Shoreland owners may want to consider adding Minnesota-hearty plants along their shore. The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources (DNR) and the University of Minnesota (U of M) Extension Service recommend these three workhorse plants: giant burreed, sedges, and wild bergamot. Theywill add beauty along the shore while reducing erosion, filtering pollutants and providing habitat for fish and wildlife.
In the shallow water, add giant bur-reed. Its strong roots will stabilize the lake bed. This plant looks a lot like a cattail, but it doesn’t grow as tall. Both plants grow in shallow water. Both have blade-shaped leaves, but the cattail leaf is flat and the bur-reed leaf has a spine running down its center, so it is thicker.
These plants bloom in late summer, and that is when their differences become apparent. Cattail has brown hot-dog shaped blooms. Giant bur-reed has delicate white blossoms. Muskrats use the entire plant and the seeds are commonly eaten by waterfowl and marsh birds. Before planting in the water, a DNR permit is required.
Where water and land meet, add sedges. Many have seed heads that resemble their common names like fox and bottlebrush. Bulrushes (one type of sedge) are found in many Minnesota shoreland areas. Sedge is a common name for a family of grass-like and rush-like herbs found in all parts of the world. They differ from true grasses because they have solid, angular (usually triangular) stems. Most are perennial.
Try wild bergamot (also known as bee balm) along the shore. Thisplant has pale pink flowers that attract hummingbirds and butterflies. This perennial plant grows to 2 to 4 feet tall with tubular pink or lavender globe-shaped flowers at tops of stems. Wild bergamot blooms in July and August. Its leaves are opposite, up to 5 inches long, toothed and lance-shaped. All plant parts have a minty fragrance. It often forms colonies. Leaves and roots are used medicinally by American Indians.
The DNR and U of M Extension can assist shoreland owners with choosing plants based on soils, substrates, and native plant communities. Lists of native plant suppliers in northeastern and northwestern Minnesota are available online at: files.dnr.state.mn.us/assistance/backyard/ gardens/native_plant/suppliers_northeast. pdf. Learn more at www.mndnr.gov
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