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This
is a great time to start a wildflower garden! I know this for
a FACT since the best gardener I know sows her wildflower seeds in fall.
You ask, "Who is the best gardener I know?" Well, her name is Mother Nature,
of
course.
The wildflowers grown by Mother Nature are beginning to ripen. Soon the seeds in those flowers will drop to the ground. These seeds will germinate next spring.
And I love the idea of starting a wildflower
prairie! It reminds me of the old TV show "Little House on the Prairie".
Remember? Those were the good old days of TV. In a future column we'll
talk about the Brady Bunch -- their backyard was Astroturf! I think their
dog Tiger had to wear slippers to prevent rug burn! But I digress. Back
to the prairie.
If I close my eyes, I can still see little Laura Ingalls running down the hillside with a big smile on her face and a wildflower in her hand. What a happy child she was!
That was a simple, happy life. And I think we can learn a lot from these settlers. Even about lawn care. Yes, I said lawn care! After all, you never saw Charles Ingalls out there on his noisy, riding lawn mower every weekend. No, he had better things to do, like go fishing with Mr. Edwards or "Half-pint" Laura.
A lot of us are getting tired of mowing our lawns every weekend. If you are one of these people, consider turning part of your lawn into a prairie. It is easy to take care of, has an everchanging display of beautiful wildflowers, and will attract birds!
Successful prairie establishment is not cheap and it's not easy. It requires careful site preparation, improving the soil, and selecting proper plants.
You usually need to start by killing the existing patch of lawn. One option is to use a vegetation killer like Round-Up, Finale or Klear-Away. Spray the lawn while its green and growing. About 10 days later the lawn will turn brown. Cultivate the grass when it dies and prepare a smooth soil bed. Consider working in an inch of compost to enrich the land.
If you do not want to use a chemical to kill the lawn, kill the grass and weeds by cultivating them on a weekly basis for three weeks.
Just before planting, consider adding a couple inches of compost or aged manure to the land. Mix this in with your roto-tiller. This organic matter will improve the drainage and tilth of the land.
Besides wildflowers, I recommend including some grasses in your wildflower prairie. The grasses will choke out weeds that emerge between the wildflowers, provide physical support for the wildflower stems, and accentuate the beauty of the wildflowers. The golden fall color of grasses can be attractive through the winter months, too.
Select low-growing grasses if you want the wildflowers to be prominent in the prairie. Recommended low-growing grasses include little bluestem, sideoats grama, and prairie dropseed. Low-growing grasses are best for urban landscapes.
Select tall-growing grasses if your major goal is to attract birds (such as the pheasant shown above) and other wildlife. Such a planting will provide seeds for wildlife in fall, and protective cover from winter through spring. Tall-growing grasses include big bluestem, indiangrass and switchgrass.
Many different wildflowers do well in Wisconsin. Popular native wildflowers include New England aster, white false indigo, sunflower, ox-eye sunflower, purple and yellow coneflower, blanket flower, prairie blazing star, compassplant, stiff goldenrod, and black-eyed susan.
Another source of information is the Wild Ones organization. You may wish to link up with them.
