Celebrate the Prairie

Pride of the Prairie!

At the end of July garden friends Kim and Steve invited friends and garden enthusiasts to celebrate their successful two-year prairie project at their home in Elburn, Illinois, including tour, food and spirits!


This was no small project. One glance and you can tell that expert planning and hard work went into this mission. The results were nothing less than stunning.


How to: Steve ordered seeds from a reputable garden source (and I say reputable only because I saw what grew!). He prepared a 3,000 square foot (60 x 50) plot of soil located in the back of the house. The existing grass was killed either by spreading newspaper to smother the growth or by applying roundup or herbicide for a quicker elimination. A little over half a million seeds were ordered consisting of hundreds of varieties. It started with a basic package from a mail-order nursery called Prairie Moon in Wenoa, Minnesota.


He planted using grid lines to apply proportional seed quantities in each area to provide a uniform planting throughout the bed. Steve eliminated weeds by pulling throughout the initial growing period.

And after only two years…well see for yourself. It’s gorgeous!