Missouri native prairie got a real boost from the Nature Conservancy, a national organization that buys endangered ecosystems and turns them over to an appropriate agency for management. In 30 years, the Conservancy has bought more than 9,000 acres of mostly prairie and turned management of about 6,000 acres of it over to either the Conservation Department or the Department of Natural Resources. But despite the relatively few public prairie acres, the battle to preserve dwindling private acres is a slow and losing one. It helps to have an appreciation of what prairie is and one way to develop that appreciation is by using prairie grass in landscaping. Native grasses are perfect for wildflower beds.
Native grasses have incredible root systems.
Switchgrass can reach a dozen feet below the ground, and big bluestem and Indiangrass go almost as far. Further, most are warm season grasses - they green and grow during summer and ripen in autumn, so they parallel most flower plantings. Prairie grass makes a beautiful and unusual change from the familiar round of nursery plantings. Try it - prairie enthusiasts hope you'll like it. Joel Vance is a frequent contributor to the Conservationist.