Inside Iowa State

Aug. 12, 2005

Plastic sheeting intended to kill remaining plant seeds in the ground covers the Dyas Prairie Boarder. Photo by Bob Elbert.

Preparation stage

The Dyas Prairie Boarder south of the Design Center, originally installed in 1987, was cut back in mid-July to eliminate invasive woody and prairie plants. As pictured, the soil will be covered with plastic for about 8 weeks to destroy seeds still in the ground, prior to tilling with additional soil and sand.

Students in the college's annual touring Savanna Studio will collect prairie seeds this fall and seed the area in October. The prairie will be planted as a "designed" prairie and may require some additional seeding next spring. In the future, the landscape architecture department will coordinate annual burns of the prairie to wipe out the weeds.

The prairie is named for Distinguished professor emeritus (landscape architecture) Robert Dyas.