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The Deep Middle


Gardening & writing in the prairie echo

Converting a Small Front Yard to Prairie Beds -- 2014-2019

6/26/2019

18 Comments

 
What are some of the challenges bringing nature back to suburbia? As a designer I've learned a lot from experimenting in my home landscape, and these lessons have improved my knowledge and success for clients. We all have to start somewhere, and it's often messy at first -- which is ok.
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In autumn of 2014 I had a friend bring a sod cutter and remove much of our 600ft front yard. Part of the impetus was I hated to mow and water -- the lawn always burned in summer anyway -- and because a dozen dandelions provoked a neighbor to report me to weed control. So the two driving impulses were 1) I hate mowing and 2) you ain't seen nothing yet. In the nearly five years since, I have received no weed control violation notices for the front yard (but I did for the back meadow).
There have been a lot of ups and down in managing the space for both functional and aesthetic success. After we removed the sod I discovered, to no surprise, compacted clay which resulted in my spending almost a week trying to dig in the hundreds of plugs I had. In the first 2 years I had nothing but a mulch bed, and by year three black-eyed susans -- while stunning in bloom -- had colonized so much of one bed I had to weed out 50% of them.

Below is my original plan from the earliest days of my tinkering with garden design on a semi-professional level -- oh what I've learned since!

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I was trying to mass and repeat, drift and repeat, but I did not take into adequate account how long it would take some species to establish (Baptisia, Amorpha) and how others naturally colonize naturally, especially in the early years (Rudbeckia, Schizachyrium). What I've learned here is that species like Rudbeckia, which self sow in open areas liberally,  should be used as an early succession species to help combat weeds. That first year I had tons of weed pressure, even in 3" of wood mulch, along with remaining grass roots spreading quickly. But in the areas where Rudbeckia was taking hold there were far fewer weeds. I employed the Rudbeckia strategy to 2,000ft out back with great success -- especially since I direct sowed it into the fescue lawn which had no chance beneath Rudbeckia hirta and Ratibida columnifera.
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One fall I tried adding Carex brevior to the grass matrix (which would replace the mulch over time) of little bluestem, sideoats grama, and prairie dropseed. In winter #1 I lost a lot of sideoats grama and dropseed, which taught me that warm season grasses don't enjoy being planted toward the end of October unless it's going to be an unseasonably warm fall -- they just don't have enough time to get rooted in. Luckily, the Carex immediately got out competed by little bluestem, and I say luckily because the sedge would have been too tall, too early for the small space.
It's taken 4.5 summers now to get a sort of balance among the plants as they've taught me what they want or how they need to order themselves. The neighbor's every-morning water schedule means half of the west bed remains too damp for drought tolerant plants that struggle and grow smaller than their counterparts on the east bed, so I've had to adjust and replace species, careful to keep some sort of aesthetic balance. Little bluestem has probably colonized a bit too much, but the autumn show is spectacular and the taprooted plants don't mind since they plow down below the fibrous roots of little blue. That same thinking applies to bulbs (Allium) and corms (Liatris)

I still have plenty of gaps, especially where our burgeoning vole population has had an autumn / winter snack, as is the case with any Liatris species. Last fall I added a lot of Heuchera richardsonii for May blooms and to add a clump of texture to areas that were becoming too grass dominated. I also added Eryngium yuccifolium for some height, replaced Liatris (I'm stubborn), and tossed in another Callirhoe involucrata groundcover since it looks stunning weaving among grasses and keeps blooming almost all summer long. I'll be adding some Geranium maculatum this fall for April bunches of color, and then it will naturally give way to the summer perennials.

What has this conversion taught me? Plans are only best guesses -- sites vary, weather changes, plants teach as they die or proliferate. I've edited out plants and tried to bolster others that provide the right color or texture at the right time. Every July I have to trim back grasses along the sidewalk so pedestrians don't get brushed by strangers, and I keep up on weekly mowing (even though it's down to 10 minutes or less I still despise it).

What's next? I have a growing love / hate relationship with the "small" dogwood cultivars along the sidewalk. I coppice them every winter but it makes no difference as they easily put on 6ft of growth every season when I want them at the advertised 3-4' on the plant tag. They provide superb privacy and bird habitat, but they also make the front yard look too overgrown; in contrast their winter red twigs are just phenomenal in a sunset or snowfall. What resulted from the great Rudbeckia cull was a dearth of flowers in early and mid summer, so each fall I add forbs where there are gaps, and am constantly fighting an invasion of black medic which has overtaken the central lawn pathway. I want to remove and replace the lawn with fresh sod; and yes I left some lawn on purpose to tie into the neighborhood because it provides both a sense of connectivity and helps frame the wilder spaces.

