There is a 2-3 acre pasture in front of our house , you could call it our front yard.
It had pasture animals (horses and goats) for the last 20 years .


The last of them placed underground in this very same pasture late last fall.


without the grazers and browsers the field has grown over
I have mowed the perimeter and a couple crisscross paths and just watched to see what would come back
the south is bordered with a variety of large trees in two rows along with some bushes.
the middle is low has two clumps of willow trees and is wet in the spring and fall.

PLANTS :

I already have a nice stand of tall purple iron weed , thistle , goldenrod , queen anns lace
Almost an acre of aster
and a few pokeweed,common milkweed, boneset and clover


If it were not for the dry weather I would have started moving plants from my gardens to the new project
It has not rained in over 6 weeks except for a quarter inch two nights ago..

I have waiting :
purple coneflower
brown eyed-susans
black eyed susans
penstemon
beebalm
mountain mint
spiderwort

Plans

This all started when I needed to reduce the gardens and so many plants with no home .
I gave away truck loads and still stuck with too many plants
.....so I thought why not move the natives to the pasture and see if they could take care of them selves

I have laid several large pieces of cardboard to kill the under growth and give the transplants a chance
Now I wait

In the spring ''if plans go well'' I plan to add a honey bee colony or two

Comments and suggestions Very welcome

Cinda, what a wonderful project in a lovely space. No suggestions for what looks like a perfect plan. Keep us updated!

What a wonderful project. In time, the natives will thrive once again, with or without assistance. Mother nature knows how to take care of herself.
Please keep updating with progress. Curious minds (like mine) really enjoy seeing the transition. I have a similar project that I am following. Maybe I'll start a thread to document. Well see.
Thanks again for sharing.
SHC

gardengus said:Plans

This all started when I needed to reduce the gardens and so many plants with no home .
I gave away truck loads and still stuck with too many plants
.....so I thought why not move the natives to the pasture and see if they could take care of them selves

I have laid several large pieces of cardboard to kill the under growth and give the transplants a chance
Now I wait

In the spring ''if plans go well'' I plan to add a honey bee colony or two

sounds good!!

You might want to get some native bulbs, such as grape hyacinth and that stuff, and naturalize them too. Might add some interest in early spring when most of the plants are just coming out of dormancy.

Well some rain finally .so I decided not to wait any longer
predicted more rain over the next two days maybe an inch or more
Planted some things that have been pots all summer

Found a place with not too much competition
this is an area that had to be mowed because of the Canadian thistle , it simply was taking over





I planted 3 brown-eyed susan
2 purple coneflower
1narrow leaved mountain mint

watered them well and will mulch after the rains.

tthe mountain mint will be a bee-magnet

yesterday we cut out a few dozen small tulip trees and found another patch of common milkweed




and a couple small boneset


also several burnweed going to seed




I may remove a few because they can take over
They are suppose to be eatable might give them a try

Those bushy asters are so pretty (in the bakcrgroudn)

there is about half an acre of them and on a sunny day they are covered with bees and butterflies.
Right now all I have is white but will be planting a couple pots of purple soon .

Well..... spring is approaching and so I continue on the project
Still a few small patches of snow, but they should be finished by days end , another almost 60 day coming today .
I have a book of ideas and lists of plants to transplant
I have winter sown a couple dozen jugs of native plants
and just last weekend purchased a couple packs of ground cover
crimson clover and buckwheat
both suppose to have good flowers for pollinators.




Last nights sunset over the pasture

Oh and a reccomendation:
Sea oats ...
They are a bit aggressive colony-makers though. You'd probably enjoy them the best in large containers. They are really good food for birds.

thank you for the suggestion , I have some seeds and will remember to start them

The project is coming along well,
I have been so busy getting the veggie garden , no time to report
I just $ a dozen plants from the Master gardeners to add to the pasture

beebalm
tickseed
red lobelia
Yarrow
Downy sunflower
Greyheaded coneflower
Ziza
stiff goldrnrod
narrowleaf ironweed
The set up for the bees is ready just waiting
While I wait for honey bees I have constructed a couple native bee habitats.

The plants are in
AND
My bees arrived last week



They are in the NW corner of the pasture nearest my garden.

yayy!!! I'm sure they'll enjoy your buffet of beautiful blooms.

Cinda, what a great project you have going there - I don't know how I missed seeing this thread until now!

Purchased another dozen plants for the project
and pulled back a tarp to find some very hard dry poor soil.




Had to use my pick hoe to make a hole.