1. business and industrial
2. agriculture and forestry
3. crops and seed

The How to Prairie Restoration Session
DATE AND TIME
Thursday, 25 February 2010 / 10AM-1130AM
SPEAKER(S)
Nate Simons
Executive Director
Blue Heron Ministries
2955 W. Orland Road
Angola, IN 46703
[email protected]
SESSION DESCRIPTION
Native prairies are an ever-increasing heritage landscape that are being recreated and cared for by park and public
land management agencies. Provide habitat, protection, and natural beauty for animals and visitors alike, the prairie
once dominated much of the Great Lakes region and is an important sustainable landscape for plants and animals.
This instructional session will get you started on restoring a pretty patch of prairie land on your park property.
Prairies are indigenous to the Midwest and prairie-oak ecosystems have been around since the ice age. They are an
important part of this area and have quickly disappeared over the years. Your organization can help bring this
ecosystem back into existence. Nate Simons had a great, very informative presentation on how to build a prairie in
your area. Thankfully Nate had copies of his program for everyone so they can follow his instructions and build the
type of prairie that best suits them and the land they’re working with.
SESSION LEARNING OBJECTIVES
• Identify resources for prairie restoration planning, implementation and maintenance.
• Describe the basic requirements and techniques for prairie restoration.
So You Want to
Build a Prairie…
Presented by Nate Simons
Executive Director, Blue Heron Ministries, Inc.
Ecologist Aide, Division of Nature Preserves
What is a
“tallgrass
prairie”?
 “Prairie” is French
for “meadow”.
 It is a landscape
type our forefathers
encountered after
they crossed the
Appalachian
Mountains heading
west.
photo by N. Simons
 Prairie-oak
ecosystems are
sunlightdrenched, firedependent
ecosystems
indigenous to
and indicative
of the Midwest.
 They are native
“grasslands”.
 It is an “orchard of oak and a sea of grass”
(Source: The Tallgrass Restoration Handbook).
Prairie Peninsula (Transeau, 1935)
Tallgrass Prairie and Oak Woodland Region
The Tallgrass Restoration Handbook, 1997, Society of Ecological Restoration
Prairie-oak
ecosystems
have been
around since
the close of
the ice-age,
but reached
its current
range after
the last major
climate shift
about 4-6,000
years ago.
Temperature changes during the Holocene as
recorded at 8 high resolution, long-duration sites
around the globe and their average.
www.globalwarmingart.com
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 Prairies once existed as a broad continuum
over a broad range of soil types, moisture
regimes and sunlight levels.
Prairie: A grassland with no
or few trees.
Savanna: A grassland with
scattered trees. Trees are oaks,
well-spaced or in clumps.
Woodland: An open forest with a
vigorous turf of grasses and
flowers throughout the growing
season.
Forest: Trees grow close together.
Tree trunks have few lower limbs.
Shade-tolerant shrubs and understory trees are present. Herbs are
mostly ephemeral.
Moisture Gradients in the Prairie-Oak Woodland Continuum
The Tallgrass Restoration Handbook, 1997, Society of Ecological Restoration
Prairie-Forest Continuum
The Tallgrass Restoration Handbook, 1997, Society of Ecological Restoration
Prairie: A grassland with no
or few trees.
Savanna: A grassland with
scattered trees. Trees are oaks,
well-spaced or in clumps.
Woodland: An open forest with a
vigorous turf of grasses and
flowers throughout the growing
season.
Forest: Trees grow close together.
Tree trunks have few lower limbs.
Shade-tolerant shrubs and understory trees are present. Herbs are
mostly ephemeral.
Prairie-Forest Continuum
Power of the Prairie: Roots!
Graphic by: Prairie Nursery, Westfield WI
 Prairies are mostly underground. Two-thirds of
the plant biomass exists as roots!
The Tallgrass Restoration Handbook, 1997, Society of Ecological Restoration
Marsh and
Sedge Meadow
Note bulrushes at
lake edge (no
cattails), sedges,
wetland grasses,
and diverse
wildflower display
in full sunlight.
Fen
Note slope,
groundwater charged
wetland, muck soils,
and diverse sedge
and wildflower
community.
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Fen
Dry-mesic
prairie
Fens are unique, “flowthru” wetlands. They
receive mineral-rich
groundwater from the
adjacent sand and
gravel hillsides and
discharge the
groundwater (frequently
via rivulets and prairie
streams) into downslope
rivers or lakes.
Note diversity of
prairie grasses and
forbs, full sun, and
no tree canopy.
photo by N. Simons
Oak Savanna
Ecosystem
Barrens
Note very droughty,
sandy soil, scattered
black oaks and
wildflowers in full
sunlight.
Note open-grown
oaks, herbaceous
ground layer, and
filtered sunlight.
photo by N. Simons
Open Oak
Woodland Ecosystem
Note tree density of approximately 100 trees per acre.
Trees include white oak, black oak, and shagbark hickory.
Open Oak
Woodland
Ecosystem
Note not-quiteclosed canopy
oaks, filtered
sunlight, limited
shrub layer, and
diverse
herbaceous
ground cover.
photo by N. Simons
photo by N. Simons
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

