It’s amazing what can be done with a dream, a plan, and some serious effort! Anne Armitage shared photos of her 1-year-old, nearly one-acre prairie that has ‘wowed’ the team at Monarch Research. When we asked Anne the secret to her success, she graciously shared the following details.
After making the commitment to creating the zone, “We hired Mike Alexander from B.A. Habitat Solutions to plan, seed, and consult on maintenance for our prairie,” stated Anne. And with a larger lot (2.5 urban acres), Anne says they put a lot of energy into keeping a well-mown perimeter in consideration of neighborhood expectations as well as meeting city requirements. The results were unexpectedly beautiful for a first-year prairie and definitely something to be shared with our fellow arborists and gardeners!
The prairie was a labor of love that took a few seasons to achieve. The process included the following steps:
- Pollinator Palooza Mix from Prairie Moon
- Killed off existing weedy sod – September/October 2020
- Broadcast seed in early December 2020 (right before a snowfall)
- One high mowing in June/July 2021
- Spot weeding as needed to keep the invasives out
- Results that impress!
If this sounds inspiring, you’ll see that the photos Anne provided are definitely worth all the effort to achieve it. What a beautiful prairie and we thank Anne for sharing this story, secrets to her success, and photos!
Photo courtesy of Anne Armitage