Establishing a Prairie Garden Using Transplants

Areas of 1000 square feet or less can be established using transplants. Plants offer many advantages over seeds:

Most will flower the year they are transplanted, while seeds typically require three years or more to bloom.
Plants can be placed according to a design to create a desired effect.
Weeds can be readily distinguished from garden transplants, whereas slow-growing native seedlings can be difficult to tell from the weeds in a seeded prairie.

Transplants are more costly than seed, per area covered, and more labor is required to install them. However, prairie gardens are a great choice for smaller, more formal areas. They provide immediate results and are more acceptable to neighbors and local "Weed Police" that may find seeded meadows too "messy" for their tastes.

The area to be planted must be completely free of weeds and grasses. Heavy clay soils should be cultivated or dug to a depth of one foot to break up layers of compacted soil. Organic matter such as compost, peat moss, well rotted manure or leaves can be tilled into poor clay soils to improve aeration and water infiltration. Do not add sawdust, bark chips, or other organic materials derived from wood, as these will rob the soil of nitrogen and retard the growth of your plants. Dry sandy soils can also be improved by the addition of organic matter to increase their nutrient and water-holding capacity.

A Quick Guide to Converting Your Lawn to a Prairie Garden

Lawns are easy to convert into a prairie wildflower garden. You can establish a beautiful, fully developed prairie garden in two years by following the simple steps below:

Smother the lawn using 10 or more sheets of newspapers, a single layer of cardboard, black plastic, or a tarp. Secure the material with rocks, logs, fence posts, or similar items to keep them from blowing away. Cover for 2 months or longer, until the grass is completely dead. Lawn can also be killed by spraying with a glyphosate herbicide, such as "Roundup." Apply herbicide in mid-spring or early fall when lawn grasses are actively growing. Wait one week after spraying before installing your plants.
If the soil is poor and requires amendment with organic mater, till or dig up the dead sod, add the desired organic material, and till it into the soil. Dead sod tends to clump together and does not till into the soil well. If a spring planting is desired, kill the lawn in the fall and allow it to rot over winter before tilling in spring. The sod will then break up more easily.
If no soil amendment is required, the transplants can be installed directly into dead sod using a small shovel or hand trowel. By not disturbing the surrounding soil, weed seeds are not exposed, reducing weed growth in the new garden. If smothering with newspaper, cut a small hole in the paper and install your transplant through the hole. Leave the paper in place and cover it with the desired mulch to help prevent weed germination. When planting into tilled soil or dead lawn turf, cover the soil around each new transplant with layers of newspaper and cover with mulch. The newspaper serves as a barrier to weed seed germination. Hint: when applying newspaper around your transplants, it is easier to work with when left folded in half. After applying a few sheets of newspaper, water them down as you go to prevent them from blowing away.
Mulch immediately after planting with 3 to 4 inches of clean, weed-free straw (winter wheat straw is best). Shredded bark can be used sparingly as a substitute for straw. Cocoa bean hulls are easy to work with, but can be toxic to pets, especially dogs. Bark chips are not recommended. If desired, a pre-emergent herbicide such as "Preen" can be applied after the plants have been installed, and prior to application of a newspaper cover and mulch. This will help prevent weed germination and reduce garden maintenance.
Water your garden regularly in the first two months after planting whenever the soil under the mulch begins to dry out. Expect to water once a week in the absence of rainfall. A single deep soaking is better than numerous light sprinklings. Once the plants are well-established watering should not be necessary, except during periods of extended drought.

Five Tips on Designing a Prairie Garden Using Transplants

The following tips on designing your prairie garden combine the principles of plant ecology with garden design. You can select the ideas that you wish to apply in your garden and express your own style using wildflowers and native grasses.

Plant wildflowers and grasses together to create a naturalistic meadow effect. The dense root systems of the grasses will do much of the "weeding" for you by eliminating open soil in which weed seeds germinate and grow. Tap-rooted flowers do not provide sufficient soil cover to prevent weed growth around them, and should be inter-planted with grasses. Grasses also help support the wildflowers, reducing the need for staking tall flowers.
Select plants to match the scale of your landscape. Plant tall plants in back and short ones in front. Use short flowers and grasses in small prairie gardens. Tall flowers and grasses work best in back borders and areas where bold plants are desired, as well as for screening undesirable views in late summer and fall.
Plant flowers in masses and drifts of color to create drama and impact in the garden. Include short prairie grasses with mass flower plantings to help control weeds. In a closely tended or heavily-mulched garden, flowers can be planted without the grasses, but will require more maintenance.
Select plants for a succession of bloom throughout the growing season. This ensures that something interesting is always going on in your prairie garden. Include spring bloomers, as these are among the most attractive and delicate of the prairie flowers. Late in the year after all the flowers have gone by, the prairie grasses will provide a great show in fall and winter.
Use large "specimen" plants as architectural focal points in the garden. Surround individual specimen plants with lower-growing flowers and grasses to help them show off. Use groundcover plants for inter-planting among taller flowers and grasses, and in areas where low-growing cover is desired.

By integrating the principles of ecology with garden design, you can create attractive, ecological prairie gardens. After the first year of establishment, these gardens will require no fertilizers, pesticides, or irrigation to keep them healthy and vibrant. Even during severe heat and drought, prairie gardens continue to perform while most other plants fade. And that ensures you of "more flowers per hours" spent in the garden!