You've named a lot of plants that are present on the site that are good butterfly/caterpillar host plants, and some that are good native ground covers and soil stabilizers. You've also proposed adding 3 non-native plants (clovers and lilac). I would remove the barberry and spread your seeds on any disturbed soil. I wouldnt touch the thin soil or undisturbed soil. Starting with some small containerized plants from a nearby native nursery would be a good bet too.

Check out https://wildseedproject.net/ for some info on Maine native planting.

Thanks Skip! I suppose I’ll scrap the lilacs and the clovers then. Which plants listed should I keep? There are only two barberry plants and I can easily get rid of those, they sprouted in the gravel.

what do you mean by disturbed areas? Can you point any out in my photos?

if I pull out a bunch of the ferns and spread seeds of milkweed and goldenrod in that area in late September will I have a chance of seeing those seeds turn into plants when I return in July?

Planting small plants from Nurseries isn’t good for late September right? Won’t they just die in the winter? Either way I’m mostly working with seeds so any tips about weeding this area are helpful too.

Which seeds do you recommend throwing down and any species not listed I should consider adding? Any seeds that will have a chance in spruce needles?

Every time you pull a plant up or dig, you disturb the soil and create an opening for dormant seed to germinate. Driving and walking creates compaction that changes the soil a little bit. Every time a plant is removed, whether by a storm or by a chainsaw, it creates an opening above ground for another plant to fill in. When the trees came down it created an opening for all those sedges and ferns. Thats where I would look to seed into. The strongly rhizomatous species like that fern might make it a little complicated, but if you simply cut them down with hedging shears or a weed wacker or similar, broadcast the seed and rake them in a little, you have a shot at all of your species germinating next year and growing into plants. It would be best if you could return to the site in the spring to do some follow up cutting to give your seedlings some space. September is a fine time to plant here, but Maine is a different climate so I can't say for sure. However, I planted a lot of small plants just before first frost in october last year and almost all of them survived the winter and my subsequent neglect this year. The only ones that died were planted in unsuitable spots... like shade plants that ended up being in full sun.

I would leave the spruce needle layer intact, let the blueberries fill in. You could drop seed and rake them in a little and see what happens, but I've had bad experiences after removing accumulated leaf and pine needle layers. Where I had mulch layers before, now I have knee high invasive weeds, who knows what you will get. The plant community that exists on your area might be lacking flowers in July but it is actually a desirable plant community and very beautiful. Try to create little pockets for color here and there matching your seed to the appropriate sun and moisture conditions for them, and plant into whats there, instead of trying to replace larger sections of it. Try adding thinleaf sunflower Helianthus decapetalus, and white meadowsweet Spirea alba (live plant) to your list. Im not sure what you'll have flowering up there in July so hopefully someone local can chime in with more suggestions for you.

By the way, spruce is host plant to 177 species of Lepidoptera (butterfly and moths), so while they are boring to look at and not obviously feeding pollinators, they are helping to support the food webs and habitat there, consider letting some regrow.

Thanks!

Is it really better to weed whack the ferns in September and then spread seeds over that as opposed to pulling out the ferns by their roots and then spreading seed over that? I was given one suggestion prior to posting here, which was to pull out the ferns. Won't leaving the roots in give them a better chance of regrowing the next season?

A friend also suggested strawberry plants rather than the non-native clovers. I cannot find any source online talking about simply planting seeds outdoors. Every reference to strawberries talks about planting them indoors first and then moving them. Is it a viable plan to spread strawberry seeds around disturbed soil in late September and expect to see growth the following July?

I've never tried to start strawberry seeds, every source I've found talks about vegetative propagation. You could pull the ferns out, maybe it would help with germination, but you are likely to also get weeds. By the way, in the book Garden Revolution by Larry Weaner, for seeding its recommended at a rate of 100 seeds per square foot. If you look here, https://shop.wildseedproject.net/products/wild-strawberry?variant=1046014245 they say the strawberry seeds should germinate immediately (no cold stratification required).

