PRAIRIE POWER ESTABLISHING NATIVE FLOWERS WITHOUT HERBICIDE PREP

By: Bonnie Wilkinson, OVCN

LAWN TO MEADOW PREP TECHNIQUES Why? Option 1 • Require less water, fertilizer & Mow the grass short and cover with dark pesticides plastic, cardboard, or newspaper - put weights on. • Increase soil’s capacity to store water In Fall, till shallow, less than two inches, rake out • Help prevent erosion vegetation, repeat until fairly clean. • Reduce air pollution Option 2 • Provide shelter and food for Keep the grass mowed short, almost scalped, from wildlife Spring/Summer until Fall. In Fall, till shallow, less • Provide habitat for pollinators than two inches, rake out vegetation, repeat until fairly clean. • Promote biodiversity and stewardship Option 3 Keep the grass mowed short, almost scalped, from Keys to Success Spring/Summer until Fall. In Fall, immediately • Preparing the area before frost seeding, use a lawn aerator to cut plugs. • Eliminate all/most of the grass Option 4 • Rough up soil for good seed In Fall, immediately before frost seeding, use sod contact cutter to strip away sod, then rough up the soil with • Select seed for light and soil a spade or shovel. conditions • Do frost seeding in late Fall If for any reason you thickly cover an area of • Manage after planting lawn with soil, plant that area!

SEED MIXES & PLANTS MANAGEMENT SELECT FOR SOIL CONDITIONS WEED OUT AGGRESSIVE PLANTS • Dry, mesic (good drainage/moisture) or wet • Honeysuckle, Mulberry, Hemlock, Clover, Mare’s/Horse Tail, • Sun or shade Dandelions & Grasses DECIDE IF YOU WANT FLOWERS, GRASSES OR BOTH LEAVE • Flower-only mixes look less “weedy” • Common Blue Violet - host plant for fritillary butterflies • Good for suburban areas where “tidiness” is an issue • Queen Anne’s lace • Include annuals in seed mix - more color the first year MOWING • Some perennials take several years to establish • Every 3-4 years mow very low in late winter/early spring - helps with thick grasses/thatch. • Milkweed can take several years - consider separate bed • First summer, augment with small plugs or plants RESOURCES - PLANTING, SEEDS & PLANTS SEEDING • Zacharias Gardens, Chris Zacharias, cell: 937-623-8147, email: [email protected] • Mix seed with vermiculite or sand • OPN Seed (formerly Ohio Prairie Nursery) • Scatter by hand or with a seed spreader https://www.opnseed.com • Stay low if windy • Seed Savers Exchange, Inc. • Can cover lightly with leaf mulch when seeded (optional) https://www.seedsavers.org • Natives in Harmony https://www.nativesinharmony.com HELPFUL TERMS • Prairie Moon Nursery NATIVE • Can occur naturally in a habitat without human https://www.prairiemoon.com introduction. • Marianist Environmental Education Center (MEEC), WILDFLOWERS • Some sources include only uncultivated Mount St. John • https://meec.center/native-plants/plant-sale plants and others include native plants. MEADOWS • Areas of grass, flowers & hay. PRAIRIES • Enormous stretches of flat grassland, may have flowers. 1301 Mitchell Blvd. Springfield, Ohio 45503 (937)328-7275