When we purchased our property in 2000, about 150 acres of the land was planted in soybeans. It was rented out to a local farmer, and had been no-till planted in a rotation of corn and soybeans for years.
We decided, in keeping with our plan to restore the land to the way it had been before it was settled, to plant prairies in all these fields. So every winter we planted prairie on 15 to 20 acres of this cropland. The farmer continued to plant the rest in corn or soybeans. That kept the fields relatively weed free until we were ready to plant.
We planted our prairie seeds in the winter, after the crop was harvested, on top of the snow. On all the prairies except two we broadcast the seeds by hand. The Cat’s Paw Prairie and the last third of Western Prairie are our two experiments with using a seed drill to plant the seeds.
We planted the first prairie in the winter of 2000/2001, and the last one in the late fall of 2007. We now have 150 acres of reconstructed prairie. To see the results, check out our Planted Prairies.
The Narrows Field planted in soybeans – 2001
A similar view of the Narrows Prairie in 2015.
Here are a few things we’ve learned about planting prairies. Everyone’s experience is different, but these are things that have worked for us.
— Plant lots of seeds – 75-100 per square foot. This is many more than will actually grow in a foot of soil, but some will get eaten, some won’t germinate, and some won’t like the soil or moisture conditions in that spot. The ones that are happy there will grow.
— Don’t plant many grasses – especially tall grasses like Big Bluestem and Indian Grass. In our first 8 prairies we planted about 10% native grasses (by number of seeds) including both tall and short grasses, and that was too much. For a while it seemed ok but in about year 12 the tall grasses started taking over. Now I would plant only short grasses, not as many, with maybe a small handful of tall grass seeds. The only exception is Prairie Dropseed – plant as much of that as you can.
— Plant as many forbs (non-grass flowering plants) as you can – the more the better.
— If possible, plant seeds in fall or winter. It makes them easier to plant – you can just throw them on top of the ground and freezing and thawing will work them into the soil. Also, most prairie seeds need to be stratified. That means they need to spend time – usually 30-60 days – in cold, wet conditions before they’ll germinate. If seeds are planted in spring or summer, many of them won’t germinate until the following year – after they’ve gone through the cold, wet winter. When I’m planting, I like to throw the seeds on top of snow so I can see where I’ve already seeded and how densely I’m seeding.
On the following pages, I describe in detail the methods we’ve used to collect and plant the seeds.
Preparing the Field for Planting