That's my story.... what's yours?

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18 Comments
Leslie Pilgrim link
6/29/2019 08:56:28 am

Like you, I live surrounded by sterile suburbia. From your photos, it does not look like your neighbors have been inspired to follow suit. This is my experience, too. What suggestions do you have or successes to share in "lightbulbing" folks into naturescaping their yards? My Tru-Green neighbors are not interested in my example--and I have to say it is a good example in keeping with neatness, aesthetics, design, and some mown lawn. Suggestions from the e-universe welcome, too.

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Benjamin Vogt
6/30/2019 10:38:49 am

The only suggestion is to keep providing examples. When 99% of what folks see is the opposite, what can we expect? When the myth is that gardens are more work than lawns is encouraged via commercials where we do battle with nature, what can we expect? Hopefully you have a sign out front out.

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James McGee
7/18/2019 10:39:33 pm

The Echinacea, Heucheras villosa cultivars, and other plants in my garden are always making seedlings where I don’t want them. I have been giving these unwanted, small and easily transplanted, plants to my neighbors. Although the neighbors have not converted their lawn, at least they now have some plants that are useful to pollinators in their gardens. Interestingly, I have had better luck transplanting Echinacea in fall rather than in spring.

JOYCE TYO
7/1/2019 10:33:15 am

i could not get past the 1st paragraph with out rereading 3x. neighbors reported you to weed control. I just moved to Iowa. I can not believe how much the disconnect from nature, & natural. - love of birds, but cant stand insects. the love of pesticides & herbicides. I watched in horror as a Fog truck took out all reason for swallows to stay, & i had dozens. I haven't seen one since. I wish I had known before we moved here.

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Todd
8/2/2021 08:24:09 am

I can totally empathize with you Joyce. We live in Sioux Falls, SD and I’m blown away by how much everyone loves pesticides here. Zero concern. It’s scattered all over sidewalks, insecticides sprayed all over the exterior of homes, toxic herbicides like 24d and round up sprayed on public parks without signs being posted. I doubt parents would even care if it was posted honestly…. People have a complete disconnect with the natural world here and it shows.Most are obese, addicted and spend most of their time consuming either food or retail purchases.

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Laura Tolbert
7/4/2019 07:00:53 am

Thanks for the updates on your ground-breaking work, it is so helpful to see the progress in photos. Your information on why you plan and plant the way you do is great as it allows me to better understand root systems, water needs, etc.-I cannot always synthesize these requirements except by trial and error and that can be costly and disappointing!
I have taken out all the grass in the backyard (mostly shade, clay soil) and planted some shrubs and perennials for the birds and butterflies. I intend to add more each year. However I am having a huge problem with rabbits who have devoured my Rudbeckia and Echinacea practically to the ground. Any ideas on what I can plant that is more Rabbit-proof as I don't want to keep putting metal mesh corrals around all my flowers? Thanks!

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Heidi Congalton
7/4/2019 01:26:04 pm

From New Jersey here. I just finished reading your book, "A New Garden Ethic", and I was ready to get rid of all my lawn! However, I see how you use it, and guess I'll keep part of mine. I have two patches (6' x 50' each) along the front walkway that I converted to native flowers last Autumn. I am so thrilled with the results. I put in about 250 plants, slightly larger than plugs, and even though I know some will spread, I'll be adding more in a few months. I certainly need more Asters; I watch our groundhog nibble on the few I have and doubt they're ever going to bloom! This has been my first full year of gardening.

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Diana Kuklinski
7/7/2019 12:37:21 pm

I planted a native prairie type landscape on about 3 acres surrounding my house - about 10 years ago. No lawn to mow! When I have friends over, they love the prairie look - the grasses, blooming forbs, and wildlife. Casual and other visitors really don't get it and call it a "weedy mess". I have put signs up and some paths to try to make it look a bit more intentional. My neighbor to the south has the sterile American landscape - mows about 5 acres of what used to be big bluestem for lawn - and planted burning bush and barberry around their foundation. It breaks my heart. I have learned alot since I first planted, especially the idea that the plant community is dynamic, and I have a role to play in deciding what to encourage/discourage. Some of my biggest challenges are keeping birdsfoot trefoil, hawkweed, etc. coming in from the neighboring fields. Neighbors consider them wildflowers. And, I am really grieving what seems like a loss of wild bees from my landscape - all I seem to be seeing are honeybees. Everybody seems to be taking up beekeeping. Trying to set an example by talking about what I'm doing - and helping with community ecological plantings. A few people are receptive....got to keep at it!

