FAQ's & How To's

In most cases, do not till or loosen the soil right before planting prairie seed. Native prairie seed is usually broadcast on top of the ground and then pressed or packed in with good seed-to-soil contact. Many prairie seeds are small, light, and sensitive to being buried too deeply. If you till, lightly disk, or “fluff up” the soil immediately before seeding, you can bury the smaller wildflower seeds and greatly reduce the diversity that eventually shows up. Some tough grasses and easy flowers may still grow after shallow tillage. You might see switchgrass, big bluestem, black-eyed Susan, or other aggressive species and think the planting worked. The problem is that the more delicate or slower-to-establish flowers may never make it. Many high-diversity prairie species need to stay very close to the soil surface. When they get mixed too deeply into loose dirt, they are unlikely to work their way back up. That does not mean tillage has no place in prairie preparation. Deep plowing or aggressive tillage can sometimes be used early in the preparation process to break up old sod, smooth rough ground, fill holes, or correct uneven terrain. It can also be used as part of a strategy to stimulate weeds so they can be killed before planting. But tillage resets the weed clock. Every time you disturb the soil, you bring more old weed seed to the surface and create a new flush of competition. If tillage is used, it should happen early enough that you still have time to control the weeds that come afterward. The seedbed should also be firmed back down before planting. A good prairie seedbed is not fluffy like a garden bed. It should be firm enough that seed stays near the surface, contacts the soil, and is not buried too deep.