Back to basics: planting a prairie-style garden

Creating a restored prairie is similar to growing a wildflower meadow, but with more emphasis on native grasses, which are foundation plants in a prairie ecosystem.

North American prairies once stretched from the Rockies eastward almost even with the Great Lakes. Today, only small pockets of native prairie remain — yet replicas are turning up in more and more home landscapes.

Visit local wild areas to learn about plants that are native to sites similar to yours.

• Keep in mind that dry prairies support different plants than prairies in low, damp areas.
• It's important to be familiar with the same ecosystem as your garden. This won't only make you more knowledgeable about your local horticulture, it will connect you in a profound way to the area in which you live.

• Participate in plant rescues, which are often sponsored by local native plant or wildflower societies.

As long as you have the owner's permission, you can dig and adopt native prairie plants that would otherwise be lost when land is developed for roads and houses. Transplanting is an excellent way of preserving the region's wildlife.

• Except for providing water to new transplants, don't water a restored prairie.

Supplemental water often favours weeds over native prairie plants. You don't want to nourish the wrong kind of plants. Too much of a good thing can actually be quite bad at times.

Periodic burning is a natural part of a prairie's life cycle.

• Obtain any needed permits and plan a carefully controlled burn every three to four years.

Restored prairies serve as home to quail and other ground-nesting birds as well as beneficial insects and grasshopper mice — little rodents that mostly eat grasshoppers.

• Mowing or burning in spring preserves their habitat through winter, when it's most needed.