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ROB CARDILLO Meadow Garden Meadow Garden Creating ameadowgardentakespatienceanddetermination, Creating ameadowgardentakespatienceanddetermination, the allure ofthe but theresultscanbeincrediblyrewarding. the allure ofthe but theresultscanbeincrediblyrewarding. BY CAROLEOTTESEN BY CAROLEOTTESEN May /June2006 31 Meadow pp.31-35 4/25/06 10:39 AM Page 32

HERE’S ROMANCE IN A MEADOW. A field of pliant, swaying grasses and bright summer flowers evokes a time when the world was a younger, simpler, safer place. Global warming T wasn’t happening, fish were jumping out of pristine lakes and streams, and genetically mod- ified corn and soybeans were pure science fiction. Along with a meadow’s aesthetic charms, the yearning for simpler times was and remains a force behind a meadow movement that came to life in the iconoclastic Sixties. Around that time, packets of mixed wild- flower seeds began appearing on the market. The idea was that one had only to scatter the seeds on the wait- ing ground and, presto, a meadow would spring up.

We all know that is not what hap- More than 20 years ago, a meadow tolacca americana). Steve Davis, then pened. Typically, the results were disap- was started at River Farm, home of the horticulturist, theorized that the disc- pointing, if not disastrous. But the allure American Horticultural Society in harrowing brought to the surface poke- of meadows remained. With trial, error, Alexandria, Virginia. Two acres that had weed seeds that had lain dormant for 100 and energy, gardeners learned how to once been a field and had subsequently years. They had germinated swiftly and make them. And they now know that become a lawn, were disc-harrowed and easily outgrew the slower-developing while meadows appear to come about as seeded with a suitable wildflower mix. In wildflowers. Davis learned the hard way gracious, spontaneous gifts of nature, ap- record time, the entire two acres pro- that one of the toughest places to start a pearances deceive. duced a bumper crop of pokeweed (Phy- meadow is in what was once a field.

Above: Broad drifts of soft purple Monarda fistulosa and golden yellow Heliopsis helianthoides flowers are punctuated with Liatris pycnostachya, Echinacea purpurea, and various grasses in this Connecticut meadow designed by landscape architect Richard Bergmann. Previous page: A

variety of colors, heights, and contrasting textures provide a long season of interest in Stephanie Cohen’s meadow garden outside Philadelphia. KAREN BUSSOLINI

