Macro-Prairie
In 1883, my grandfather and his father-in-law to-be (my great grandfather) both homesteaded in Clark County, Dakota Territory. What they found was not a micro-prairie but a macro-prairie. Head high big bluestem stretched for miles in all directions. It was hard to see where you were going so the homesteaders hired a man with a team of horses and a drag to mark the section lines. The drag knocked down the grass as the man somehow navigated the team along the section lines. This helped the homesteaders find their way around a sea of grass.
Fast forward 141 years to the micro-prairie in my yard. It is a pale imitation of the vast macro-prairie. There is only one clump of big bluestem. The clumps of little bluestem and wild rye are almost as big as the big bluestem. I guess having uncontained grass fires and herds of bison trampling about favors the growth of big bluestem. Since I haven’t spotted any herds of bison grazing the boulevards, big bluestem will not dominate the micro-prairie anytime soon. Also, the amount of shade in the yard creates more of a woodland setting for the micro-prairie. Nonetheless, the micro-prairie has abundant growth — in fact, its a jungle out there. Here is a picture of the east boulevard that I replanted two years ago.
There is now diverse foliage. The grass is mostly wild rye and sedge. I don’t think there was any big bluestem in the seed mix I planted. A number of plants in the rudbeckia family have grown large. I won’t know what they are until they bloom but they are a welcome change from the weeds that were here last year. As recommended, last year I pulled weeds and kept the area mowed all summer. This allowed the natives to get established. Now the boulevard has the makings of a nice woodland micro-prairie. Columbine is blooming and there is a lot of diversity in the emerging plants.
Here is a picture of the nearby pollinator garden I planted last year from a kit provided by the city and the county conservation district. The gaillardia has done very well and put on a nice show last fall until frost.
The pollinator garden was a nice addition to the front yard. The front yard has been a problem for a while now. There is a flowering shrub that makes it hard to get natives started near it. But on the other side of the front walk is a sunny area where only rye grass, solomon seal and a lonely patch of bloodroot grows. The seed kit was perfect for this small, full-sun area. Here are two pictures of the area taken from the front patio in May (top) and June (bottom).
The angles of the pictures are not the same but it still shows how the jungle is encroaching on the patio - which seriously needs to be weed whacked!
The macro-prairie in Clark County was part of a region known as the Prairie Pot Hole region. Retreating glaciers left many small depressions in the land that held water from spring snow melt well into summer. These were vital water holes for wildlife and supported a variety of plants like reeds and cattails. Several years ago I created a small water feature in the micro-prairie by burying three hog pans in a low spot. They provided interest to the micro-prairie but didn’t really support any plants. Then, about four years ago, reeds came up in one of the pans. I don’t know where they came from but they grew tall and had cattails on them — if you build it, they will come? This inspired me to upgrade the “pond” into a better pond. I dug a bigger hole and lined it with polyethylene plastic. When rain filled up the new pond this spring I slid the hog pan with the remains of the reeds into it so that the pan was submerged in the center. Then, unexpectedly, the reeds came up strong. Here is a picture.
The pan is visible but as leaves and debris build up it will become less obvious. It will be interesting to see if reeds grow outside of the pan. Stay tuned for updates.
Finally, it wouldn’t be Memorial Weekend if I didn’t give a talk at the Bronze Age native plant garden we planted two years ago. Bronze Age Casting hosted an art fair for local artists and Lisa from Bronze Age asked me to give a talk. There was a small but interested group that braved the wind to talk about micro-prairies. It was nice to talk to people who are in the process of ripping out grass to plant natives. One person had a narrow, two to three foot wide boulevard and was wondering what to do with it. I looked at a boulevard like that later and realized that it would be perfect for a cardboard with live plants type of planting like we did at Bronze Age. One tray of plants would cover 30 to 40 feet of boulevard and it would be pretty easy to install the cardboard and wood chips to hold it down. A planting like that would have a formal look that should work well in such a narrow boulevard.
Someone also asked me if I got into trouble with the city for having native plants. I told them that it is not illegal to have native plants in your boulevard. In fact the city code on boulevards specifically names native plantings as an alternative to turf grass. I explained that the city is primarily concerned about water runoff from turf grass lawns. They realize that the deep root systems of native plants and the lack of chemical fertilizer for native gardens will greatly reduce toxic runoff. That is why they sponsored the garden kits I mentioned earlier. So, the city is okay with natives but your neighbors may not be up to speed on the codes. If they complain, a city inspector will contact you. You just have to explain what you are doing and they will leave you alone. So, it is growing season. Rip out some turf grass and plant natives. You will feel good about it!
