Gardening with native plants is a very different subject than restoring a prairie. Fortunately, it's a much simpler subject as well.
Gardening with native plants is generally fairly easy and can be done at almost no cost. It's morally questionable at best, and illegal in some states, to dig plants out of natural areas and move them to your yard. However, most states do allow you to harvest seed from plants in public areas, so long as you aren't doing it for commercial purposes and the plants aren't on the endangered species list. It doesn't take much, a small handful of seed from each species is more than enough for a home garden. Of course, you can also buy seeds or plants from the increasing number of nurseries that specialize in native plants.
There are a few challenges to gardening with native plants. Some species aren't ideal for small spaces because they like to move around and a typical garden bed doesn't provide the room they need. I grow about 170 species of native plants in my yard. But, if I had it to do over again, there are maybe a dozen or so I wouldn't plant. They'd be fine in a prairie restoration, but they don't play well with others when confined to a residential yard. The other potential challenge is that you may face resistance from your neighbors. For some reason, people with golf course-style lawns seem to be threatened by native plantings.
