Putting Down Roots Festival — prairie planting at Indiangrass Preserve

Sold out on the organizer’s page when we last checked.

Registration is full: the organizer's registration page says the event has reached capacity and is no longer accepting registrations.

About this adventure

Coastal Prairie Conservancy's 2026 Putting Down Roots Festival is a family-friendly volunteer morning at Indiangrass Preserve near Waller, where participants plant 1,200 native prairie plants to create one acre of restored coastal prairie. Every plant was grown from wild-collected seed in the conservancy's on-site native plant nursery. After check-in, coffee and a planting demonstration with a safety briefing at 9 a.m., planting runs until 11:30, while live bluegrass, educational booths, an ice cream truck and a farm animal petting zoo run through the morning. Lunch is provided under the pavilion at 11:30, followed by a short program and native plant raffle at noon and optional staff-led tours from 12:30 to 1 p.m. (welcome center, native plant nursery, plant identification walk or bird blind). The festival is open to all ages: volunteers 16 and older may take part on their own, and children are welcome with an adult. Wear closed-toed shoes or boots, tall socks, long pants, a long-sleeved shirt and a hat, and bring a reusable water bottle and gardening gloves (loaner gloves and all tools are provided). It goes ahead rain or shine unless the weather is unsafe, and volunteer hours can be signed off for school requirements.