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Micah McNeil
10/1/2020 08:19:06 am

You can create wild bee homes with logs and drilling holes. Just look it up, you will be suprised at how successful it is

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Sherie Bleiler
7/7/2019 04:31:20 pm

"Plans are only best guesses" - that is so dead on! I love making plans yet some plants don't make it, some get too big, etc. It needs constant revision. I have the added burden (and joy) in Florida of gardening 12 months of the year. Nothing freezes here. Yet your pictures of 5 years of growing is very helpful to me! The concept and the process is the same. My neighborhood looks the same as yours with mostly grass. However, in the park down the street, they have had classes for years on Florida Friendly yards, which is code for more natives and drought tolerant non-natives. Slow to catch on. But recently our waterways have been so polluted by fertilizers from a variety of sources that we have toxic algae in the late summer rainy season. This has caused our city to curtail watering in winter and fertilizer in the summer. No nitrogen or phosphorus fertilizer allowed from June - September. None! More incentive to "go native" and ditch the lawn!

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James McGee
7/18/2019 10:56:35 pm

I think you should try using chopped-up-deciduous-tree leaves to kill lawn. Landscaping companies are typically glad to be rid of them. Just make sure the company picks up trash before they mow, so there isn’t trash in the chopped-up leaves. If you pile the chopped-up leaves a foot deep in the fall, the grass will be dead in spring. You can plant plugs in the soil in spring if you move the mulch of chopped-leaves out of the way. The leaves will keep down weeds better than wood mulch for the first year and will decompose before the end of the summer. Chopped leaves retain soil moisture and insulate the soil better than wood chips. As the chopped leaves decompose, the soil is improved which is good for your plants.

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Far West Turf link
9/28/2019 09:45:41 am

Excellent explanation, it’s simple & focus. Keep up the great work!

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Bob Hauser
11/1/2019 09:02:14 pm

This is a timely post! I killed my entire lawn this past summer. In the next couple weeks I’ll place my seed out, grouping each species in large swaths. As I am planting near two large sugar maples, I’ve selected forbs, carex and grasses that do well in dry soil as they would be competing with the maples for any available moisture.

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Andrea Thunem
7/24/2020 07:22:39 am

Wonderful documentation in words and pictures of your five-year journey. It looks nice. Congratulations. I'd forgotten about Callirohe involucrata/Purple poppy mallow. I'm not sure the Geranium maculatum will thrive in so much sun. Have you used www.prairienursery.com? Their catalogue is well organized. I was a landscape designer in the Minneapolis, Minnesota area and two years ago retired to Charlotte, North Carolina. I now live in an apartment complex so I have no say in planting, our grounds and its maintenance. I am, however, learning about ordinances and storm water mandated stuff, invasives, etc. to see if possibly invasives are allowed to be removed. Do you have a sign posted out front? How do you deal with city mandates? Thanks for posting this exceptional work for us to learn from and enjoy.

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Benjamin
7/24/2020 07:35:43 am

Andrea, to answer some of you questions please link to https://www.monarchgard.com/thedeepmiddle/how-to-pass-weed-inspection-a-real-life-story-guide

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Nicole Hoyt
10/2/2020 05:48:57 am

You are such an inspiration! The more of us who do this, the more "normal" this will become. If we band together we can tilt the scales to show people how uncool expansive lawn is. I am very lucky to live in a town in Indiana where the city actually promotes conversion of lawn to prairie and has posted a youtube video on how to do it. Our newest park was designed with a 357,000 sq ft of native plant restoration and our city has made a commitment to move forward with natives on all city properties. I love my town!

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DP
5/30/2022 07:01:35 pm

where can we find that youtube video?

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toprenderingsydney.com.au link
1/19/2021 09:24:46 pm

I am doing this with a section of yard very soon, I'll just use bagged grass clippings. Putting a couple willow framed raised beds on it.

Thank you,

Robert B. (from Top Rendering Sydney)

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    Benjamin Vogt's thoughts on prairie gardening in Nebraska. With a healthy dose of landscape ethics, ecophilosophy, climate change,  and social justice.

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Monarch Gardens is a prairie-inspired design firm. We specialize in lawn to meadow conversions as well as urban shade gardens.

Employing 95% native plants, our designs are climate resilient, adaptable, and provide numerous ecological benefits while artistically reflecting wilder landscapes.
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