Re: Prairie plantings
Don Martinson wrote:
> Hi Pat...
>
> As a fellow Wisconsinite, I think you'll at least have to take out the
> grass first. Now, of course you have the envious choice of deciding
> whether you want to dig it out by hand, solarize it (cover with black
> plastic) or resort to chemical means. Then, of course, comes the
> overseeding with your plants of choice. Some years ago, one of the
> gardening magazines (I think) did a comparison of some of the pre-packaged
> prairie flower mixes. As I remember, one of the main complaints was that
> there might, under good conditions, be adequate annuals the first year, it
> really tapered off in succeeding years. You might want to consider one of
> the seed companies that actually specialize in native plants and that offer
> not only mixes, but the individual species so that you can make your own
> mix. I can't recall any of the names off the tip of my tongue, but I'm
> sure a search would turn up some. If you can't find anything, let me know
> and I'll hunt through my catalog bin and see if I've saved any.
A friend out in Zone 5 (near Lansing) created a
1/2 acre "wildflower
meadow" three years ago and what happened was
exactly what Don recalls. She started out by
double-tilling the spot -- a section of mowed
"farm lawn" -- and used a commercial "wildflower"
mix. *In many of the magazine articles and seed
catalogues they instruct the gardener to prepare
the bed in much the same way as one would prepare
a bed for baby carrots -- not really do-able on a
large scale for people who don't have gardening
staff.
The first year was beautiful, but was heavily
dependent on annual poppies. There were some
lupines, rudbeckias and echinacea in the mix but,
of course, these plants didn't bloom their first
year. They did bloom the second year but very few
of the poppies and other annuals self-sowed -- and
by the second summer many of the grasses and
(argh!) Queen Anne's lace had moved back into the
spot. The third summer all one saw was QAL with
an occasional lupine or rudbeckia. Some people
think QAL is pretty, and I suppose it might be in
a controlled situation, but...
The seed mix also included common yarrow which we
don't need more of here in Michigan, and it
contained other things like sweet williams,
lavatera and
lemon balm which really arent' "meadow" flowers.
After the third summer, I
helped my friend move out the few lupines and
other "good" perennials and she let her husband
return the area back to lawn.
As Don recommends, I would also recommend buying
seeds of only those plants you want so as to avoid
all the "filler" seeds like yarrow.
Wildseed Farms, http://www.wildseed farms has a
very good selection of seeds in bulk quantities.
Their selections seem to be more "pretty flowering
plants suited for full sun situations" although
their catalogue does have some info about climate
zones, etc.
Prairie Nursery, http://www.prairienursery.com,
also has a nice selection of both seeds and, in
some cases, plants. Prairie Nursery focuses a lot
more on native (USA) plants and their catalogue
has more info about clay vs. sandy soil, wet
spots, etc.
I've ordered from both of these places with
satisfactory results.
Dean Sliger
Warren, MI, USA
Zone 6B
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