Creating a Prairie Urban Garden
By Cheryl Bradley, June 2008
Beginning with a Vision
A dream to create a prairie urban garden has been with me for many years. Since the early 1990s my husband and I have lived in a post-war vintage house in southern Lethbridge with a large front and back yard occupied mostly by lawn. Lawn is not something we use or enjoy. Our lawn uses us as we must regularly mow the grass and water it. We resent spending valuable time and resources nurturing Kentucky bluegrass and creeping red fescue, two exotic invasive species which we often rail against in our work as prairie biologists. While I dug dandelions and creeping bellflower from the lawn, my mind would often dwell on visions of living more in harmony with the native prairie ecosystem which I enjoy.
My vision for our front yard is not of semi-arid grassland, but rather a prairie valley. The yard is shaded from May to September by two large streetside elms growing on the property of neighbours to the north and south. Elms are native to prairie valleys in Manitoba and Saskatchewan and well adapted to southern Alberta’s environments where groundwater is close to the surface. These trees will be with us for many years to come provided our city is kept free of Dutch elm disease. The sun-screening canopy, shelter from drying winds and elevated water table from urban development means our front yard is an environment more suited to native shrubs and perennial forbs than short grasses and annuals common in dry upland prairie.
A large weeping birch planted in the centre of the front lawn was removed on the advice of an arborist as it was damaged from a poor pruning job and under stress. Not well adapted to the prairie environment, its roots were constantly creeping into cracks in our tile septic drain questing for water. Having recently replaced the driveway and steps to our front door, re-insulated and re-sided our two-storey house, and replaced our leaky septic tile with plastic pipe, we realized the time had come to make our prairie urban garden a reality.
Front yard before re-landscaping
Next... Creating a Design