Restore part of your property to a native ecological
system and leave a legacy!
The face of Southeastern Wisconsin is changing rapidly. In the
last 200 years it changed from prairie/woodland/wetland to farmland. Now it is changing again from farmland to high population residential and
commercial development.
Do you have an area that you are not using? How much lawn do you
need? You can minimize the impact of development with land use that places
less emphasis on lawn and instead focuses on using plants that are adapted
to the natural habitat.
Native ecosystems of Wisconsin:
The prairie is a plant community dominated by grasses rather than by
trees. Growing with the grasses are many species of non-grassy herbs
which are known by the collective name "forbs." A
prairie or meadow is a low maintenance way to cover large or small areas,
offers an ever-changing display of color, provides a habitat for
songbirds, and controls erosion. We can help you select a custom mix for
any soil conditions.
A prairie planting is appropriate for almost any
area that is currently in turfgrass.
Prairies require careful preparation and take several years to
reach maturity. An established prairie is self-sustainable and requires
very little upkeep.
How lucky we are in Wisconsin to have woodland property! Woodlands once occupied much of Wisconsin, but heavy logging in the
1800s and early 1900s greatly reduced the number of mature forested
acres. Since the 1930s, however, the state began to see an increase
in forest acreage, and today Wisconsin has 16 million acres of forest,
with nearly 70% under private ownership.
Properly managed woodlands provide beauty,
recreation, wildlife habitat, and help protect water quality in our
streams and lakes. Many woodlands in our area of Wisconsin are being
threatened by invasive plant species.
If you have a woodland that is overrun with
European Buckthorn or honeysuckle, we can help. We have been successfully
reclaiming woodlands for 10 years and consider woodland restoration an
important part of our mission in Southeast Wisconsin.
Wetlands are big news these days. Fierce battles are fought when
development is arrested because a particular wetland is found to be the
home of an endangered species. It is true that 43% of all federally
listed threatened and endangered species rely on wetlands at some point in
their lives. What is less commonly reported is that wetlands also
play a key roll in making the planet fit for humans.
What is a wetland?
Wetlands are usually low land areas, such as
marshes or swamps, that are frequently or sometime infrequently saturated
with moisture. They often function like natural tubs or sponges,
storing water (floodwater or service water that collects in isolated
depressions) and slowly releasing it. They are places where the water
table is at the surface of the land, and as such, are places where our
water supply can be easily contaminated. But wetlands are also
essential in decontaminating water.
Wetlands are places created by Mother Nature to clean the water
supplies on earth. As natural sponges, they store and filter water.
Groundwater supplies are recharged and toxins and other troublesome water
pollutants are filtered out.
Trees and other wetland vegetation help slow floodwaters. This
combined action-storage and slowing-can lower flood heights and reduce the
water's erosive potential.
What if you have a wetland on your property?
For many reasons, a wetland on your property can
be a reason to celebrate. It need not be an unsightly mosquito
breeding ground. Wetlands are some of the world's most interesting
ecosystems. Thousands of native plants live only it wetlands.
Even a small wetland is of value. As many animals and birds species
see their habitats diminished or eliminated by development, your own
wetland can be a thing of beauty and a haven and habitat for wildlife.
Source:
Danniel Ward-Packard. What is a Wetland and Why Should You
Care? 1999
A natural shoreline is a bridge between two worlds. Studies show
that their can be as much as 500 percent more diversity of plant and
animal species along a natural shoreline compared to upland areas.
Wisconsin laws safeguard waters and the shoreland
buffers that shield them. In the late 1960s, the state legislature
established the Wisconsin Shoreland Management Program. It directed
the Department of Natural Resources to adopt guidelines for county
shoreland protection ordinances.
The guidelines describe a shoreland as a buffer strip of land extending
35 feet inland from the ordinary high water mark (OHWM) where no more than
30 feet in any 100 feet of shoreline may be clear cut to remove trees and
shrubbery.
Read more on our
Shorelines
Page.
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