Prairie burning in the winter.

Greetings gang! I wanna find out how can I burn prairies to make them become free from invasive weeds such as reeds, purple loosestrife, buckthorn and others this coming winter up in the northern states. Here in Chicago, I built prairie type landscapes with edible and medicinal plants and I wanna find out how can I keep them safe as well. Are there methods out there to burn out invading non native weeds safely without being near into no homes or other buildings? It will be my first time doing this. If anybody has anything to share with me, punch down below if you need anything. Love as always!

When we worked at a State Park, they routinely did "controlled burns".

Where I live now, my county is under a burn ban 12 months a year.  They will allow people to do a "controlled burn" if they are notified in advance. There might be a charge associated with this as the Volunteer Fire Dept might be put on-call or on-site.

We have never done a controlled burn because of our wildlife.  This would destroy a lot of their habitat, food sources, etc.

I would suggest calling your county fire dept. to ask about doing a controlled burn.

Were there some traditional burns back then from Native Americans for hunting and stuff? Are these methods still going on today? Show me some examples of some classic burning techniques.

Burning is not going to be a good control for most perennial invasives, especially in winter dormancy. They’ll just grow back in the spring because burning won’t have any effect on the resources they have stored underground. In fact, in some cases you might even be doing them a favor by getting rid of the competition (burning off the dead accumulated plant matter that otherwise shades out some new growth.) Torching some plants when they are out of dormancy in summer would be more effective.

Here in Missouri, our conservation department offers burn clinics so you can learn how to do controlled burns. Maybe your state has similar resources. They also have private land conservationists available that you can contact for free to get advice on things like invasive control strategies. So for example, I have an invasive clover (Lespedeza cuneata) that my conversation guy gave me a few strategies for removing before I plant a native meadow. Spraying, mowing to stimulate growth, maybe tilling. The only role burning has in this example is removing dry plant material so that seeds have good soil contact when I do sew next winter.

Then is there another way to slow down or exterminate the intruders from conquering our native landscapes? Up here in Chicago, I got garlic mustard, purple loosestrife, common reed, canary grass, tassel, buckthorn, Chinese elm, autumn olive and others that absolutely destroy native plant life in prairies and marshes. In turn, all fauna will have an absolute difficult time surriving the conquered landscape of foreign invaders and perish cause of it. Do we have to cut the seed heads of these weeds down this winter in order to slow down the intrusion?

I'm snow seeding my native wildflowers for next year at my community farm. How do we clear out the weed bed to make way for a new native prairie wildflower bed this winter if I can't burn?

I think you're hoping for a once-and-done solution for invasives. Realistically, it doesn't exist. Not by burning, digging, or chemical means. It takes time and ruthless persistence to knock them back. It's not a task, it's a quest. My 2c.

Edit: Plant your wildflowers anyway. That provides a zone to start the control process, and maybe get others invested in that task. Chop off invasive seeds and burn them in a highly controlled situation only -- a wildfire is easy to start, and extremely difficult to extinguish.

I agree with Douglas, I think it will take persistent cutting/removal of the problem plants. Learn to recognize the young sprouts and shoots of your problem plants and pull/hoe them before they grow large. For larger plants, cut off the seed bearing part before the seeds mature to limit spread.

Maybe organize a group weed-pull with your fellow Collective farmers.

What about invasive trees such as the tree of heaven, Asian mulberry, Russian olive and others? Do we have to chop those down and put some type of salt or herbicide to end growth?

Gracious, you seem to be afflicted with all the invasive species there are. What where the former owners doing?

The goat people around here would say "you need goats." They may be right.

I have goats at my community farm in my neighborhood. They sometimes feast on weeds being grown over my whole farm.

Blake Lenoir wrote: I have goats at my community farm in my neighborhood. They sometimes feast on weeds being grown over my whole farm.

Ah! So perhaps your solution is to focus their attention, one small patch at a time?

A fire in Chicago? Reminds me of this big one.  https://greatchicagofire.org/great-chicago-fire/

Not sure this is relevant to the scale you need info for. Here's some info on doing controlled burns safely & legally. In general there must be a certified burn manager, a solid plan, proper equipment, good firebreaks, suitable weather, & a permit. I think it was Gallagher who said "when mama says watch the baby she means watch the baby".

https://www.illinoisprescribedfirecouncil.org/illinois-prescribed-burn-manager-certification.html

https://foreststewardsguild.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/InsightsRecommendationsCPMBprograms.pdf