Prairies are wild places and home to myriad
plants and animals (insects, reptiles,
amphibians, birds, and mammals) and
countless micro-organisms.
Taking all the prairie ecosystems into account
(wetlands and uplands), most of our
endangered plant and animal species are
dependent upon or prefer prairie habitats for
some or all of their life cycles.
Blanding’sTurtle
Mitchell’s Satyr
White Lady’s Slipper Orchid
Eastern Massasauga Rattlesnake
Spotted Turtle
Threatened and Endangered inhabitants
of the critical habitat of Lakes Country Prairie-Oak Continuum
Wet prairie and
oak savanna
ecotone


Note critical habitat is
comprised of open-grown
oak uplands and their
adjacent wet prairies.

The wet prairie is a diverse
sunlit-habitat of
wetland prairie grasses,
sedges, and forbs.

Now the most-endangered ecosystem on
earth, less than 1% of the original extent of the
prairie-oak ecosystem remains.
The bad news is that, due to irrecoverable
changes (species extinction, development,
etc.), we can never fully restore the prairie.
The good news is that we can re-create the
prairie and send it on a new trajectory as we
learn to restore and live with this fascinating
landscape.
It is a landscape that humans have lived with
for millennia and can continue to live with into
the future.
photo by N. Simons
Why create
prairies?
Ecologic reasons






Ecological reasons
Historic reasons
Economic reasons
Aesthetic reasons


Prairies are habitat for animals of
declining numbers esp. groundnesting birds and native pollinators
and nectar-ers.
Prairies increase native plant
diversity. They are sanctuaries for
native plants of declining numbers.
Prairies are “wet-lands”. Due to
plant’s deep roots and numerous
rootlets, soil becomes sponge-like
absorbing almost all (>95%) water
that falls upon the ground.
Prairies serve as permanent erosion
control for the soil. Deep roots of
perennial plants keep soil in its
place.
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Historic reasons



Prairies were the
landscape type
common to our region.
Prairies were the
landscape type that our
pioneer forefathers
encountered when they
settled in our region
Prairies are what
distinguish our region
from other regions in
the United States and
the world…sense of
place.
Economic reasons






Prairies, once established,
require no-to-very-little artificial
inputs to maintain.
Prairies, once established,
require little maintenance
(Note that I didn’t say “No”
maintenance).
Prairies, once established,
therefore cost less than
traditional landscapes to
maintain.
Seeded prairies cost
approximately 30% less per
acre to install compared to
seeded lawns (source: Prairie
Nursery, Inc.).
Prairies cost approximately
60% less per acre to maintain
compared to mowed lawns
Prairies Can Save You Money…
(source: Prairie Nursery, Inc.). And Lots of It!
The larger the area the more
Source: www.prairienursery.com
the savings.
Aesthetic reasons





This is the most controversial
reason.
To the untrained eye, a prairie
looks like “just a bunch of
weeds”.
To the trained eye, a prairie is
the most beautiful landscape
on earth.
Beauty is in the eye of the
beholder. Ever-changing color,
texture, patterns, height…never
the same from year to year and
within each season.
This may be the single-most
reason people build prairies.
Where does one build a prairie?
 Some say they
can “see” the
glory of the
Creator in this
landscape type.
First, a note on “restoration”,
“re-creation” and “natural
area management”.


