A Few Pics From My Prairie Meadow

We live on a glade in the Ozarks. For those unfamiliar with the term, it means the bedrock is either exposed or within a few inches of the surface. It is an inhospitable place to try and garden. On the other hand, it has some unique natives that have adapted to the harsh environment. The previous owners of our property tried in vain to grow turf on about 5 acres. Actually, they didn't try to grow turf, they just mowed 5 acres (of 10 total). When we bought the place 4 years ago, I asked the conservation department to come out and advise me on how to maintain my 5 acres of woods. I got that advice, but we spent most of our visit talking about and walking the "yard". In a couple of visits, I was convinced to kill the turf (except for the area immediately surrounding the house) and seed about 4 acres in native forbs and grasses. This is the third year, and I'll call the project a mild success. We had terrible weather the first two years, which has caused some setbacks, but this year the rains came at the right time (and abundantly).

This first shot is taken from a spot just above the middle of the meadow, looking southward toward the house.

The current stars of the show are Missouri Evening Primrose, Lanceleaf Coreopsis, and Purple Beard's Tongue.

Close up of the Purple Beard's Tongue.

A couple of Primrose close ups.

Another

This shot is from the edge of the yard, looking northward across the meadow.

It's very pretty already. I can just imagine how beautiful it's going to be when your flowers begin to spread and crowd out the grass. Y'all were smart enough to use the "If you can't beat 'em, join 'em" line of thinking. Beautiful house too.

Nicely done.

Thanks to both of you. NatureLover, there's actually very little grass there. Most of the greenery you see is other forbs that will bloom later in the year.

Did you get your seed locally, or through a seed company?

Uh, both. Local seed companies. Hamilton Native Outpost near Houston, MO and Missouri Wildflower Nursery near Jefferson City, MO.

Jeff it look awesome to me!!

Very beautiful, keep up the good work.
Josephine.

I love your meadow, it looks beautiful!

Oh, lovely! A nice woods and a grass/forb meadow. Have you had any trouble with invasive nonnatives trying to take over? If there are any native plant organizations nearby, you might be able to get more native seed or plants from them or find more sources of natives. I found a wealth of info from the local Native Plant Society of Texas chapters and there are often seed and plants shared. Then I collected seeds along roadsides and also bought seed and plants from sources I found out about from the organization. I also have a difficult habitat here...hills of caliche and limestone with very, very little native topsoil.

Linda,

I'm doing battle with daisies and some residual field fescue. I was waging war on the fleabane, but some DG'ers have convinced me that it is native. It balances out the look a little, too, so I think I'll give up pulling that. The daisies are about past their cycle, so I've relaxed my assault on them a little, too.

In my woods I have some Russian Olive that I have targeted for destruction. I'll be after that with chainsaw and backhoe when the ground dries out a little.

Our local Master Gardener program has a very active natives group. I just recently found out about their program and will be signing up for the classes and the club. I'm going to collect some seed from my coreopsis and primrose to share with those folks. I went to a seminar they did this past weekend. I felt so lucky to have my 10 acres. Most of the folks were trying to create prairie looks in suburban lots -- that's got to be a challenge.