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What should be planted if all or part of the riparian zone is in reed canary grass? The best response may be to leave the reed canary grass. |
Reed canary grass is a very aggressive grass that has a high demand for nitrogen. It is one of the deeper rooted cool-season grasses but does not root as deeply as native grasses. It is very difficult to kill a dense stand of reed canary grass. It often takes multiple applications of herbicide to kill it completely. If it is not killed completely it will rapidly spread and out compete most any plants that are planted in its space. Because it is a rather effective riparian grass the best advice may be leave it. It often has good control over surface runoff and does provide some nutrient uptake from the soil solution. |
