The prairies of North America were once 200 million acres of grassland. What can seem like “just grass” is a very complex ecosystem that wildlife relies on for food and shelter. Less than one percent of that native habitat remains, replaced by lawns, commercial agriculture, and urbanization. A native prairie restoration can include several practices that turn back the clock including stewarding large prairies, managing small tracts, and even planting natives in an urban yard landscape.

Prairie restoration enhances the environment. It increases the abundance of native plants, increases ecological diversity, and absorbs a lot of rain, reducing erosion and runoff. All of these elements depend on each other and are crucial to a healthy habitat for native animals and insects, including pollinators.

“Our native pollinators are far superior to honey bees…” according to Professor Bryan Danforth, an entomologist at Cornell University. Danforth added. "Honeybees are more interested in the nectar. They do not want the pollen if they can avoid it. The wild, native bees are mostly pollen collectors. They are collecting the pollen to take back to their nests."

Also, native bees are more efficient at pollinating native plants, while honeybees are better with crops and invasive, non-native weeds.

And why is this important to us? There are at least 1,100 native bee species in Texas, possibly up to 1,500. They are the primary pollinators of native plants. Three-fourths of the world's flowering plants and about 35 percent of the world's food crops depend on animal pollinators to reproduce. That's one out of every three bites of food you eat.

Settlers turned the productive soils of the prairie into farmland and later into urban areas, lawns, industry, etc.

Large grazers such as caribou and bison, important to land disturbance and rotation,
were removed or displaced.

Fire, which is one of the most important parts of maintaining a prairie, was suppressed.

So you may see us utilize methods over several years such as:

*mechanical disturbance (disking & mowing),

*chemical disturbance,

*fire (prescribed burn),

*seeding

Everything meaningful has to start somewhere. We start with a wonderful canvas and look forward to restoring this prairie to native plants by removing introduced grasses. We have witnessed a number of native forbs (flowers) so we know they are in the seed bank. But we can also see non-native and invasive grasses that compete.

Developing a restoration plan starts with watching the seasonal changes. Each grass and forb changes constantly; the best plan comes from knowing what is in your seed bank. We were excited to find native forbs such as milkweed, false indigo, beebalm, wooly croton, black-eyed susans, and bluebonnets (including white and pink), to name a few, and some native grasses such as Little Bluestem. But we also have Bahia, Bermuda, and Johnson grass, which are introduced grasses that we will target to allow the restoration of native forbs and grass diversity.

We targeted the end of May to shred (mow) the warm-weather grasses before they go to seed but after the bluebonnets and other native flowers finished going to seed. Timing is everything!

This was one of the hardest decisions for us and we know we are not alone. Using chemical methods to eliminate non-native grasses is so counter to the heart of most conservation-minded folks. With extended reading, counsel of some of the wisest people we could reach, and pouring over tons of information, we finally landed on an application of 3% glyphosate in preparation for a prescribed burn. I can’t say it is without trepidation. I will tell you in the coming years how we feel about it in the rearview mirror.

Well, this view is probably what brought you to our site, especially if you scanned the QR code. I can’t blame you if you were asking, “Sure there’s a drought but that is deader than dead! What is going on?” But I am glad you are here hopefully to learn and also to follow along and share the journey.

Prairie restorations can feel so counter-intuitive. Native plants are at risk of being out-competed by invasive non-native grasses that don't feed and shelter native pollinators and songbirds. So we have been preparing our prairie for a prescribed burn to mimic the brush fires that naturally occurred historically, adding nutrients to the soil and allowing native plants to thrive again. In the meantime, 11 acres of dead grasses are waiting to be caught on fire. Trusting the process is hard. But there are a few stubborn flowers that pop up to remind me there is life and beauty ahead -- patience.

We had hoped to burn by late August or early September, but alas we are still in a drought and under a burn ban.

The prescribed burn has been on hold with the prolonged drought, but the recent singular rain has given a few native plants a chance to show their muster. This Yellow Indiangrass, for instance, is host to the pepper-and-salt skipper butterfly and is food for birds and mammals. Can you picture a field of this beauty? AND guess what else! The burn ban was lifted this morning. Stay tuned because we are targeting our first prescribed burn soon!

