Outdoor Prairie Classroom Planning - Wildlife Gardeners

gnomenative · 10-14-2009, 03:05 PM

I am in the process of doing a restoration for a school to create an outdoor prairie classroom. We decided on seeds from three sources-
A regional mix from Prairie Moon Nursery- Chicago Illinois Mixed Height Prairie Seed Mix :: View ALL Seed Mixes :: Seed Mixes :: Prairie Moon Nursery

Local ecotypes from the Natural Garden in St.Charles

Seed from Fermilab campus.

Here are some pictures. We are planning on planting in the fall of 2010.

Feel free to send advice or comments my way!

biigblueyes · 10-14-2009, 03:46 PM

That's wonderful, gnomenative. That must be an exciting project.

TheLorax · 10-14-2009, 03:50 PM

This is exciting. And at a school no less. I will anxiously await updates to this project.

You must feel honored to have been selected for their prairie classroom project.

Hedgerowe · 10-14-2009, 08:41 PM

GnomeNative, what a wonderful project. Please keep us posted as to how it is coming along.

gnomenative · 10-15-2009, 10:33 AM

This space is just lawn now and nobody is on the space except on a mower. I am really excited to get it going with natives and get kids involved!

Porterbrook · 10-15-2009, 03:31 PM

I have been working with the Metropolitan Sewer District of Greater Cincinnati to create both prairie and meadow planting on what was lawn. We involved volunteers from the Wild Ones and Master Gardeners to assist us with the installation. You might want to solicit help from these and other native plant groups in your area. Not only will they help with the plants, but will interact with teachers and students as the project progresses. Please keep us posted.

Stoloniferous · 10-15-2009, 10:15 PM

What a wonderful project! Please post photos as you go!

NEWisc · 10-16-2009, 12:54 AM

Great project! This will be a lot of work to get it right, but it should be a lot of fun too.

One thing that I've observed on projects like this is that getting rid of the non-native grasses is very important. It's really important to be thorough before planting anything. Mowing the first year or two after seeding usually works well for controlling most weeds, but it does little to control unwanted grasses. It's very discouraging to see non-native grasses reestablishing themselves in later years. It becomes a frustrating challenge to control them without harming the prairie plants.

When you get to the seeding portion of the project, consider seeding by hand if that is practical. I've seen artificial looking outcomes with some mechanical seeders. It's sometimes overlooked that putting a seed mix in a mechanical seeder does not always produce a mixed planting of seeds. Sometimes the seed characteristics will cause most of one species to be planted all at one time. A small dense type seed, for example, can quickly settle to the bottom of the seed mix in the hopper and wind up being planted in a relatively small area. The less dense, larger seeds can end up in the top of the hopper and wind up being planted as a group at the end of the run.

Equilibrium · 10-16-2009, 08:23 PM

According to his drawings, he's going to have an island in their lawn. What does he do about that? A barrier?

NEWisc · 10-16-2009, 09:50 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Equilibrium

According to his drawings, he's going to have an island in their lawn. What does he do about that? A barrier?

A mound of beach sand and a palm tree, surrounded by a moat?

10-14-2009, 03:05 PM	#1
gnomenative Grub Join Date: Aug 2009 Location: Montgomery, Illinois	Outdoor Prairie Classroom Planning I am in the process of doing a restoration for a school to create an outdoor prairie classroom. We decided on seeds from three sources- A regional mix from Prairie Moon Nursery- Chicago Illinois Mixed Height Prairie Seed Mix :: View ALL Seed Mixes :: Seed Mixes :: Prairie Moon Nursery Local ecotypes from the Natural Garden in St.Charles Seed from Fermilab campus. Here are some pictures. We are planning on planting in the fall of 2010. Feel free to send advice or comments my way! Attached Thumbnails __________________ It's the flock, the grove, that matters. Our responsibility is to species, not to specimens; to communities, not to individuals." ~Sara Stein Living Landscapes: http://www.livinglandscapescompany.com/

10-14-2009, 03:46 PM	#2
biigblueyes WG Hospitality Join Date: Dec 2008 Location: Cajun Country, Louisiana, USA	That's wonderful, gnomenative. That must be an exciting project. __________________ My yarden and I lean a little to the wild side.

10-14-2009, 03:50 PM	#3
TheLorax Unicellular Fungi Join Date: Nov 2008	This is exciting. And at a school no less. I will anxiously await updates to this project. You must feel honored to have been selected for their prairie classroom project. __________________ "In the end we will conserve only what we love; we will love only what we understand; we will understand only what we have been taught." -Baba Dioum, Senegalese ecologist

10-15-2009, 10:33 AM	#5
gnomenative Grub Join Date: Aug 2009 Location: Montgomery, Illinois	This space is just lawn now and nobody is on the space except on a mower. I am really excited to get it going with natives and get kids involved! __________________ It's the flock, the grove, that matters. Our responsibility is to species, not to specimens; to communities, not to individuals." ~Sara Stein Living Landscapes: http://www.livinglandscapescompany.com/

10-15-2009, 03:31 PM	#6
Porterbrook Salamander Join Date: Apr 2009 Location: Racine, Ohio along the Ohio River	I have been working with the Metropolitan Sewer District of Greater Cincinnati to create both prairie and meadow planting on what was lawn. We involved volunteers from the Wild Ones and Master Gardeners to assist us with the installation. You might want to solicit help from these and other native plant groups in your area. Not only will they help with the plants, but will interact with teachers and students as the project progresses. Please keep us posted. __________________ Porterbrook Native Plants We can change the world one step at a time. The secret is to take the first step.

10-14-2009, 08:41 PM	#4
Hedgerowe Snag Aficionado Join Date: May 2009 Location: Chesapeake Bay, Maryland, USA	GnomeNative, what a wonderful project. Please keep us posted as to how it is coming along.

10-15-2009, 10:15 PM	#7
Stoloniferous Fox Join Date: Jan 2009 Location: Franklin, Massachusetts, United States	What a wonderful project! Please post photos as you go! __________________ Slowly turning my corner of suburbia into paradise: the clueless gardeners' blog. "Whenever two good people argue over principles, they are both right." -Marie Ebner Von Eschenbach

10-16-2009, 12:54 AM	#8
NEWisc Salamander Join Date: Nov 2008 Location: Wisconsin	Great project! This will be a lot of work to get it right, but it should be a lot of fun too. One thing that I've observed on projects like this is that getting rid of the non-native grasses is very important. It's really important to be thorough before planting anything. Mowing the first year or two after seeding usually works well for controlling most weeds, but it does little to control unwanted grasses. It's very discouraging to see non-native grasses reestablishing themselves in later years. It becomes a frustrating challenge to control them without harming the prairie plants. When you get to the seeding portion of the project, consider seeding by hand if that is practical. I've seen artificial looking outcomes with some mechanical seeders. It's sometimes overlooked that putting a seed mix in a mechanical seeder does not always produce a mixed planting of seeds. Sometimes the seed characteristics will cause most of one species to be planted all at one time. A small dense type seed, for example, can quickly settle to the bottom of the seed mix in the hopper and wind up being planted in a relatively small area. The less dense, larger seeds can end up in the top of the hopper and wind up being planted as a group at the end of the run. __________________ Age is a biological fact. Old is a state of mind. I will age, but I refuse to get old.

10-16-2009, 08:23 PM	#9
Equilibrium Land Steward Join Date: Dec 2008 Location: Illinois	According to his drawings, he's going to have an island in their lawn. What does he do about that? A barrier? __________________ There are people all over the world who are willing to exploit others. You can't just point the finger at America -Arlo Guthrie

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