Suburban Prairie Landscaping Saint Cloud, Minnesota

You would never know from this photo that there's a busy highway between the photographer and the barn which is located across from CentraCare


Prairie Restoration in Sartell and St. Cloud

At Advanced Care Pet Hospital we chose to create a prairie environment for our landscape.  I have always been an advocate for the environment and preserving as much diversity as we can.

When I first saw the lot at 911 Scout Drive, there was no other choice.  As I walked into the center area of the lot a Horned Lark burst out from a weed patch and ran a short distance out in front of me.




Horned Lark


It stopped, turned and looked at me, then repeated its running step off in another direction.  I looked down and saw its nest of twigs on the ground and three tiny eggs resting in the middle.

My goal from the start was to create a habitat where there would be a possibility for this lark, or others, to return next year and build another nest.

Today, less than one percent of Minnesota's native prairie remains.  Fortunately, prairie restoration projects have increased in public and commercial properties and are helping to create slivers of suburban  Prairie.

As we build on the land we encroach on the former inhabitants.

Dr. Gerds has frequently helped nurse back wounded wild life.  That is her pictured to the left caring for a Wood Duck who lost it's mother.

Two years ago we released a Yellow Shafted Flicker near our pond which came into the hospital hurt. It flew up to the tree next to the pond and sat in the tree for quite awhile. It may be coincidence, but this year, a flicker used our wood duck nesting box located 50 feet from that tree and hatched a brood of 7 new flickers.







We also maintain several bluebird houses located around our homestead.





Great examples of this can be seen at City of Sartell City Hall, CentraCare and the Elk River Library.





Visit Prairie Restorations at:  www.prairieresto.com

See a DNR map of the remaining prairie in MN: http://files.dnr.state.mn.us/eco/mcbs/prairie_map.pdf


Black-Eyed Susan at Sartell City Hall, August 2009






Pasque Flowers, Glendalough State Park 2008






A Rain Garden at the Elk River Library




Looking for Pasque Flowers around Easter (April 2008) at Glendalough State Park.



Sartell's Rural Heritage at the edge of the prairie

Fasen Round Barn, Sartell MN July, 2009

Fasen Round Barn Site in Sartell Late August 2009, just beyond the Advanced Care Pet Hospital Site on Scout Drive, Sartell Minnesota. The Horned Lark was spotted just left of this photo.

Fasen Round Barn Site in Sartell Late August 2009

Advanced Care Pet Hospital
Serving pets and their people from:

Sartell MN
St Cloud MN
Waite Park
Sauk Rapids
St. Cloud Veterinary
St. Joseph
Stearns County
Benton County
Minnesota
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Tri County Humane Society Sauk Rapids