Creating A Prairie Garden in the New European Style
'Prairie' or 'New European' styles of gardening are amongst the most exciting developments of
the last decade and very much in vogue. They require no covering, no pruning, no
spraying, no irrigating and little, if any, fertilizing saving prairie gardeners loads of dosh and hours of hard work. By the third year, there is little for you to do but open a cold one
Prairie style landscapes and gardens take their inspiration from the great North American grasslands and from the Russian and Chinese steppes Prairies are divided into thre types—dry, mesic (moderately moist) and wet. Mesic and dry prairie plants prefer loose soil with good drainage. Wet species grow in poorly drained areas, where water stands after a heavy rain. Using a wide range of prairie species can help disguise problem areas, such as a boggy hollow
or gravel hill.
For Praire Garden effect. Use mass plantings of grasses such as stip tennissima and stipa lessingiana.
Easy to grow low maintenance prairie grasses and plants
are among nature’s most spectacular creations, producing drifts of waist-high
fronds stippled with blooms of brilliant yellow, flaming crimson and soft
lavender. Because of their extensive sophisticated root systems, prairie plants
and grasses can be the answer to those problem spots in the garden, particularly
where the soil is shallow poor or dry. Once established, they require little
Prairie grasses and plants need little except for full
sunlight, prairie grasses and plants adapt to most conditions and can be grow in
a diversity of soil, from clay to sand, and are tolerant a wide range of soil
fertility and acidity. Prairie plants also grow in dry shallow soils or marshy
soils that most plants cannot tolerate. When planning your Prairie Garden take
time to consider a few points before ordering plants. look at the Planting Grasses and read the description and decide which plants
,
Match plants to your soil—dry, mesic or wet.
Fit the size of the plants to the size of your garden.
Unless it is to be a focal point keep tall plants to the
edges.
Sketch out roughly the garden shape and fill in the
different areas on the sketch with different autumn colours and add splashes or
dots of vibrant herbaceous colours and consider whether you
will,
Plant in curves, instead of rows, it will give you a more
natural look.
Allow one species to dominate, then blend into another.
Try for continuous colour throughout the growing season.
In a large planting area, you may want to make paths to
walk along.
Turn your project into a wildlife oasis by adding
plants that are attractive to butterflies, birds and other wildlife.
Although the prospect of a low maintenance trouble free
bed is attractive the biggest challenge of prairie gardening you will
face, if you are growing from seed, is controlling weeds during the first two or
three years. Prairie plants spend the first years of their life developing their
complex and evolved roots system while common ground weeds put all their energy
into producing into above ground growth, crowding out young prairie seedlings
and denying them the light they most need. That's why we. recommended you use
plant good strong pot or nursery grown plants from the P&G as quicker less
labour intensive solution.
Irrespective of whether you intend to use seeds or plants
the area to be planted must be completely free of weeds and grasses. Heavy clay
soils should be cultivated or dug to a depth of 30 cm (12 inches) to break up
layers of compacted soil. Organic matter such as compost, peat moss, well rotted
manure or leafmold and sharp sand can be worked into poorer clay soils to
improve aeration and water infiltration. Very dry sandy soils in particular will
be improved by the addition of organic matter to increase their nutrient and
water holding properties.
Mowing and raking every spring also helps control weeds
and promote growth. You should mow in late June with the mower blade set about
200 mm (8 inches high). The growing tips of grasses is just above the ground and
they grow from the bottom up unlike other garden plants that have their growing
tip at the top. This will cut back early growing annual weeds, but not affect
slower-growing prairie grass and plants.
These styles of planting require no covering, no pruning, no
spraying, no irrigating and little, if any, fertilizing saving you
loads of dosh and hours of hard work.
By the third year, there is little for you to do but open a cold one, sit in the middle and enjoy it!
