Rewilding My Lot

I have defined two areas in my garden for native grasses: a 5-ft strip around the perimeter where a mixture of three short grasses (“Thunder Turf”) have been sown, and a smaller area near the back for three kinds of mid-height prairie grasses.

The original sowing of the short grasses was only partly successful because many of the seeds were washed away soon after planting. However, some seeds did grow in that area. The native grass that grew has done well and I’ve seen a lot of seed being produced and dispersed.

I am getting ready to spread more seed in the short grass area, but before doing that I have mown the area. Here’s why:

• Seed heads have been present for weeks, so I presume that most have reached maturity and seeds have been released by wind or rain. However, if there are still any active seeds on the stalks, mowing will place them on the ground.
• The ground here is very lacking in organic matter. Mowing the grass area will provide a little mulch to replenish the soil.
• Mowing will make the area a little easier to see any lingering weeds that I want to remove before the next round of seeding.

Here are a couple of post-mowing photos. This is also a demonstration that if one wanted to have a cropped lawn of native grasses, it’s very possible. Once established, these grasses would rarely need mowing and would have minimal water needs.