Some questions for Russ Henry. You use red wiggler worms, are those the same as the invasive jumping worms? Also, what fescue is actually native in Minnesota that we find in the fescue mixes? You mentioned that fescues are native to Minnesota. I would love to find those for my yard. I put in a low grow no mow mix from MNL but was told it was not actually native but good since it requires so little mowing and looks cool when it flops over. Where did you get the evidence for your statements on glyphosate treated soil? Is this just your individual observation using your microscope or can you point to the published science for me? I would love to get that information. Also, why do you use Waypoint lab for your analysis instead of the University of MN. what advantages did you get from Waypoint over the U of MN? Where did you get all your knowledge, did you start out as a biologist/ chemist/ soil scientist etc. Just interested in how people get into doing what they do. Also, creeping charlie is not considered beneficial to bees anymore. The research was done at the University of Minnesota and is known as the lucky strike plant since once it gets pollinated it turns off nectar production but the bees keep trying to get more nectar and it is a net loss for the bumble bees especially. Ian Lane from the U of MN was the principle researcher on that. Those predator species you mentioned, are they native to Minnesota? The non native lady beetle and non native praying mantis has become a problem and is overtaking and displacing our native lady beetles and praying mantis creating an ecosystem imbalance much like Japanese beetles do. Why not suggest plants that attract our native wasps like Rattlesnakemaster ( native a little south of here) or swamp milkweed? I hope Russ will answer my questions. I missed his live presentation. Minnehaha Falls redid a yard from lawn to native pollinator using bee lawns as pathways in summer of 2022. I will look forward to seeing how this project matures. Thank you Russ! There was lots of great information in your presentation and I look forward to your response.
@@mnhort Thank you! As an add on, jumping worms are really dangerous to native landscapes. If you have jumping worms and no foragers you may not actually see a big loss in plants. With Deer and rabbit foragers the loss is devastating. In a natural areas, such as a woodlands with jumping worms, plus foragers, such as deer, causes the disappearance of the whole understory. To see an excellent example of this jumping worms plus foragers interaction go to the Westwood Hills Nature Center in St. Louis Park where the houses meet the natural area at the intersection of Virginia and 16th st. Enter in at the gate on the west side, mid block, and turn right on the trail heading north and sloping downward toward the lake. Look to the right and left as you head down the path. A few plants remain in spite of the loss of leaf litter and damage to the soil such as Penn/Oak sedge. Even the garlic mustard, snake root, hog peanut and canada clearweed was gone as of last July in this already declining woodland. This happened in spite of the drought since it was shady for the worms to stay cool. You will see that there is little herbaceous groundcover, with the exception of the areas where the native plantings that Great River Greening had volunteers plant were fenced off from deer or in one case at the very base of an oak tree where canada clear weed remained. From the CISMA conference I learned scientists are still trying to understand these worms and how to deal with their damage as well as prevention. Sadly, the extreme and severe droughts the past two summers killed off the worms so data collection that would allow the understanding of what to do about them could not be collected. The worms were not stopped by the drought. They moved into the woodlands, where the shade kept them cool and moist enough to eat away the forest floor.
Some questions for Russ Henry. You use red wiggler worms, are those the same as the invasive jumping worms? Also, what fescue is actually native in Minnesota that we find in the fescue mixes? You mentioned that fescues are native to Minnesota. I would love to find those for my yard. I put in a low grow no mow mix from MNL but was told it was not actually native but good since it requires so little mowing and looks cool when it flops over. Where did you get the evidence for your statements on glyphosate treated soil? Is this just your individual observation using your microscope or can you point to the published science for me? I would love to get that information. Also, why do you use Waypoint lab for your analysis instead of the University of MN. what advantages did you get from Waypoint over the U of MN? Where did you get all your knowledge, did you start out as a biologist/ chemist/ soil scientist etc. Just interested in how people get into doing what they do. Also, creeping charlie is not considered beneficial to bees anymore. The research was done at the University of Minnesota and is known as the lucky strike plant since once it gets pollinated it turns off nectar production but the bees keep trying to get more nectar and it is a net loss for the bumble bees especially. Ian Lane from the U of MN was the principle researcher on that. Those predator species you mentioned, are they native to Minnesota? The non native lady beetle and non native praying mantis has become a problem and is overtaking and displacing our native lady beetles and praying mantis creating an ecosystem imbalance much like Japanese beetles do. Why not suggest plants that attract our native wasps like Rattlesnakemaster ( native a little south of here) or swamp milkweed? I hope Russ will answer my questions. I missed his live presentation. Minnehaha Falls redid a yard from lawn to native pollinator using bee lawns as pathways in summer of 2022. I will look forward to seeing how this project matures. Thank you Russ! There was lots of great information in your presentation and I look forward to your response.
Great questions, Judy. We just pinged Russ and invited him to join the convo.... Thanks for watching!
@@mnhort Thank you! As an add on, jumping worms are really dangerous to native landscapes. If you have jumping worms and no foragers you may not actually see a big loss in plants. With Deer and rabbit foragers the loss is devastating. In a natural areas, such as a woodlands with jumping worms, plus foragers, such as deer, causes the disappearance of the whole understory. To see an excellent example of this jumping worms plus foragers interaction go to the Westwood Hills Nature Center in St. Louis Park where the houses meet the natural area at the intersection of Virginia and 16th st. Enter in at the gate on the west side, mid block, and turn right on the trail heading north and sloping downward toward the lake. Look to the right and left as you head down the path. A few plants remain in spite of the loss of leaf litter and damage to the soil such as Penn/Oak sedge. Even the garlic mustard, snake root, hog peanut and canada clearweed was gone as of last July in this already declining woodland. This happened in spite of the drought since it was shady for the worms to stay cool. You will see that there is little herbaceous groundcover, with the exception of the areas where the native plantings that Great River Greening had volunteers plant were fenced off from deer or in one case at the very base of an oak tree where canada clear weed remained. From the CISMA conference I learned scientists are still trying to understand these worms and how to deal with their damage as well as prevention. Sadly, the extreme and severe droughts the past two summers killed off the worms so data collection that would allow the understanding of what to do about them could not be collected. The worms were not stopped by the drought. They moved into the woodlands, where the shade kept them cool and moist enough to eat away the forest floor.