THE PRAIRIE PLANTINGS AT 3993 BIRCHWOOD ROAD
There are four phases of prairie restoration here---first because of the cost of the seeds, and second because I thought of the plantings as a gardener thinks of gardens—not large, and needing plenty of active management. My experience up until the time we moved to Saukville was as a flower gardener in Connecticut and in Fox Point….formal gardens, mostly perennials, with lots of fertilizing and weeding. Istill have formal perennial gardens in Saukville, but they are getting less and less attention as I age.
Truth be told, so are the prairies. But they are now mostly doing pretty well without days and days of management.
The first little prairie planting was done over the leaching fields of the septic system in the very early spring of ’90after the house was built in ‘89—no topsoil added, soil bare. I used a couple of packets of seeds from Riveredge, and some seeds I’d gathered on my own. I still go in and pull out goldenrod, and some of the smaller flowers like purple coneflowers are buried in rampant nutrient sparked growth, but the days of pulling Queen Anne’s Lace are over.
The second, done a few years later with seeds from Prairie Future Seed Company (with added grass seeds I’d gathered, a mistake—too much grass), is more extensive, up from the original almost to the crest of the hill. It is however, narrow and subject to incursions from both lawn and old field. Broader would have been better. It was planted in late fall after two treatments of Roundup, but no tilling of soil. Queen Anne’s Lace and Sweet Clover---aaaagh! Years of management! But now the pale purple coneflowers, wild quinine and various grasses have taken hold and it seems to be holding its own, though I still pull daisies. This is dry to medium glacial till, without the nutrients of the leaching field, and you can tell the difference.
The third, located just below the house to the east, is fighting for its life with the poplar grove. It was seeded after treatments of Roundup, with dribs and drabs of leftover gathered seeds, way too much purple coneflower. But every once in a while it surprises us with Golden Alexander if the spring is rainy.
The final phase took place when we first dredgeda swimming hole at the edge of the frog pond 14 years ago. Again we used Prairie Future Seed Co. seeds---Wendy Walcott helped me plant it in summer on the area where the dredge spoils were deposited. The bare spoils were topped with topsoil—another mistake, as the soil was full of seeds of goldenrod, QALace, and other common weeds like thistles that have given me fits. And we probably should have waited to plant until the weeds had been killed a couple of times. Alas.This planting is still sorting itself out, and breaks out into huge flushes of different prairie species---mostly flowers---not many grasses—depending on what the weather has been in the previous year. Sometimes Sweet Susans have dominated, sometimes some hugely aggressive sunflowers, sometimes Pale Indian Plantain, sometimes in spring, penstemons. At least the Queen Anne’s Lace seem to be mostly defeated, though the goldenrods have not. The underlying dredge spoils are probably rich in nutrients and hold water, so big things get very big.
In sum, it’s been 25 years of experimentation, mistakes and happiness. Wish I’d started when I was 30 or 40!