Hi Matt, I realize that this post is a bit old, but I was wondering if you still have all those grasses. Yesterday I made a post on the Native Plant Exchange for Forbs for grasses and then today I was going deeper down the list and found your post. You can check my post for the forbs that I have in bulk or here is a link to my list. I have some other natives in smaller amounts too. I do have some penstemon that is not on my list, I'd have to check what kind it is if your interested in that. I'm at http://members.gardenweb.com/members/exch/catrina Thanks, Catrina

Thanks Don. I will wintersow the seeds and hopefully have a nice crop of new plants next spring. I already feel like expanding the front bed so that I will have room for the Echinacea paradoxa, Eryngium yuccifolium, Prairie Dropseed, and Big Bluestem that I will be wintersowing as well. Scottyboi I will take some photos once the plants put on some size. The grasses for the most part were gallon sized or larger but the milkweeds and Echinacea pallida were in small 4" pots so they will take a while before they look like much. Mike

Let me try to answer some of your questions. If you want to do a prairie/savanna planting it would be best if you could mow or burn occasionally, but it's not mandatory. Since it is a small plot it's possible that it can be maintained through culling weeds and woody vegetation either by hand pulling, or careful herbicide application spot treatment. I have to say that burning is sweet for keeping things in check when you are growing a prairie. I'm guessing from the later part of your post (pachysandra and moss) that this area is somewhat shady. If it is shady, I wouldn't attempt a prairie garden (full sun). A savanna garden (mostly sun) might not flourish either if it's too much shade. I think it might be better to create a woodland garden. there are lots of native and non-native plants that would flourish in a semi-shady site. A woodland planting does not require burning or mowing, but will require weeding. Rodents will find their way to your vegetable garden no matter what surrounds it. As far as Black-Eyed Susan, I'm quite sure they are referring to the regular flower not the vine, possibly Rudbeckia hirta.

I would encourage you to keep it. The birds will thank you. Whenever a person buys a new home, many professional landscapers will suggest that you wait a minimum of one year before you make any significant changes to the landscape. (Go on the landscape forum and ask the question.) You need to get a feel for the property, and what is there and how you are going to use the land. There may be pockets of flowers in the landscape that are not visible at this time of year. Perhaps if you lived with the prairie grass for one or two seasons you may change your mind about wanting to convert all of it to turf grass. The prairies are so beautiful as they change through the seasons, I would hate for someone to make a quick decision without understanding what they have. Maintaining prairie grass is much easier than maintaining turf grass. Prairie grass needs no watering and you only mow it once a year. You will save yourself tons of time and tons of money if you keep the prairie grass. The prairie grasses are a part of history. Today less than 1 percent of the land that was prairie exists today. By maintaining prairie grasses on our property, we preserve a bit of history while maintaining great bird habitat. And if you insist on getting rid of it, I suggest you contact a local native plant society (or maybe a local wild ones chapter) and offer it up to them. Their members would gladly come and relocate it. If you lived close to me I would be there in a heartbeat.