Tallgrass Prairie Restoration

Prairies are beautiful!

Prairie wildflowers are what initially attract many people to native prairie plants. With a good mix of seeds, it is possible to have wildflowers blooming from March to the first frost in a prairie garden.

The beauty of the grasses is not so startling and flashy, but many prairie gardeners soon come to love the grasses as much as the flowers. Lush green in the summer, they turn beautiful shades of red and gold in the fall and remain a striking addition to any landscape throughout the winter.

Prairie gardens are also extremely popular with wildlife. Butterflies love prairie flowers and birds feed on the seeds. In rural areas, prairie are popular haunts of deer, pheasants and other game.

Prairies are low maintenance!

For most people, starting a prairie restoration project means digging up pre-existing lawn or other landscaping, so the initial labor of preparing the bed is not insignificant. Until the prairie becomes established, after about one to two years, it will also require regular weeding and possibly some watering.

After they are established, however, prairie gardens are virtually maintenance free. Depending on the size of the prairie garden and the gardener's personal preference, they need simply to be burned or mowed once every one to three years to prevent their biomass from building up too much and suffocating spring growth or creating a fire hazard.

Weeds will encroach only with difficulty upon an established prairie and prairie plants, having evolved under the stresses of frequent drought, are well-adapted to living without watering. Nor do they require pesticides or fertilizers to remain healthy.

Prairies are environmentally sound!

Americans love lush green lawns. Unfortunately, lush green lawns are a status symbol imported from England, where it rains a lot more than it does in most of the American West. The constant watering and frequent application of pesticides and fertilizers required to maintain a healthy-looking lawn in the American West is unhealthy for both the lawnowner and the environment, and even contributes to water shortages in many Western cities, especially during periods of drought.

Native prairie plants, once established, require neither watering nor chemical fertilizers and pesticides to thrive, conserving water and reducing the release of dangerous chemicals into the air and groundwater. Not only that, they promote biodiversity and attract wildlife.

Depending on the size of your yard, your budget, and your personal preferences, a prairie garden can be anything from a small border of native wildflowers established from transplants to a multi-acre restoration.

Many gardeners new to prairie plantings like to start small, with an experimental border or other planting, to get some experience and learn more about their preferences. Prairie plants and seeds can be expensive and before starting a large project it does pay to understand the process and your final goals.

For example, many people considering a prairie planting picture a beautiful meadow of wildflowers and buy seed mixes containing a variety of wildflowers and grasses without realizing that in its natural state, the prairie is dominated by grasses and within a few years it will return to its natural ratio of about 60-80% grasses. In the meantime, many people will have grown to love the prairie grasses as deeply as they do the wildflowers, but for others, this can be a major disappointment. If you suspect you may be in the latter group, you may want to consider a mix that uses only the shorter and less aggressive grasses like little bluestem and sideoats grama, or even no grasses at all, although this is not recommended in larger plantings.

Coming soon!

The First Years

Your prairie will need some help until it becomes established, which generally takes one to three years, depending on how carefully you have prepared the site and whether you are using seeds or transplants.

The most important job is weeding. If you have started from seed, you should know that many prairie plants grow only a couple inches tall their first year of growth, concentrating their energy instead on establishing a good root system. Unfortunately, it is easy for weeds to shade out the baby plants during this time and kill them. If you are concerned about this, mowing a few times over the summer with the blades set to their maximum height may help. You should also plan to weed regularly by hand as necessary.

Unless it is an unusually dry year, watering will probably not be necessary for a seeded prairie garden, and may even promote harmful weed growth. If you have started with transplants, however, some watering will probably be necessary until their root systems have recovered from the trauma of being moved, epecially if it's an especially dry year.

Using herbicides of any kind during this time is not advised.

The Later Years

Once safely established, prairie gardens are virtually maintenance free. Most weeds will have trouble establishing themselves in the face of competition from the taller grasses in particular, although occasional spot weeding may be necessary. One common exception is non-native cool season grasses such as brome. Spot mowing can help control these species. If you want, you can replace the weeds with native transplants, but the prairie will quickly reclaim any bare ground on its own if you prefer not to do so.

Depending on the size of the garden and your personal preferences, you will need to burn, mow, or otherwise clear old growth away about once every one to three years so the built up biomass doesn't suffocate early spring growth over time or develop into a fire hazard. This is preferably done in late spring - late March to early May, depending on where you live - so the prairie can provide food and cover for wildlife over the winter. In larger prairie restorations, it is a good idea to divide the area into halves or thirds and do a different section every year.

Larger prairie plantings may also find it wise to mow a wide swath (usually about 8 feet) around the edges to serve as a fire break. This is especially important near any buildings or trees.

Many prairie plants are so hardy and adaptable that you could grow them almost anywhere. However, I strongly encourage you to use plants native to your own ecosystem in your landscaping, especially if you are in an area where water conservation is important. There is a growing number of resources available to help you.

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