We completed our first prescribed burn! After a night of little sleep and a very early start, it got exciting as we were joined by the experts and friends of South Central Texas Prescribed Burn Association (SCTPBA) , Texas Master Naturalist - Gideon Lincecum Chapter, and Fayette Prairie Chapter of the Native Prairies Association of Texas. More pictures to come, but this is one view of the end of day one.

Within days, we saw sprouts of new life. One week after the prescribed burn, we see growth across the prairie.

After the burn, we discovered about a 1-acre section with residual Bermuda and KR. We have not included this section in the re-seeding plan and will approach them with “personalized attention” with hand-spraying. Following surgery for a broken Achilles tendon, this is accomplished from the back of a chauffeured ATV.

A joyous discovery is tons of tiny bluebonnet sprouts, which thrive on burns and upcoming freezes, geraniums, and milkweed.

Today is seed day! Chancey Lewis with more cool machinery and skill. Today, we are planting ~100 lbs of seed mix comprised of nearly 30 native grasses and forbs. This will augment and restore the prairie seed bank in time for rain later this week and winter cold stratification.

We both thrive on orderliness and intention; a spreadsheet day is a good day. Seeding has fed this part of our shared admiration for rows and columns. Chancey’s talent for creating a quilt of seed rows is nothing short of artistic and masterful.

We are closing in on the end of our first full prairie restoration year and are 16 weeks beyond our first burn day. There is no shortage of winter rye, which is a lovely placeholder through winter. But if we look closely, we can see an exciting nursery of native plants in their infancy. It can be difficult to identify sprouts waiting for their first freeze (it's much easier when they get their flowers in spring), but fun and encouraging finds so far (clockwise):

Black-eyed Susans
Chickweed
Bluebonnets (the little stars)
Carolina Geranium (they look like a carpet of parsley and are also the thick mounds you see in the prairie)
Blue grass (keeping an eye on these for the full reveal)

There are also tiny sprouts down the seeding troughs! I can't wait to share what the new year brings to the prairie.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Following the November seed planting came winter. We had a short freeze, the most rain recorded in a day since the 1800s, followed by two more, and then RYE. So much rye. This was unexpected. We can see tiny little sprouts in the seed rows and exciting patches of leaves promising a future of bluebonnets and geranium. The decision was to mow the tops of the rye before going to seed, but high enough to avoid the sprouts below. The other trick is to avoid cutting so much that the resulting thatch smothers the sprouting seeds below. <cliffhanger>

Winter rye has made a strong showing! We took advice from those we trust most and shredded it early and high. This tactic reduced thick thatch cover that could choke the new seeds, depriving them of air and sun while discouraging the rye from going to seed. The rye has set seed this past week like crazy, but the native forbs have also started painting the prairie. This creates a conundrum — do we shred the rye and risk cutting some of the early forbs and native grasses, or just let it be, allowing the rye to seed? Well, the short answer was yes. We opted to shred at the highest setting to get the majority of rye seed while missing most of the springing flowers in the areas where rye is the thickest and avoid the areas where the flowers are most prevalent. This is not a 100% solution, but we decided it was the most conservative solution to most concerns. What would you have done?

…and why we choose “sort of”

You can not get too many eyes on Prairie ID. We had the pleasure and honor of walking the prairie with Garry Stephens & Anne Vance of Wildlife Habitat Federation-Texas. They are a wealth of enthusiasm and knowledge! Garry identified so many beautiful finds, including Eastern gamma, Inland Sea Oats, Slender woodlands oats, Little Bluestem, Carolina canarygrass, Green milkweed, Texas star (prairie rose-gentian), Engelmann Daisy, and more! We appreciate their time and friendship. Gerry seconded the suggestion to keep the winter grass in the front prairies topped off, allowing seedlings to reach light and gain space. Back prairies show more diversity, and the success of the seeding is evident.

