieve the same by helping users push the snow away to a different location.

These are naturally only good for small-scale snow removal, like outside a house, but can be tedious and impossible outside a huge commercial property, say a school.

• Use of heavy machinery:

Heavy duty machines with various attachments and levels of snow removal capabilities can be rented to remove snow on a large scale. Huge commercial properties can either rent equipment and services or sign a contract with a snow removal firm that own snow removal vehicles. The equipment is huge and able to get rid of an enormous amount of snow in a short period of time.

Commercial properties find it necessary to hire such service every winter and signing a contract with a reliable firm simplifies things greatly.

Managing snow:

The best way of really managing snow is by prepping for it. Pre-emptive action is necessary before things get out of control. So throwing brine solution on roads, hiring a snow plowing service before time and getting all the tools and equipment necessary to remove snow ready.

To fight snow one must strategize beforehand. Once the snow starts to fall and continues to pile up and solidify there is very little that can be done unless you are prepared. So if you do not wish to face the consequences of extreme snowfall, then start managing the problem before it even arises.