Staff members from City Hall and the Knoxville Streets Department spent part of yesterday morning planting prairie grass and wildflowers. Trees Forever awarded the City of Knoxville a $4000 grant as part of the Iowa’s Living Roadways program. The grant was secured by former City Manager Dick Schrad before he retired.

Leslie Berckes, with Trees Forever, helped plant the seeds at the intersection of 110th and Highway 92. She tells KNIA/KRLS the prairie plantings will be aesthetically pleasing. It’ll also add a pollinator habitat and help hold water in the soil. She says the seed is a mixture of prairie grass and wildflowers. By planting down now, Berckes says that the grass and flowers will pop up before the weeds in the spring.