Prairie garden or beds:
These are grasses and perennials, both perennial. Mainly those that are hardy and have a wild plant character are used.
For us, the construction company started half a year later, during which time we were able to deepen our knowledge in horticulture and I did some arts and crafts work.
Our beds are only 1m strips located at the boundary. Contrary to many opinions that prairie gardens would require parks, this works very well and one can easily access the area. We did not cover the open space under the plants (with mulch or gravel), but avoid hoeing. With hoeing, you practically plow the weed seeds under. We pull out weeds and disturb the increasingly hard surface as little as possible.
In winter we leave all the plants standing, only the completely decomposed material we can’t always tolerate and then we cut it off. What remains standing looks surprisingly good in winter, especially with snow on it. In early spring, everything is cut once to about hand span height. You can even use a brush cutter or grass trimmer.
All plants come from a grower in a similar climate, not from a dealer. Each year I planted individual additions from dealer nurseries and none survived.
For all plants we preferred forms close to wild types. They withstand much more and after many years of conventional garden care, we actually like them especially well.
Prairie gardens remain particularly attractive in autumn, long after conventional gardens have nothing left to show.
We have a fence only on the street side. The two prairie garden sides have no fences. There are two rows of stacked planting rings there, which were needed anyway due to the shape of the property. These mark the boundary and basically no one steps through the beds. Because of this, both neighbors enjoy the planted boundary on the other garden as well. My neighbor, for example, has many beautiful roses and many annual flowers, which I do not have at all, yet I can still enjoy the view. And she feels the same. Of course, we all often have visits from cats.
To develop a concept, it is advisable to visit one of the (four) show gardens. For us, this was the Hermannshof. And for the Netherlands, there is a very special gardener with a huge show garden: Lianne Pot in the Groninger Heide, whose reputation and expertise are legendary: Liannes Siergrassen, NL 9367 TE De Wilp. You can also browse online at Siergras dot NL.
There are mixtures that have been tested, are vital and balanced, for different soils, different light exposure, different color families. The care minutes per square meter and year are also included. This can be read in the brochure from the Infodienst Ernährung, Landwirtschaft und Verbraucherschutz titled "Stauden-Mischpflanzungen," which was also co-written by the head of the Hermannshof, a mere €6.50, ISBN 978-3-8308-0975-3.
Our mixture was adapted a bit more to the local conditions and our wishes by the Gaissmaier nursery from Illertissen. His organic plants were not more expensive, just much better. Also, a nice excursion. The consultation is also worthwhile because some grasses, for example, have over 100 subspecies; some are too large for small areas, others never bloom here, some are not sterile and seed into the neighbor’s garden, even water and soil requirements vary within a species.
The pictures show the process during the planting year. Planting on Maundy Thursday, i.e., before Easter. Second picture July of the same year. Third and fourth picture September of the same year.
