Honoring the Ecological Legacy of the Braun Sisters with Grave Site Restoration Plantings (Spring Grove Cemetery, Ohio)

Honoring the Ecological Legacy of the Braun Sisters with Grave Site Restoration Plantings (Spring Grove Cemetery, Ohio)

Denis G. Conover (corresponding author: University of Cincinnati Biological Sciences, P.O. Box 210006, Cincinnati, OH 45221-0006, [email protected]), David Gressley (Spring Grove Cemetery Horticulture, 45232 Spring Grove Ave., Cincinnati, OH) and Brent Taylor (Spring Grove Cemetery Horticulture, 45232 Spring Grove Ave., Cincinnati, OH)

Dr. Emma Lucy Braun (1889–1971) was a pioneer in the field of Plant Ecology. Her influential book, Deciduous Forests of Eastern North America (Braun 1950), in which she popularized such terms as “mixed mesophytic forest” is a classic. Dr. E. Lucy Braun was the first woman elected president of the Ecological Society of America. Her sister, Dr. Annette Braun (1884–1978), was the first woman to earn a Ph.D. at the University of Cincinnati and was a leading authority on microlepidoptera. Dr. E. Lucy Braun was the third woman to earn a Ph.D. at the University of Cincinnati. During her career Dr. E. Lucy Braun had over 180 publications in the form of journal articles and books (Lafferty 1979). She was a founding member of the Cincinnati Wild Flower Preservation Society in 1917 whose motto is to “Enjoy: Do Not Destroy” and was a very important advocate for the preservation of natural areas (Meyn and Buck 2012). For instance, her conservation efforts in Adams County, Ohio has led to the preservation of 20,000 acres in The Edge of Appalachia Preserve System. The Braun sisters are buried side by side with their parents in section 101 at Spring Grove Cemetery in Cincinnati, Ohio.

It is a common practice to use the non-native, evergreen vines Hedera helix (English Ivy), Euonymus fortunei (Wintercreeper), and Vinca minor (Lesser Periwinkle) as ground covers on graves in cemeteries. These plants are easily propagated ground covers that are still extensively used by landscapers (Dirr 1983). Hedera helix and V. minor are native to Europe and Western Asia, and E. fortunei is native to Asia. When H. helix and E. fortunei vines climb trees and walls they can flower and produce fruits which are eaten by birds and small mammals that spread the seeds into wooded natural areas. Over the past few years wooded natural areas in Southwestern Ohio have experienced an explosive increase in the spread of H. helix and E. fortunei, where they can form a dense ground cover and form vines on trees that choke out native species (Conover et al. 2016, Swearingen 2009a, Swearingen 2009b.). This is of major concern because Southwestern Ohio is also where the highly invasive Asian shrub Lonicera maackii (Amur Honeysuckle) first became adventive in Ohio (Braun 1961, Conover and Sisson 2016).

Until recently the graves of the Braun sisters were covered with H. helix. Out of respect for these eminent conservationists it was decided to kill the H. helix on their graves and to replace it with native species. The first foliar application of herbicide was done on September 28, 2017. The temperature was 22.2°C and the sky was mostly sunny. The solution used for the initial application consisted of 4.9 mL of Kinetic (a spreader/sticker and penetrant combination, Helena Agri-Enterprise Collierville, TN) 88.7 mL of Ranger Pro glyphosate herbicide (Monsanto, St. Louis, MO), and 29.6 mL of Remedy Ultra triclopyr herbicide (Corteva agriscience, Wilmington, DE) with water added to make 3.8 L of finished spray solution. This solution had a concentration of 2.3% glyphosate, 0.01% trichlopyr, and 0.01% Kinetic. After one month the patch of H. helix was still alive, so on November 2, 2017 the patch was sprayed a second time. For this second spraying the temperature was 18.9°C and the sky was cloudy. The second solution consisted of 4.9 mL of Pentrabark surfactant and 88.7 mL of Ranger Pro with water added making a 1.9 L finished spray solution. This second solution had a concentration of 4.7% glyphosate and 0.03% surfactant. By the spring of 2018 the H. helix was significantly browned out. When the H. helix was stripped off the area, no green was evident in the shoots or stems. More testing is being done on other patches of H. helix at Spring Grove Cemetery to determine the most effective way to kill it.

After the H. helix was removed from the Braun graves, it was replaced with the native American ground cover species Creeping Mint (Meehania cordata), Golden Star (Chrysogonum virginianum), and Allegheny Spurge (Pachysandra procumbens). After two years of growth these native plants have become established and are serving as effective ground covers on the graves of the Braun sisters.