How are you going to water the garden grass area? I would suggest it is too big for above the ground sprinklers unless you have a pivot system!! I have seen miniature pivot systems in yards. I think they were novelty units, but they worked. Whether and how you plan to water should inform which type of grass you use in the garden and wild area.

I'd start by mowing what you have regularly and see what survives that process. We have a neighbor who mows about 3 acres with a garden tractor variety mower (40-inch). I'm not sure if she doesn't know where the Jackrabbit mode on the throttle is, but it takes her a long time to mow that. So consider your equipment. Do you want two mowers - one for the garden and one for the wildscape? Think about it. Are you experienced on a real tractor?

Here's a picture of the traditional way to prepare land for planting a lawn.

The attachment on the back of the tractor is a box blade. It has a push/pull blade with ripper tines and side plates to contain the soil being pulled. The tines pull roots and rocks out of the soil. An experienced box bladesman should be able to clear your entire 6 acres in a morning if there are not many obstacles like rocks, trees, or concrete. Since it was under crop recently, a morning should do it. Ask your landscaper how long it would take. If he says a week, he's either not using a tractor or he really doesn't know what he's doing. Some beginners will try using a bobcat or skidsteer with a smaller box blade. Those take a week for even small property.

For such a large area, the landscaper would likely recommend hydroseeding. The seed sprays out of a fire hose and covers a lot of area fast.

As for seed in the wild area, visit your local county ag extension office. Ask them which of the wheatgrasses do best in YOUR area. These can be pretty localized in some locations. You want one that will perform with monthly mowing. I would also suggest blue grama to mix with the wheatgrass. Since it will be wild anyway, you might want inoculated Dutch white or strawberry clover in the mix. The seed is inoculated with a bacterium which can extract nitrogen from the air and turn it into fertilizer, so you don't have to fertilize the wild areas.

Before your builder does his seeding, ask him how he plans to prepare and do the seeding. Maybe you can throw in some cash and work out a deal to do the entire 6 acres all at the same time.

These are some things to think about.

Thanks for the response and info. I’ll try to answer your questions to give a little more info.

As far as watering, around the house will be watered with an above ground sprinkler. We have a few hoses and sprinklers to water and move around. The native grasses will be on the outside of the property, and will probably not get much watering outside of nature.

For equipment, I have a JD garden tractor with 60” mower deck, loader, and front snow plow. We also have a couple relatives with larger farm tractors we could probably get our hands on. As far as comfortability with tractors, if it has wheels and a motor, I’m good to go. I’m expecting to be buying a larger tractor in time, but we want to see how it goes with what we have for the first year or so.

To the box blade, I know that would be the preferred method, but can you use it on heavily vegetated ground or would it just get filled with grass and weeds constantly? That’s the part I’m not sure about, is how to get all the vegetation under control. You think I just keep mowing it until I’m left with something good? How long do I do that until it’s time to seed? Another consideration is that the house will be done early November, so not long before winter rolls in around here. Should I be worrying about anything this year, or just wait until next spring?

Also, my sister-in-law’s sister works at our county extension office, so she will get me hooked up with the proper seed once I get to that step. Thanks again.

https://tallgrassprairiecenter.org/plant-iowa-native

Thanks Skip1909, there's a lot of good reading there. I've made it through a bit of it all.