Welcome to The Prairie Farm Forum, Friends!

Our goal is to learn from each other, inspire one another, and discuss all things prairie and native habitat.

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Shovel, hoe and weed pulling maintenance you should be doing on your prairie right now:

shovel- Wild Parsnip (don’t touch the sap, or you will get a blistering sunburn wherever you contacted it), salsify (already going to seed so bag it), Dame’s Rocket (looks like phlox), milk thistle, quack grass (bag it), Reed canary grass

(bag it), sour dock

Hoe- Canada thistle, foxtail barley, wild buckwheat (field bindweed), Venice mallow (just now emerging), wild lettuce, red clover, alfalfa

Pull, bag and dispose: Wild oats, smooth brome, Kentucky bluegrass

This list isn’t exhaustive but it is what I have been seeing lately. A healthy prairie requires maintenance, especially here in Iowa where everything wants to grow in our fertile soils.

I recently heard the phrase 'Return on Environment' as an alternative to 'Return on Investment' and have so often found myself going back to that phrase while listening to the podcast. I just had to share that nugget with this community since it resonated so strongly with me. It speaks to a value system that I might wish for if I could snap my fingers and change one thing ;)

I'm prepping a 1/4 acre area of my lawn for Hoksey's short backyard pollinator seed mix. I sprayed the existing turf mid-May and have read that spraying multiple times is highly recommended. I have a few questions about what I should be doing this summer and early fall to prep for seeding - The existing dead grass is 6-8" tall (I let it go without mowing for a while before spraying) - should I leave the dead grass long through the summer and just spray whatever green pops up or should I mow the dead grass short now and take care of whatever grows through? Is just spraying anything green that pops up through the summer/fall sufficient or should I spray the whole area a couple times through summer and fall?

Thanks! My wife and I are really excited to have gotten started on this project!

I'm looking for some guidance relating to establishment of detention basins - particularly how to protect seeds and seedlings prior to development of their root systems.

For some context, I work as a Landscape Architect. I provide the plans and specifications, but have very little control over the awarded contractor or their means and methods. Many of my projects are public or competitively bid so I'm rarely working with a specialized contractor - meaning I have to clearly define the scope for potential bidders long before I know who will be doing the work or exactly what the timing will be.

I'd love guidance on erosion control products, installation methods, timing, implements for soil prep and seeding on slopes (often 3:1 or 4:1) for basins.

I have about 12 Wild Strawberry plants that I started from seed last year that just produced their first ripe berries. Some of the plants in the picture are from shoots that I didn’t get to last year not knowing the shoots should be cut if you don’t want a mess. I pulled all the shoots and weeds. They get watered every 1-2 days. Is there any other maintenance that I should be doing to the plants to keep them healthy and productive?

Hi All,

I'm very green to prairie establishment/management, so bear with me if this is super basic stuff. In early spring, I planted about 1/2 acre the native turf lawn mix that consists of Blue Grama, Sideoats Grama, and Buffalo Grass in an old pasture. It is starting to come up nicely, however a fair amount of broadleaf weeds are as well. The site was sprayed with glyphosate twice last year in preparation for planting. What is the best method at this stage of managing the broadleaf weeds?

I could mow the weeds down using a regular lawn mower and the natives are still short enough where they wouldn't be affected. Would this be helpful in the long run or just a temporary fix? I could also spray with a selective herbicide, but wasn't sure if the natives would be too sensitive to this given they were just planted this year. I'm open to any other suggestions as well, let me know what you think is best. Thanks!

I work for a Land Development company in the greater DSM metro area and we want to establish diverse native prairie in development outlots which largely include ponds and stormwater basins. We often have 1:4 slopes. I'm wanting feedback on best way to seed diverse mixes on these slopes. Our plan right now is to establish a cover crop on the slopes of oats/annual rye for the summer then interseed into it with minimal disturbance during the dormant window (hopefully January/February). Should we use a native seed drill like a Truax, or are we better off broadcasting? Should we mow the cover crop prior to seeding or will that cause issues with seed-to-soil contact? I'm hoping I can connect with someone who has had good success with establishment on common development slopes while maintaining compliance with the requirements of the storm water pollution prevention plan and erosion.

I have trays of butterfly weed and I have a couple plants that don’t look the same. inaturalist is saying whorled milkweed?

I did an initial seeding during the winter months of 2025/2026. It was a mix of the "Short Grass" and "Standard Forbs"

I've done one spray in mid April, but haven't gotten the results I was hoping for. Is it too late to do another spray this spring?

Short Grass Mix

• Rough Dropseed
• Junegrass
• Blunt Broom Sedge
• Fox Sedge
• Little Bluestem
• Sideoats Grama
• Sand Dropseed
• Virginia Wildrye

Soil temps seem favorable for cool season grass gemination, from my research the Junegrass would be a concern? It represents a large portion of the short grass mix (25%)