We like to lump all prairie projects into
the “restoration” category.
In reality “restoration” means taking
something back to the way it was. In
prairie restoration that is
impossible…things have changed.
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 Remnants of prairies still exist and must
be actively managed in order to maintain
structure and diversity.
 A looser definition means to build a
prairie exactly where one existed in
former times…start from scratch on a
historic prairie location.
How does one find out where these
locations were?
How does one find out where these
locations were?
 Government Land Office surveyor notes.
 Government Land Office surveyor notes.
 Soils data (mollisols).
 Historic anecdotal information.
How does one find out where these
locations were?
How does one find out where these
locations were?

“The Pottawatomie [sic] Indians were all over this country, and frequently
centered around Brockville [now the town of Fremont in Fremont Township].”
(page 296)

“The land [near present day Fremont] was much of it oak openings, the trees
were some distance apart and the fire ran through them every year and kept
down the young trees so that one could see a long ways...” (page 296)

“Millgrove Township was first settled in 1834. The early pioneers were attracted
by the rich burr-oak openings and thought it would be easier to obtain a home
and acquire comfortable circumstances here than it would be in the unbroken
forests in other portions of the country.” (page 496)

“The immediate location of the village [Orland in Millgrove Township] is on a level
plateau of what was called burr-oak openings in early times, there being also on
the southern border of the town a little scope of prairie land.” (page 496)

“They [the Burdicks, early pioneers] settled in the eastern part of Jamestown
Township, in the oak openings, and there they made a home and lived thirty
years.” (page 558)
 Soils data (mollisols).
Anecdotal references to what once was:
selected quotations from History of Steuben County: 1885
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A still looser definition of
“restoration” means to build
a prairie in the vicinity of
historic prairies (i.e.
somewhere in the Midwest).
 Start from scratch on a non-historic
prairie location…former forestland turned
agricultural land.
In reality, we are building or
re-creating prairies based on
the best information we have
because they are really neat!