Does that mean that spreading strawberry seeds in September will be a bad idea because they will begin to grow then get killed by the frost at a young stage? I really appreciate your help here. The seeding per square foot was helpful too!

No problem, I am a bit obsessed with plants and anything I can read about landscape and habitat restoration. The seeding rate was for any type of seed or mix of seeds by the way, not just the strawberries. I would still sow them in the fall, they're hardy plants. Depending on the seeds, if the temperature and moisture conditions aren't right they might not germinate until the spring anyway. Actually check out this info:

"Fragaria vesca , Sow at Max. 5ºC (41ºF), germination irregular, often several months

Fragaria hybrida , Sow at 20ºC (68ºF), germination slow

Fragaria virginiana , Sow at -4 to +4ºC (24-39ºF) for 12 wks, move to 20ºC (68ºF) for germination"

So there you go, the seeds actually like cold temps to germinate. This exerpt is from here in the perennial germination database: https://tomclothier.hort.net/index.html

I planted a lot of tiny seedlings in the fall last year and had good survival. Rudbeckia fulgida, Hypericum prolificum, Astragalus canadensis, Hollow stem joe pye Eupatorium fistulosum, Senna hebecarpa, Agastache scrophulariifolia, Aquilegia canadensis, and Vernonia noveboracensis all made it after hitting the ground close to november. They also survived a winter full of hard flooding rains that froze solid the following day, as well subzero temperatures. The pattern seemed to be abnormally warm weather, then like 2" of rain, then a cold front with highs in the teens. Your plants should handle a nice long stable winter in Maine.

This is great info thanks. Is there any reliable place to purchase native strawberry seeds in bulk? I found one listing for 5,000 Fragaria vesca seeds on eBay but not the other varieties.

Great, I will purchase the 1/8 ounce of those strawberry seeds and distribute them liberally on disturbed areas as well as on the gravel. Thank you. I also got some Woodland Strawberry seeds to distribute on the shadier side of the structure.

I am not having luck finding the thinleaf sunflower Helianthus decapetalus seeds you recommended, and I was able to secure some of the white meadowsweet seeds.

Is there any risk of spreading too many seeds per square foot?

The exact quote from the book I mentioned is "I plan my seed mixes to spread 80 to 175 seeds per square foot of soil." More than that, maybe would just be wasting seed. For tiny seeds, you might have tens of thousands of seeds in an ounce, so you would want to mix them in a container with sand, rice hulls or similar to make them easier to spread at the desired rate.

That’s helpful! Would dispersing blueberry seeds in September also be a viable option? If so I am also having a hard time sourcing a good source for a bulk purchase. I tried transplanting two wild blueberry young bushes from one area to another (no watering) and both died within days. Maybe I’ll attempt it again and haul some water to the area to help them out.

Are there any blueberries left on the plants? If you get a cup of blueberries, put them in the blender with water, blend it, let it settle, skim off the flesh and carefully pour out the water, and repeat that a couple times, you will be left with a bunch of blueberry seeds at the bottom. Then strain them out and sow them. You can do this with store bought blueberries too. They will take years to grow into bushes though.

Thanks! Someone recommended I use Jute Netting to cover the areas I am seeding. Any comments on that? Amazon has a 3 foot by 150 foot roll for about $50. I've never done this so any input would be valuable, thanks again for all of your help.

Here are 2 good Habitat restoration webinars sponsored by the us fish & wildlife & Monarch Joint Venture: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=gij_gjCsGHQ# https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=TX1aDWu3S_s&t=8s# 

I have heard of using jute netting or straw blankets on embankments and areas prone to flooding or erosion. If thats your situation, then go for it. Otherwise just leave it very lightly covered in mulch or duff from the plants you pulled out.

I can't believe no one has asked yet, but is this land owned by your family or do you have permission to alter it?

