Yards gone wild

Topeka Capital-Journal, The, Jul 24, 2004 by Jan Biles Capital-Journal

Pitcher sage blooms in the yard behind Dennis Schwartz's home southeast of Topeka.

A compass plant also blooms on Schwartz's prairie.

A dragonfly stops for a snack on the tip of a piece of bluestem grass.

Sunflowers are part of the mix.

Switch grass is one of the native grasses in Dennis Schwartz's landscape.

Brenda Carnagey wanted flowers throughout her landscape. Among those she chose are partridge pea, shown at left, and Indian blanket, at lower left. The black-eyed Susan, below, grows in Schwartz's yard.

This grass is called blue grama.

Prairie is landscape of choice here

By Jan Biles

Photographs by Ann Williamson

THE CAPITAL-JOURNAL

Dennis Schwartz has been the manager of Shawnee Rural Water District No. 8 for nearly 30 years. So conserving water is important to him.

That's why he has protected a 1-acre patch of native prairie in the front yard of his home southeast of Topeka, and planted another acre of prairie grasses and wildflowers in his back yard.

"The concept is known as xeriscaping," he said, explaining that native prairie plants are drought-tolerate and require little maintenance once established. "It's an environmentally sound idea. Water (availability) is becoming an issue."

Schwartz's idea has caught on in his neighborhood. Tim and Brenda Carnagey, who live east of Schwartz, and Dan DeNault, who lives to the west, have planted part of their acreages in native prairie, too.

"My husband said he had this idea is the back of his mind when we bought the house," Brenda Carnagey said. "But then Dennis was the incentive."

Schwartz said he researched native prairie plants and flowers before he seeded the plot in his back yard. He talked to K-State Extension agents and master gardeners, read printed materials and sought advice and information from Healy-based Sharp Bros. Seed Co. and wildflower nurseries in Missouri and Wisconsin.

He seeded the plot during the winter of 1999 and spring of 2000, first planting the flowers in the cold months and then putting in the native grasses in the spring.

Rain, of course, helps the seeds germinate and take root. Dry years tend to suppress growth.

"It's a three- to six-year program," he said. "It's an exercise in patience."

The prairie is burned every two or three years to kill deciduous plants. During the burnings, Schwartz has seen great horned owls, prairie falcons and harrier hawks swoop down to snatch mice and other prey from the charred land.

Schwartz's restored native prairie is home to a variety of wildflowers, including butterfly milkweed, black-eyed Susan, pitcher sage, willow leaf sunflower, liatrus, purple poppy mallow and gray- headed coneflower. The roster of grasses lists big bluestem, little bluestem, blue grama, side oats grama, Indian grass and switch grass.

Like Schwartz, the Carnageys bought their seed from Sharp Bros. But because they didn't want to plant tall grasses --- big bluestem can reach 10 feet in height --- they chose to plant a native prairie mix of medium height, which would grow from 2 1/2 to 4 feet high.

Unlike Schwartz, who wanted flowers only at the front rim of his patch of prairie, the Carnageys wanted flowers throughout their prairie landscape. Their acre is dotted with white aster, pitcher sage, Mexican hat, Maximillian sunflower, coneflower, Indian blanket, showy partridge pea and prairie flax.

"We spent about $300 on seed," Brenda Carnagey said.

The first year after seeding, the Carnageys sprayed Roundup on the plot to kill shatter cane, mule tail and other weeds.

"I spent 10 hours in the patch getting rid of undesirable weeds," she said.

Schwartz said one of the most satisfying rewards of his prairie restoration project has been people contacting him about seed sources or asking advice on how to establish a native prairie landscape.

"There's about half a dozen different people who have projects under way," he said. "If more people would start doing this, there would be less stress on water (resources)."

Jan Biles can be reached at 295-1292 or jan.biles@cjonline.com.