Prairies can be built on just about any
soil type and in any moisture regime
and just about anywhere.
Prairies can be built next to buildings…
In drainage swales…
Openings
in woodlands…
Or in open fields…
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Just keep in mind how you will maintain them!
How to build a prairie.
I. Restoration
A. If you suspect that an
area contains a native
seed bank or dormant
plant propagules, or did in
the recent past…burn,
baby, burn!
B. Keep burning annually
until you get what you
want…OR
C. Until you are sure nothing
good is appearing.
photo by Nate Simons
Prairie-oak ecosystems require fire.
 Spot-herbicide applications may be
required to eliminate the competition.
How to build a prairie.
II. Start from scratch
If an area has been plowed, bulldozed, or
sprayed, several start-from-scratch options
are available...
A. Plowing and Seeding.
B. No-till drill seeding.
C. Interseeding.
D. Hand-planting.
 Sometimes brush-mowing is required to
allow sunlight in…then burn!
A. Plowing and Seeding.
1. Plan ahead.
a. Dormant seeding vs.
b. growing-season seeding.
2. If no sod exists (harvested corn, wheat, or soybean field):
a. Corn stubble…know the field herbicide
history…Atrazine and Treflan has residual soil activity
that prevents the germination of many prairie species.
Plant soybeans and wait a year or two.
b. Wheat stubble may be problematic due to
allelopathic effect of wheat stalks…plant soybeans
and wait a year.
c. Soybean stubble is best. Plant two years of “Roundup Ready” soybeans.
d. Shallowly cultivate or harrow (less than 2 inches
deep)
e. Roll or compact soil (very important).
f. Sow seed in the fall…just before the snow flies.
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A. Plowing and Seeding. (cont’d)
A. Plowing and Seeding. (cont’d)
3. If old field vegetation community exists:
a. Plant two years of “Round-up Ready” soybeans…OR
b. Broadcast spray the field two or three times during the
growing season to eliminate perennial weeds.
c. Beginning in early spring the following year, shallowly
cultivate or harrow (less than 2 inches deep) every three
weeks through summer to reduce annual weeds and
weed seeds…OR
d. Continue broadcast herbicide applications.
e. Spot-spray perennial weeds.
f. Roll or compact soil just prior to seeding (very
important).
g. Sow seed in the fall…just before the snow flies.
4. Sowing seed.
a. Sources of seed
i. Obtain seed from sources as close to the
planting site as possible.
ii. Wild collected.
1. Ensures local genetics “keep-saking”
2. Good volunteer activity.
3. Sense of “doing it all” from start to finish.
4. Get permission to collect on private or
public property.
Tractor-drawn seed stripper by Prairie Habitats, Inc., Argyle, Manitoba
iii. Nursery purchased seed.
Pile of hand-collected,
“dirty” seed
1. Source identified.
2. Seed testing.
3. Pure Live Seed (PLS).
(ex. Purity = 94% Viability = 75%
PLS = 0.705
If you order 1# of PLS, you will
receive 1.42# bulk seed)
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A. Plowing and Seeding. (cont’d)
b. Seed mix design.
i. Know target moisture regime.
1. Wet
2. Wet-Mesic
3. Mesic
4. Dry-Mesic
5. Dry
ii. Grasses and Forbs.
1. Not pounds per acre, but seeds per
square foot (40-65 native seeds per square
foot…may need to increase for wetland
seeding).
Indiana “Source Identified” seed tag
Seed testing results
A. Plowing and Seeding. (cont’d)
2. Include as many species as
budget allows…the more the merrier.
Typical “warm-season grass” mixes
contain 1-4 species. A good prairie
mix may have 20 or more species.
3. If you want flowers, include 5067% forb seed (by seed count).
4. In addition to the grass species,
include forb seed from as many
“families” as possible (i.e.
Leguminosae, Compositae,
Scophulariacae, etc.)
Grasses and grass-likes…
Forbs (wildflowers)…
Dry
Dry
Big
Bluestem
Indian
Grass
Little
Bluestem
Wet
Ohio
Spiderwort
Butterfly
Milkweed
Wild
Bergamot
Prairie
Dock
Blue
Lobelia
Marsh
Blazingstar
Wet
Prairie
Cordgrass
Dark Green
Bulrush
Oval
Sedge
this is your permanent “fuel”
Common
Boneset
Spotted
Joe-Pye
Weed
this is your “beauty” and diversity.
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A. Plowing and Seeding. (cont’d)
iii. Include a cover crop if broadcast
seeding; a bushel of oats per acre. The
oats act as a “tracer”, a “carrier”, and a
temporary “erosion control matrix”.
A. Plowing and Seeding. (cont’d)
c. Seeding methods.
i. Drill (Important: make sure depth bands
are set to place seed less than ¼ inch
deep).
ii. Broadcast (fertilizer spreader or drop
seeder).
iii. Hand seed (monkey grinder or hand
scattering).
Prairie seed drills
Hand-seeding works where equipment can’t go.
Spreaders and
Dropseeders
Hand-seeding a prairie is a great volunteer activity!
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A. Plowing and Seeding. (cont’d)
B. No-till Drill Seeding
4. Pack seed (seed-to-soil contact).
a. Not necessary when seeding in winter...but it’s fun as
a volunteer activity following hand-seeding.
b. Is critical any other time of year.
i. Roll or cultipack if broadcast seeding.
ii. It’s automatic when using a seed drill.
1. Prepare seedbed by broadcast applying herbicide to kill
perennial weeds.
2. Seed drills.
a. Separate seed boxes for small, fluffy, and cover crop
seed.
b. Each box is calibrated to distribute seed evenly.
c. The drill slices soil, deposits seed in the soil, and
