Seven Acres of Tall Grass Prairie

We planted seven acres of tall grass prairie in 1988. Our forester suggested that we could plant this in conjunction with our CRP plan and incorporated the seven acres into our conservation project.

Peter Schramm from Native Plant Materials had a complete prairie planting service with grasses and forbs.(forbs are flowers)He was very precise and would only plant grasses and forbs that were native to our area.

So our seven acres is reminiscent of what was once prairie in Illinois. The tall grass prairie originally comprised an area that covered almost one third of the country - from northern Indiana to Texas and to Saskatchewan. Before settlement, about two thirds of the vegetation in Illinois was native or natural grassland.

The Black Robed Jesuits were the first Europeans to see the prairie and they named it the best they could. Back in France, prairie meant grassland, a grassy orchard. Pere Marquette lovingly noted "les belles preries" in his journal. It was like coming home to him.

Peter Schramm gave us a list of the prairie plants he would plant on our seven acres and told us that he had put a lot of forbs in the mix. And we were not to be disappointed if during the first year nothing much but weeds grew up. The prairie grasses and forbs would take over. However they first go deep into the ground and establish themselves.

The second year was magnificent for the prairie was alive with Black Eyed Susans. It looked like the "yellow brick road" in the Wizard of Oz.

After that the forbs were overtaken by the grasses and other prairie plants. However there are always flowers...False Indigo,Cup Plants,Blazing Stars,Purple Cone Flowers,Compass Plants and in the fall - New England Asters and Goldenrods.

There is always something to make the seven acres a beautiful sight.