Design process includes a biological soil analysis and specific ecotype seed selected for your site based on soil moisture, sun exposure, site topography, and more.

Maintaining the prairie the first several years is vital to the long term success of the prairie. Carefully monitoring invasive weeds with management methods like spot cutting, mowing, and supplemental overseeding.

Hire Sown Ecological Solutions to hand-collect your native prairie seed. Once the seed is collected, we can dry and process it for you or teach you how to do it yourself. Once the seed is fully processed, its yours! If you don’t want it, you can sell it to us to use on one of our other local sites.

Have the time to do it yourself? We can offer you support every step of the way. Many new prairie managers struggle with when to mow, or how to manage an invasive weed. We create the perfect management plan that pins down timing, design, seed selection, invasive weed management, the list goes on.

Spring or Fall installation options

We have a “Soil First” approach when managing invasive weeds. While herbicide application has its place in restoration management, it is widely overused. A “Soil First” approach can help us understand what biologically is causing the soil to support invasive weeds rather than the native species.

Design process includes a biological soil analysis and specific ecotype seed selected for your woodland area based on soil moisture, sun exposure, site topography, and more.

Maintaining the seed so it has time to establish roots is very important for the long term success of the project. Woodland understory areas that are overrun with invasive weeds also need maintenance to monitor the invasive weed growth.

Buckthorn, honeysuckle, and muliflora rose (to name just a few) can be extremely aggressive invasive weeds. We use a “Soil First” approach which includes biological soil sampling throughout the process of managing the invasive weeds to properly regenerate and monitor the health of the soil.

Beavers are essential to providing habitat for Iowas endangered wetland plant species. We offer consultations and technical support for common beaver complaints. Flow devices to mitigate pond heights, tree protection strategies, and much more!

Wetland seedling installation to help populate a wetland area with more native vegetation.

Slope erosion in wooded yards is a common issue that can be managed well with native grass species. We consult, design, and install erosion mitigation methods.