History  

Over 142 million acres of prairie grass once covered the United States. Today, less than 5% of that acreage still exists. Grassland ecosystems are dominated by native grasses such as Big Bluestem, Little Bluestem, Indiangrass, and Switchgrass. Many prairies and meadows also contain flowers such as Purple Coneflower and Black-eyed Susan.

Grassland ecosystems have many environmental, economic, and wildlife benefits. These areas provide erosion control, water quality protection, and carbon sequestration. Many species of insects (especially pollinators), birds, and mammals rely on the diverse plant communities found in grasslands.  Monarch butterflies rely solely on milkweed during their larval stage. Recently, much effort has gone into conservation of existing systems and establishment of new acres of prairie grass.      

Establishment

1. Apply a chemical site preparation using a tank-mix of Plateau® to control existing vegetation and provide residual control after grass seed drilling. 
2. Establish native grasses first with a focus on Big Bluestem, Little Bluestem, and Indiangrass. These grasses can withstand high rates of Plateau®, which allows the option for over the top, higher rate Plateau® treatments, later in the first year or early in the second year for troublesome grasses like crabgrass, foxtail, and Johnson grass. 
3. Utilize broadleaf weed control with products like Method 240SL® or Terravue™ later in the the first year to control troublesome weeds like thistles. This can be combined with the late spring Plateau® application if needed. If you seed wildflowers with the initial grass seeding you lose the option for broadleaf control in the future. 
4. Interplant other desired native grass species in year two, only after the initial stand is well established and troublesome grasses and broadleaf weeds are under control. 
5. Control undesirable broadleaf weeds in year two. 
6. Seed wildflowers in year three.   

Maintenance

1. If only native grasses are established many troublesome weeds can be controlled with broadcast applications of Plateau® 
2. If native grasses and wildflowers are established use spot applications of Plateau®, Method® or TerraVue™ to control unwanted vegetation.

Sites

A wide variety of sites can be planted in native grasses. Many large areas of native grasses have been established on formerly agricultural land. However, even small sites can be utilized to establish new native grass areas.  Areas like roadsides, solar farms, industrial plant sites, parks, recreational fields, and yards are appropriate for small meadow creation.