Fired Up for Rare Plants | Kill Your Lawn Clip | EarthX - video Dailymotion

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EarthX Website: https://earthxmedia.com/   The best way to kill off invasive plants? Fight fire with fire! Joey & Al learn about prairie conservation and visit an island that's the only place in the world that's home to Illinois' rarest plant: the Kankakee mallow.   About Kill Your Lawn:  Best friends Joey and Al set out across America to accomplish their mission: carry out a turficidal killing spree and leave a trail of pollinator-friendly, native plant gardens in their wake. It’s time to laugh our way to a lawn-less future!    This clip comes from Season 2, Episode 3: "Lawnfellas"    EarthX  Love Our Planet.  The Official Network of Earth Day.    About Us:  At EarthX, we believe our planet is a pretty special place. The people, landscapes, and critters are likely unique to the entire universe, so we consider ourselves lucky to be here. We are committed to protecting the environment by inspiring conservation and sustainability, and our programming along with our range of expert hosts support this mission. We’re glad you’re with us.     EarthX is a media company dedicated to inspiring people to care about the planet. We take an omni channel approach to reach audiences of every age through its robust 24/7 linear channel distributed across cable and FAST outlets, along with dynamic, solution oriented short form content on social and digital platforms. EarthX is home to original series, documentaries and snackable content that offer sustainable solutions to environmental challenges. EarthX is the only network that delivers entertaining and inspiring topics that impact and inspire our lives on climate and sustainability.       EarthX Website: https://earthxmedia.com/    Follow Us:  Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/earthxtv/  LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/earthxtv  Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/earthxtv      How to watch:   United States:   - Spectrum  - AT&T U-verse (1267)  - DIRECTV (267)  - Philo  - FuboTV  - Plex  - Fire TV    #EarthDay #Environment #Sustainability #Eco-friendly #Conservation #EarthxTV #EarthX

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00:00One of the best places to experience prairie natives is just 15 miles down the road from

00:07Nathaniel and Deneen's.

00:08Welcome to the Schulenburg Prairie at Morton Arboretum, where botanist Kurt Dreisilker

00:15fights off invasives with fire.

00:18The fire is incredibly important in managing prairie.

00:25So without fire, the woody plants would grow and develop above ground.

00:30And so that would out-compete all these other cool species that can't make it.

00:34They don't get enough light in the forest, right?

00:36Yes, exactly.

00:37If you are managing for prairie, you really need 100% sunlight.

00:42The expansive Schulenburg Prairie at Morton Arboretum stands out as one of the great success

00:47stories of Illinois prairie restoration and conservation.

00:51And Kurt's strategy of cleaning out woody plants and invasives is also used on an island

00:56in the Kankakee River that's home to Illinois' rarest plant.

01:01Okay, so we always encourage people to plant native plants.

01:04And you know, I often say it doesn't matter what you got as long as it's native and it's

01:08providing food for pollinators and with the sh** and the birds.

01:11But there are a couple plants native to the area, some are endemic, that is they only

01:16grow here, that we really encourage people to plant.

01:18And this is a great example.

01:19Right here, this is Langham Island.

01:21I'm surrounded on both sides by the Kankakee River.

01:25This island is the only known habitat, the only known occurrence of Iliamna remota, the

01:29Kankakee Mallow, which is a plant that's great for a garden.

01:33It loves full sun, it grows like hell, and this is the only place in the world that it

01:37grows.

01:38This plant disappeared for a while.

01:40The only living specimens of this plant existed as seeds in the seed bank of the island behind me.

01:46Local volunteers started coming out to the island to clear away invasive buckthorn and

01:50honeysuckle with hand tools and fire.

01:53This brought more sunlight into the understory and spurred a new generation of Iliamna remota

01:58to sprout.

01:59Since the seeds were still laying there in the seed bank beneath the impenetrable thicket

02:03of invasive bullsh**, and thank God for the volunteers, one of them's even got a Kankakee

02:08Mallow bloom tattooed on her arm.

02:11Louie, save me!

02:14Come on, Louie!

02:17Take me to shore!

02:23I'd be surprised if they're blooming, but we're going to just do it.

02:26You need to put this up because the deer would gnaw it down, you know?

02:29Whereas, you know, maybe two, three hundred years ago you had a wolf hanging out on this

02:32island, you know, or a wolf pack keeping them away.

02:35Oh, there's a pink flower.

02:36There you go!

02:37There's a flower, nice!

02:39See that?

02:40Iliamna remota, the Kankakee Mallow.

02:44So most of them are done blooming, but there's a couple stragglers.

02:48This is a great example of how management is important, especially in the age of invasive

02:52species.

02:53The fire is really good for this landscape because it gets rid of things like pigs, but

02:57it also will clear out the way for plants like this to thrive.

03:02This is a fire-adapted plant.

Fired Up for Rare Plants | Kill Your Lawn Clip | EarthX

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