Midwest Prairies - Woodland, Prairie, and Habitat Restoration in Wisconsin

Welcome to Midwest Prairies Milton, WI 608-868-3169

Our mission is to design, restore and manage prairies, woodlands, and wildlife habitats in an ecologically sound manner to restore and manage the ecosystems which are fundamental to the web of life in Southern Wisconsin.

MIDWEST PRAIRIES LLC ~ in business since 1993 -- 20 Years of expertise!!

Whether you would like to reduce the drudgery of weekly mowing, trimming and watering your lawn; or you have 1 to 100 acres of land you would like to manage for wildlife and recreation, Midwest Prairies LLC is there for you!

LATEST NEWS & TIPS

Time to spray those nasty weeds & brush: Give us a call if you want to get on our spraying schedule!

Garlic Mustard (Alliaria petiolata) is a major threat to Wisconsin's woodlands. It is a rapidly growing biennial (two-year growth cycle). With no controls, garlic mustard becomes so dense that it shades out native wildflowers within a few years of being introduced.

May is the time to remove this plant or do a chemical application if too many to hand pull. Once they start flowering, they need to be pulled, bagged and removed from the site.

Wild Parsnip (Pastinaca sativa) - Is an invasive plant that is populating roadsides and other open areas. Once established it can spread rapidly. When the juice from the plant comes in contact with bare skin that is then exposed to ultraviolet rays from sunlight, it can cause blistering "burns". Avoid contact with plant juices exuded from broken or cut plant parts.

Control methods: Wear protective clothing, cut roots just below ground level with a shovel just before plant flowers. Carefully spot-treat basal rosettes with Escort or Roundup. Note Roundup kills everything so be careful not to over spray. For large areas mowing before the plant sets seed.

You can also check the WI DNR web site for more information on invasive plants.

www.dnr.wi.gov/invasives/

LET MIDWEST PRAIRIES HELP YOU CONNECT TO NATURE ~ We would like to help people in the Milton-Janesville-Fort Atkinson area convert their lawn to prairie. Do you have a sunny 1/2 acre or more that you are just mowing and want to make it more "wildlife friendly?" If so, check out the attached flyer "Let Midwest Prairies help you connect to nature" for more information.

WOODLAND & PRAIRIES MAGAZINE

If you are thinking about putting in a prairie or doing some restoration work on your property, you might want to subscribe to a great magazine "Woodlands & Prairies." Check them out at www.woodlandsandprairies.com

MAJOR BREAKTHROUGH FOR BRUSH CONTROL: The Glove of Death techniquewhich has been used on herbaceous plants for many years has now been successfully applied to woody plants as well.

Midwest Prairies has been testing this procedure for several years and found it to be very effective.

Advantages are:
No chainsaw required
No hunting for cut stumps
Five to ten times faster than cutting & treating

FIREBREAKS: ARE YOU PLANNING TO BURN YOUR PRAIRIE SPRING 2013? If so, start mowing a 5' wide firebreak around the entire site starting in the summer on a monthly basis. You want to keep vegetation short as it will help the burn crew move faster and be able to move safely through your burn and save you money.

Picture above shows the perfect firebreak (in green).

Poor firebreak

We are losing the plants and animals that we share this planet with because we have done a poor job of sharing.....Fact sheet presentation by Doug Tallamy

Researchers have documented that Eurasian honeysuckle shrubs are much more harmful than previously believed.....by Mariette Nowak in December 2011 Wild Ones Journal

IPAWS
Check out the IPAWS web site for information on invasive plants.
http://www.ipaw.org/

Awareness

Broken bottles and charred pieces of glass
Wadded up newspapers tossed on the grass
Pouring of concrete and tearing out trees
This is the environment that surrounds me?

Poisons and insecticides sprayed on our food
Oceans filling with thick oil crude
All sea life destined to a slow awful doom
These are the things we are to consume?

Mills pumping out iron expelling yellow fumes
Airlines emitting caustic gases from fuels
Weapons of destruction tested at desolate sites
And this is the air that's to sustain life?

There has to be something that someone can do
Like raise the awareness to those around you
That if we don't heed the problem at hand
It's your life that's at stake, the destruction of man.

Native plants offer our insects and wildlife valuable food and cover!

Plants that are native to the Midwestern U.S. are among the easiest plants to grow and are sure to draw the attention of neighbors and wildlife alike. Planting the flowers and grasses that inhabited this area historically offers many advantages. These plants, of our prairies and woodlands, have thrived through thousands of years in Wisconsin; through bitter cold winters and frequent summer droughts. There isn’t a stronger or more adapted plant to our local conditions.

Native plants offer nectar and seeds that attract scores of songbirds, hummingbirds, and butterflies. These plants are extremely easy to grow. They are perennial, long-lived, and require very little maintenance. So…go ahead and plant Wisconsin Native Plants either in a prairie garden or inter-plant within an existing landscape. The wildlife thank you.

There are numerous advantages to creating or restoring a prairie landscape.
Attract a diverse array of birds, butterflies and wildlife
A sea of brilliant colors from spring to fall
Cost effective – no chemicals, fertilizers, watering, or weeding
Much hardier and requires less maintenance than flowers purchased at the store
All perennial plants…they don’t require planting every year

We can carefully select the plants that would thrive on your specific soil and moisture regime.

SHELTER BELT - Make a shelter belt for your wildlife. Plant a shelter belt of native Wisconsin shrubs along the backside of your prairie to provide food and shelter for songbirds and mammals.