One thing we have learned is to “adapt.” Our long-range plan is only to mow once per year. But the tall rye raised concerns about the seed planted last November, especially in the north prairies where it gets taller. So, we mowed high one more time in this area. Two weeks later, we can see a lot more diversity. In addition to these happy Black-eyed Susans, there are Lemon Beebalm, Indian Blanket, Partridge peas, and Winecups.

You can see the difference just ten days following the last shred of annual rye in the north prairie. Who doesn’t love a sea of Black-eyed Susans? But the diverse tide continues to flow, including Texas Indigo (Scarlet pea), Wine cups, Coneflower, Lemon beebalm, Verbena, Indian blanket, Indian paintbrush, Dayflower, Primrose, Texas dandelion, and others.

We are only in year one following our first burn and seed, but this is encouraging given the sea of rye we had just a couple monthly ago. Recent rains have welcomed the seed bank to rise, greet the sun, and welcome the pollinators to the buffet table.

Guess what we found while walking our prairie this weekend! Tall, beautiful bunches of Little Bluestem! 
The Big Four grasses are little bluestem, big bluestem, yellow Indiangrass, and switchgrass, and we now officially have three out of four!

 Often called the "workhorses," prairie grasses have deep root systems that hold the soil to prevent wind and water erosion. These tall prairie grasses pull carbon out of the air and store it below ground, feeding microorganisms in the soil. As the roots of prairie grasses continue to grow, the microorganisms break down and produce vibrant soil.

It's awe-inspiring to see how wildlife, insects, and bugs depend on these grasses for their basic needs of food, water, and shelter. The seeds they produce are a vital food source for many animals, and the grasses provide homes and cover for many species. Even the water collected on a grass blade or at the base of the plant becomes a lifeline for smaller creatures.

Texas Croton, also called Doveweed or Texas Goatweed, is a Texas native. Its seeds are essential food for doves and quail. But diversity is the goal, and this 4-acre section was so thick! So, to ensure the seedlings beneath get enough sun, we shredded it into North/South strips, capturing the East/West sunlight.

The north side of this prairie is sporting an exciting amount of Little Bluestem, which dictated the boundary of this project which is now labeled “Lab #1.”

Prairie restoration is a lot like a science lab. We learn all we can and then experiment. Because soil, topography, and historical uses differ across the prairie, we adjust our responses and take chances. Restoration is not linear; guides are available, but there are no guarantees. We have observed and noted differences across our prairies and divided the property into “labs.” What we now call Lab#2 is where hay was once stored, so it continues to gift us with invasive grass and heavy thatch. We decided to shred and rake it to reduce invasive seeding while opening the ground to light, optimizing the germination of the native seed mix planted last year.

Is restoring a prairie a science? Absolutely. But the essence of science lies in asking thoughtful questions rather than just seeking concrete answers. It represents exploring the natural world through observation, creative experimentation, and testing.

In our prairie restoration journey, we depict the landscape in experimental “labs,” allowing us to focus our discoveries and adjust our approach. Each lab considers the unique qualities of soil, slope, erosion, historical context, and ecological responses, allowing us to adapt our strategies based on the insights we gather.

To capture our progress, we regularly take photographs at the same 11 locations within the prairie. This visual documentation guides our future restoration efforts and inspires us to continue our mission.

We just wrapped up the first year of our restoration project, and what a journey it’s been! There's a saying, "The first year it sleeps, the second year it creeps, and the third year it leaps," and it seems to ring true. While we’ve seen plenty of wildlife activity and learned a lot, it’s exciting to think about what’s to come!

To celebrate the end of the year, we collected soil core samples in Labs 1, 3, and 4. This helps us track our progress and understand how the microbiome is changing as we add more native plants. We also received some beautiful Coastal Sea Oats for Lab 2 from a dear friend who has a nearby prairie—thank you for such a thoughtful gift!

Lab 5 is thriving as a sanctuary for pollinators and is lush with Bushy Bluestem. We've even spotted small deer finding food and cover in the tall grass, which is a huge win! Plus, we’ve identified about 100 species of songbirds—what a delightful chorus! Here’s to more adventures in the year ahead!