How to Grow a Prairie in Suburbia

There used to be a time I wanted bigger everything – bigger house, bigger yard, bigger car, bigger income.

In the past few years, I’ve learned something about myself and the world in general: Bigger isn’t better.

By embracing minimalism, the lure of have a bigger house and yard has faded as I define what matters to me. Investing in more stuff means investing more time, time I’d rather spend enjoying life’s simple pleasures and doing some amazing work.

This doesn’t mean we’ll never update our home again. Just the opposite – this year, we’re saving up to redo the landscaping, which is overgrown and all wrong. The process got me thinking about how to make our yard more useful and beautiful. That sounds right.

The question: How do we use our landscapes?

Pondering this, I kept coming back to a yard that always inspires me. It’s a “prairie in progress” at the Dept. of Natural Resources, right here in Green Bay, Wisconsin. It looks like this (pardon my photography):

It’s pretty. It smells like a prairie cake baking in the sun. Swoon.

Back to my own yard … Most of it is never used. Specifically, this part is hardly ever used:

Instead, I enjoy the beauty of nature from a favorite perch:

It really made me think.

My once “too-small” yard now seems like a waste of space. I don’t mean that in a negative, ungrateful way at all. I’m only pointing out how my mentality has shifted.

My goal is this: Instead of a landscape of unused space, I want to create something in rhythm with nature and what we enjoy. Low on maintenance, high on enjoyment.

The Prairie Plan

By adding native plant species into your landscape and using your lot to grow food, you can turn the traditional, over-fertilized suburban lawn into something that’s beautiful and useful at the same time.

Why natives?

• Once established, native plants thrive without fertilizers, routine mowing and adapt to any kind of rainfall.
• Adding native plants will provide food and habitat for wildlife in a natural way.

Dig it: Your own prairie in progress.

Ceci Kiefer of Stone Silo Prairie Gardens put my wild prairie plans in perspective:  ”You don’t have to be a native purist.”

What a relief! Hugs to my roses and lilies, you know who you are.

First, she defined “native,” which means plants that existed before European settlers arrived and introduced other varietals. Follow her advice to bring native plants – or a prairie – into your yard:

Experience what you have. Discover the hot spots of your yard – where is the sun the strongest? Is the soil sandy or clay based? This helps determine which native plants will thrive by matching their needs to the conditions.

Don’t be paralyzed. “This isn’t rocket science.” Kiefer told me to dive in and plant something. Drizzle some water at the base of the plant and see what happens.

Don’t rip out all the non-natives. Instead, when you have an open spot in a garden, put a native plant in place.

Make it deliberate. If you want to turn a large portion of your yard into a wild flower or prairie garden, make it look deliberate. The neighbors won’t appreciate a weed patch (also known as your precious prairie garden). Here’s how to make prairie swaths obviously deliberate:

• Leave a strip of green grass. Frame the space. Clean it up.
• Know the height of the natives. You don’t want a 6-foot patch of wild flowers obstructing the front door. Choose tidier varieties.
• Put up a sign that reads: Wildflower Garden.
• Add edging and points of interest like a sundial or garden sculpture.
• Plant for a succession of blooms. When done right, wildflower gardens will bloom in spring, summer and fall. Visit Wild Ones for information on which plants to choose.
• Get ready for the Battle of the Weeds. Like any garden, the weeds will come – within 3 to 4 years, the native plants begin to thrive and maintenance diminishes. But you’ve been warned – there are still plenty of weeds to pick up until then.

Birds, bees, butterflies … These are just some of the living creatures that will thrive and appreciate your new gardens.

To your prairie, big or small.

When we see land as a community to which we belong, we may begin to use it with love and respect. – Aldo Leopold

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Top photo courtesy of Ceci Kiefer.