Conservation Control

01/30/2024

Let's rock and roll by making 2024 the tipping point. Lots of DIY video classes, downloads, and articles at https://monarchgard.com. Or just thumb through the many lawnscapes we've converted and get inspired.

01/15/2024

12/02/2023

KNOW WHEN TO ACT! Alder buckthorn ecological restoration! 🌳✅

⭐️Getting difficult to travel through an area on foot? It’s probably time to find out if you have invasive plants! ⭐️

Rhamnus frangula or Alder buckthorn is an invasive deciduous shrub that rapidly reaches heights of 16-20 ft.

BEFORE picture shows many young Alder buckthorn shrubs that are quickly taking over this hardwood-conifer swamp. Alder buckthorn outcompetes red cedar and oak species trying to regenerate in the understory.

AFTER picture shows a treated removal that allows room for new native diversity and growth. Local and introduced seeds are collected and spread in the area. Next season this site will be completely transformed!

11/29/2023

This month the University of Michigan-Flint Wildlife Club invited Conservation Control to talk about our experiences as new business owners! We enjoyed seeing familiar faces and friends along with offering advice we would have benefited from years ago going through the wildlife program. Conservation Control hopes to recruit the bright minds coming out of the U of M Flint Wildlife program in the future!

09/22/2023

Today we are collecting seeds! This is Swamp Milkweed (Asclepias incarnata) We are going to disperse these native plant species seeds in an invasive plant restoration area. This is one of my favorite parts of this job!!

08/27/2023

We’re sorry for so many posts in one day, but this one is super important!! 📢

Tomorrow is our Planting Day at Critter Crossing HQ! Along with Conservation Control, we are completing our native garden project in the backyard of our facility. 🌻

If you live near Dryden, PLEASE consider coming as we have a ton of weeds to pull, plants to plant, and mulch to spread! Volunteers are heavily needed!

Something that Veronica at Conservation Control does that we absolutely adore is she draws hand sketches of her visions & plans for her projects. After seeing her latest sketch, we are beyond stoked to see this project through!

08/06/2023

When we are not creating habitat based landscapes, sometimes we just want to tidy things up! ✨

There is nothing like the satisfaction of a mulch job transformation.

Some grass seed and pollinator friendly vegetation should finish this job nicely!🌻

08/04/2023

EXTREMELY INVASIVE PLANTS!🌿 You have definitely seen these!!

Most invasive plants such as Alder Buckthorn, and Amur Honeysuckle come equipped with native plant killing chemicals that can actually change soil chemistry! This is what's known as allelopathy, the chemical inhibition of one plant to another using substances acting as germination or growth inhibitors. 🥀

The beginning stages of this invasion may seem harmless. Before you know it, you can't walk easily in your woods, in the meadow, or your garden is taken over. When you cut them down, they come back twice as hard the next year! 👎

🌏Most invasive plants come from areas in the world such as Asia which share the same climate and topography as us in North America. Evolutionary differences resulted in plants which could thrive in the same environment, but have different characteristics developed to survive. 🌍

These invasive plants outcompete our native diversity and disembody unique ecosystems. Not to mention they are very difficult to permanently remove!

🌟Conservation Control uses our knowledge of the invasive plants life cycle to target them when they are vulnerable. We are always open to questions about invasive plants!🌟

07/20/2023