Go! logo and a woman wearing a hard hat looking at plans

May–June 2007

exploring the world of transportation

Green scene:

Ditch the grass and go green: Environmental roadside design

by Rebekah Bovenmyer

Close-up of a black-eyed susan
A black-eyed susan. Photo courtesy of the Iowa Department of Transportation.

Roadside covered with black-eyed susans
A roadside filled with black-eyed susans. Photo courtesy of the Iowa Department of Transportation.

If you’ve ever taken a road trip across the country, you know you’re in for some dramatic scenery changes. Depending on where you are, you’ll see flat green fields, rolling hills, cacti and mesas, even mountains or oceans.

You’ll see different grasses and plants along the roadside, too.

Each part of the United States has flowers, grasses, and trees that have adapted to the environment of that place. These native plants help each state or region show off its unique beauty.

Using native plants is an important part of environmental roadside design. Imagine how much water it would take if dry places like Arizona or Nevada planted green grass along the road!

That’s why each state has different native plants that can be used to make the land along the road or highway beautiful. They're also good for the environment.

Native plants are hardy and do well without fertilizer or special treatment. They’re adapted to the climate and can help restore soil and prevent runoff and erosion. Wildflowers and native grasses are also beautiful and attract birds and other wildlife.

Through a state program called Integrated Roadside Vegetation Management (IRVM), transportation agencies plant native prairie grasses and flowers along the roads and highways and limit the amount of herbicide used to control unwanted plants.

Little bluestem grass along a roadside
Little bluestem, a prairie grass, growing along an Iowa road. Photo courtesy of the Iowa Department of Transportation.

Because most of the original Iowa prairie was cleared to make farms, roadsides are a good place to get back to Iowa’s roots.

“Most of the land in Iowa is used for farming, so roadsides are one of the few places available for native plant restoration,” says Kirk Henderson, IRVM program manager.

More than 50,000 acres of native prairie have been planted since 1990. “These plants are our natural heritage. We get to know what our native lands are,” says Henderson.

Common Iowa prairie grasses planted are little bluestem, big bluestem, Indian grass, sideoates grama, and Canada wild rye.

How do other states design their roadsides?

Their plants will be different, but the ideas are the same:

  • Connect people to the unique landscape
  • Make the roadsides beautiful
  • Conserve water
  • Prevent erosion
  • Reduce herbicide

Roadsides in Nevada might include a rock bed to reduce erosion and help water sink into the soil. Rocks, cacti, and other native trees and shrubs that don’t need much water are also used to make the roadside beautiful and friendly to the environment.

For more information

Rebekah Bovenmyer is the editorial assistant for Go!.

Editor's note: On May 3, 2007, a correction was made to this article. The number of acres planted in native vegetation in Iowa since the 1990s—50,000 acres, not 3,000 acres.