Use a spade or plow to till the earth so that the current plants are worked into the soil and no longer visible. Remove perennial weed roots.
Wait two or three weeks before planting. During this time weed seeds will germinate. Remove these with a hoe. Use a spade to dig out any perennials that sprout.
Mix the meadow grass seed with an equal volume of sand. Use a grass seed spreader to spread seed evenly across the prepared soil.
Use a garden roller to press the seeds into the soil.
Use sprinklers that produce a fine mist to water the soil if it does not rain during the first few weeks after sowing the seed.
Keep the meadow mowed to a height of 5 inches during the first year. This will encourage the grasses to spread and cover the ground. Avoid mowing blooming flowers. Discontinue mowing the second year so the flowers will bloom and spread.
Use a posthole digger to dig a hole that is 3 feet deep.
Place an 8-foot post into the hole with fill dirt around it.
Mount a birdhouse onto the post.
Dig out soil to 6 inches deep and 4 feet in diameter for a pond. Use some of the soil you remove to build a mound about 6 inches higher than ground level around the edge of the pond.
Make a small trench in the mound around the hole about 4 inches deep and 6 inches back from the edge of the hole.
Line the pond with plastic, allowing its edges to extend outside the perimeter of the pond by about a foot.
Fold the excess plastic down into the trench, and cover it with gravel.
Allow the pond to fill with rainwater.
Plant cattails in the pond.
Remove unwanted plants from the grassland ecosystem.
Remove the previous year's nests from the birdhouses each spring.
Refrain from using pesticides and herbicides near the grassland.