Thanks Skip, that simplified things. I’ll use Duff from the area. I’m quite excited about setting this plan in motion next weekend. I haven’t had the chance to watch the hour plus videos that nickcats posted and will try to find the time this week, thanks for those too.

Harold, yes, this is my land. Cheers.

anyone want to jump in with random advise or thoughts, please do so, all advise and help is appreciated and has been very useful for me.

Heading up there now. Excited for the project.

This is the final list of what I’m working with. Should any of these be mixed into the same area or should I separate them Into different/adjacent areas? And if anyone has experience planting any of these, I could use tips regarding the best depth to plant these and anything else you have to offer. I will not have any mulch or water. They will be left alone until next July.

• 12,000 milkweed
• 6,000 Black-eyed Susan
• 250 wild geranium
• 160 queen of the prairie pink meadowsweet
• 500 pink New England aster
• 8,750 New England aster purple
• 8,000 Joe Pye Weed
• 24,000 old field goldenrod
• 10,375 Virginia Strawberry
• 5,000 Woodland strawberry
• 2,150 Asclepias tuberosa /Butterfly Weed
• 160 White meadowsweet
• 1/4 pound Wild Lupine

Don’t forget some seeds need light to germinate, such as Swamp Milkweed Asclepias incarnata. Also some seeds need stratification such as Milkweeds & Lupines. Seed to soil contact, moisture & temperature are the main components to seed germination. Slugs & snails LOVE new milkweed sprouts. Good luck! Can’t wait to see your spring pics!

What I would do is try to get a diverse mix of plants from different families, exactly how you'd find plants in pristine, natural ecosystems. Some overlooked and neglected species are vital necessities for certain animals and insects. It's great that you are already adding some species that are host plants like the milkweeds and lupins. You have about 5 plant families represented so far. The sub family Asclepiadoideae, and the families Fabaceae, Asteraceae, Geraniaceae, and Rosaceae. If you were to look at a guide of Maine wildflowers they will probably be grouped into families and a guide will show you what species from other families are growing in your area. I'm talking like long term, not saying to do it all right now at once. It's something to shoot for over time. Good success!

UPDATE 2020 JUNE

I was planning to check the progress in May and then again in July, but all travel is off this year due to COVID19. So luckily for me, I have a close family member that has been checking on the project for me as well as pulling the ferns every couple of weeks to allow the other plants a chance.

Another reality for me is that the deer on this island are overpopulated and will eat everything they can, which makes matters even more tough. In May I was sent photos of new growth that was popping up which turned out to be bunchberry dogwood, a species I didn't plant and that I have never seen in July. Then when my relative checked again in a couple of weeks, the ones that were initially there were gone and others had popped up. So i presume the deer eat thee every year and never allow them to grow to maturity so I don't see them in July.

As of 2 weeks ago, out of the 75,000 or so seeds I planted, exactly one was positively identified, one of the Wild Lupine seeds has made it and is growing! Supposedly it is deer resistant so fingers crossed. I should have more updates throughout the year and will check in about the progress.

One other good piece of news was that the small blueberry plant I dug up and moved to the area last September, has survived the winter and is growing fresh leaves. That's really wonderful news because I only watered it one time before having to leave, and now 9 months later it's alive and well. So I will be able to repeat this many times over now (whenever I can get to Maine) and hopefully in 3-5 years I can establish a very large area of low bush blueberries.

It's been very dry in Maine so far and my hope is that the other seeds I planted are still waiting to make an appearance somehow.

Presumed Bunchberry Dogwood

The Blueberry plant I transplanted in september and survived (pic from this May)

And here is my one confirmed successful seed (so far), the Wild Lupine (from June)

Do you know about this place? You might be interested in what they have been doing with the site - it isn't all conventional decorative gardens by any means.

https://www.mainegardens.org/

Latest update from about a week ago: No signs of anything growing from the seeds that I panted. The one wild lupine vanished. Presumably deer? If it was drought the dried up plant would still remain right? There have been some good rains over the past week, is it possible that my September seeds will still sprout and grow this late in the season?