Healing Gardens

Our site fits pretty well with the rest of the Longhouse Ethnobotanical Garden, but a few features have marked it for its potential for mimicking a prairie area. First, not very many trees or stumps are in the immediate area of the garden, and it probably used to be just grass. Second, it has a fair exposure to the southern sky.

The area that Evergreen is on used to be old growth forest, and this area does not have glacial outwash soil, however, sand or gravel can be added.

This area had some camas plantings, but they are not evident right now.

Potential prairie plants on the site include: Kinnickinnik (Arctostaphylos uva-ursi), Yarrow (Achillia millefolium), Braken fern (Pterridium aquilinum), and Snowberry (Symphorocarpos albus).

Problem invasives include Reed Canary Grass (Phalaris arundinacia), Canada thistle (Circium arvense), and of course, the inevitable turf. 

Horsetail (Equisitum arvense) is also present, but I won't be picking a fight with it even though it is not a prairie plant.