covers the seed all in one operation.
3. Drill seed (typically done in spring following last herbicide
application, but can be done in late fall and even on frozen
ground).
C. Interseeding
1. Burn to remove soil-covering duff layer.
2. Broadcast or drill prairie seed following burn.
3. Burn, baby, burn…annually until prairie emerges.
4. This experimental process may take 6-10 years to establish
a prairie.
5. Advantages: inexpensive, no soil disturbance, can be used
where relic plants occur in a depauperate prairie.
6. Disadvantage: slow results.
D. Hand-Planting.
1. For small areas only. This is the costliest method of prairie
establishment, but is the quickest establishing…good for
high visibility and demonstration areas.
2. Prepare seedbed by broadcast applying herbicide to kill
perennial weeds in.
3. Mulch area to be planted with a thick layer of composted
leaves.
4. Dibble or auger holes 12-15 inches apart.
5. Plant prairie plugs in the spring.
6. Water weekly for the first 2-3 months.
7. Hand weed often.
Hand-planted prairies are good volunteer activities!
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III. Post-Planting Management
1. Post-planting management is often over-looked, but is very
important for good establishment.
2. Mow 2-3 times during the growing season to keep annual
weeds from setting seed and to allow sunlight to soil for
prairie seed germination. Mow at about a 6-8 inch height.
3. Watch for and spot-apply herbicide to emerging perennial
weeds.
4. Mow again in spring of the second growing season.
5. Watch for and spot-apply herbicide to emerging perennial
weeds.
6. Burn as soon as fuel becomes available.
7. Burn annually (for at least 3-5 years).
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IV. Keys to good prairie
establishment:
1. Good seedbed preparation.
2. Good seed.
3. Good seed-to-soil contact.
4. Good control of emerging weeds
(herbicide and/or mow).
5. Burn, baby, burn!
Prairie establishment. Year 1.
V. What to expect.
(Keep your expectations low…and be pleasantly
surprised if it ends up better than you thought!)
1. Year 1. Expect a very weedy first growing
season. Mowing helps to keep the planting
looking like it is cared for.
2. Year 1. Expect to mow and spot-apply
herbicide to control weeds the first growing
season.
3. Year 1. Expect slow establishment of perennial
prairie plants the first growing season (basal
leaves only). Some prairie seed may not
germinate for a year or two or three. The
prairie is in its infancy.
V. What to expect (cont’d).
4. Year 2. Expect a flush of prairie plant growth the
second growing season. Expect some forb flowering
the second growing season. The prairie is going
through puberty. Canada Rye is the dominate grass.
Black-Eyed Susan, Wild Bergamot, and Yellow
Coneflower are early bloomers.
5. Year 2. Expect to mow and spot-apply herbicide to
control weeds the second growing season (but not as
much).
6. Year 2. You may have enough fuel to burn by the fall of
the second growing season.
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V. What to expect (cont’d).
Prairie establishment. Year 2.
7. Year 3-5. By the third growing season, weeds are
becoming less of a nuisance as prairie plants
increase in size and number. Dominate prairie
grasses are well-established. Most of the prairie
forbs will bloom.
8. Year 3-5. By the fifth growing season, the prairie has
reached young adulthood. All the species planted
should be apparent if they are going to be part of the
prairie. Canada Rye will drop out of the plant
community for the most part.
Dry-mesic Prairie.
Prairie establishment . Year 4.
Dry-mesic Prairie.
Prairie establishment . Year 4.
Wet Prairie.
Prairie establishment. Year 3.
V. What to expect (cont’d).
9. Beyond the sixth growing season, fire should be the only
management tool required to maintain the prairie. The only
practical way to add new species at this point is to spot kill
prairie grass clumps and plant plugs of desired forbs.
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V. What to expect (cont’d).
10. Expect to enjoy your prairie in all its color, texture,
patterns, diversity, beauty…
…and LIFE!
VI. Sources of information.
So you want to build a prairie…
…go for it!
General information on prairies:

Weaver, J.E. North American Prairie. Johnsen Publishing Company.
Lincoln, NE. 1954.

Proceedings of the North American Prairie Conference
http://digicoll.library.wisc.edu/EcoNatRes/subcollections/NAPCAbout.html
General information on prairie restoration:

Packard, Stephen and Cornelia F. Mutel, eds. The Tallgrass Restoration
Handbook for Prairies, Savannas, and Woodlands. Island Press.
Washington, DC. 1997.

Packard, Stephen and Cornelia F. Mutel, eds. The Tallgrass Restoration
Handbook for Prairies, Savannas, and Woodlands. Island Press.
Washington, DC. 1997. General information on prairie restoration:
Prairie plant field guide:

Ladd, Doug. Tallgrass Prairie Wildflowers. Falcon Publishing Company.
Helena, MT. 1995.
Prairie nursery information (this does not serve as an endorsement of the quality
of their product, but these nursery catalogs contain a wealth of information
and serve as sample of available prairie plants and seed):

Prairie Moon Nursery, Winona MN www.prairiemoon.com

Prairie Nursery, Westfield, WI www.prairienursery.com

Spence Restoration Nursery, Muncie, IN www.spencenursery.com
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