32 the American Gardener KAREN BUSSOLINI Meadow pp.31-354/26/061:27PMPage33

TOP: CAROLE OTTESEN. BOTTOM: CAROLE OTTESEN / AHS ARCHIVES didn’t plantuntilthebeginningofMay.” wanted plantsfrom germinating.Andwe she says,“the layerskeptun- of newspaper in fall.Over thewinterandearlyspring, method takesmonths. clippings, etc.To beeffective, however, this will decompose—choppedleaves, grass it withalayer ofanyorganicproduct that small-scale plantings. for simple andeffective, particularly meadow plants,thesmother-methodis chemicals toprepare theground for thatmightcomeup.”everything paper down inthe falltosmother moving thesodandthen“putting news- She eliminatedexisting growth by firstre- ofPhiladelphia. her houseontheoutskirts roughly half-acre meadow sitealongside for anorganicmethodtoprepare her turist andauthorStephanie Cohenopted cal choiceforclearingthesoil,horticul- meadow madeusing glyphosateapracti- to Make aMeadow,” page34). meadow anditsestablishment, see“How site (formore detailsonRiver Farm’s glyphosate wasemployed toprepare the a meadow atRiver Farm beganin2003, kill weeds thatariseatdifferent times. tions maybeneededduringtheseasonto remain buried,althoughseveral applica- cause thesoilneednotbeturned,soseeds to killexistingvegetation istemptingbe- the weeds are gone. two tothree weeks forayear ormore until plains Diboll. It maytakecultivation every wheresurface theycangerminate,”ex- cycle weed bringsupnew seedstothesoil ing by cultivation alone,“every cultivation specifically toexistingconditions. prepare thesitewitharegimen tailored ence,” right.)Thewaytodothatis Prairieabout prairies,see“The Differ- prairies around thecountry. (For more firm thathasinstalledmeadows and Prairie Nursery, aWestfield, Wisconsin, grow,” saysNeil Diboll, president of inated toallow theyoung seedlingsto “It isvitalthatcompetingweeds beelim- FROM THEGROUNDUP Solarization, anotherorganictech- Cohen beganhermeadow preparation To inplace,cover keepthenewspaper For withusing thoseuncomfortable While thelargesize oftheRiver Farm When amore recent attemptto start Using anherbicidesuchasglyphosate When oldfieldsare prepared forplant- much as100degrees afootormore down degrees Fahrenheit andas onthesurface raises soiltemperatures toasmuch140 order totrapthesun’s heat.In fullsun,this sheeting over thearea tobeplantedin spreading andanchoringclearplastic nique formeadow preparation, involves nique formeadowsitepreparation. soil tosmotherweedsisoneeffective tech- Spreading layersofnewspapers overbare THE PRAIRIEDIFFERENCE sistant rootsre-grow. often regeneratebyfire;aftertheabove-groundvegetationburnsoff,firere- grass, ormixed,dependinguponrainfallandsiteconditions.Innature,prairies percent forbsandlessthanfiveshrubs.Prairiescanbetallgrass,short climax community,predominantlygrassland,typicallytreeless,withonlyabout30 of vastareasthecontinent,coveringoveramillionsquaremiles.Aprairieis mowed periodically. a meadowgarden—opportunisticwoodyplantsmustberemovedandthe land. Topreventthenaturalsuccessionofameadowtowoodland—andmaintain the establishmentoftrees.Oritmaybeanabandonedfieldintransitiontowood- drought discourages where erraticrainfallor of forbsandgrasses ly occurringcommunity land, maybeanatural- small openinginwood- community. comparatively stable stage whileaprairieis ow isatransitional communities. Amead- different typesofplant prairies aredistinctly curring meadowsand pearance, naturallyoc- Although similarinap- Before EuropeansettlementinNorthAmerica,prairiewasthedominantflora A meadow,oftena Prairies, likethisoneinMissouri,aretypicallygrasslands. solarization, see“S plants. (For more informationaboutsoil area canbeseededorpluggedwithyoung After theplasticsheetingisremoved, the under theplasticcovering willbekilled. summer months,theplantsandseeds weeks insunnyweather duringthehot forthreeinto thesoil.If undertaken tosix plants shedidn’t want. itored themeadow closely, cuttingout plugging indesirableforbs.She alsomon- D.C. Reed augmentedhermeadow by National Arboretum inWashington, of thenative plantcollectionattheU.S. tifully inthemeadow inFern Valley, home fully thisway, andithasalsoworked beau- Joanna Reed created hermeadow success- The late,great Pennsylvania gardener It isalsopossiblesimplytoletafieldgrow. LET ITBE Gardener, nessing Solar Power” inTheAmerican —Rita Pelczar, Contributing Editor Contributing Pelczar, —Rita July/August, 2003.) MART May /June2006 G ARDEN :Har- 33 Meadow pp.31-354/26/061:31PMPage34 34 HOW TOMAKEAMEADOW ery, Inc.undertookthedaunting taskofsettingover35,000plugsintotheground. Volunteers, AHSstaffmembers, andhelpersfromMountVernonKurtBluemelNurs- overlap tocrowdoutweeds. have alittleroomtospreadbutwill setting plantsaboutafootapartsothey grasses inbroadswathsforbesteffect, dividual herbaceousperennialsand the mosteconomicalchoice.Plantin- a finelayerofweed-freestraw. scatter yourseeds.Covertheareawith rake toloosenthetoplayerofsoiland plant. Ifyouaresowingseeds,usea spring orearlyfallarethebesttimesto es andforbsyouhavechosen.Mid- the meadowwithmixtureofgrass- weeds, it’stimetosowseedsorplant Once themeadowsiteisclearedof Step 2: existing vegetation. tions ofglyphosateherbicidetokillthe ist PeggyBowersusedseveralapplica- AHS meadowproject,Horticultur- “helpers”. Becauseofthescope ow andyourenergyleveloraccessto such asthesizeofplannedmead- method youchoosedependsonfactors tion, andherbicides(seepage33).The smothering withnewspaper,solariza- of methods,includingrepeatedtilling, Weeds canbeeradicatedbyavariety Step 1: of thismeadowislargerthanmostpeoplewouldplanforahomegarden,thestepsinvolvedinitsestablishmentaresame. The AndréBluemelMeadowatRiverFarm,whichwilleventuallyencompassfiveacres,wasinitiatedin2003.Althoughthescale the American Gardener If youareputtinginplants,plugs SOW SEEDSAND/ORPLANTPLUGS ELIMINATE WEEDS pounds oflittlebluestem meadow, Bowersseededin100 nated byformerAHSBoardChairKurt ratio ofthreegrassestooneforb—do- also plantedover35,000plugs—witha volunteers andAHSstaffmembers,she um scoparium). um (above) avarietyofforbsandgrasseshadtakenrootspread. The firstquarterofRiverFarm’smeadowprojectwasinitiatedin2003.ByAugust2005, For thefirstphaseofRiverFarm With thehelpofmany (Schizachyri- an invitingentrywayintothemeadow. more frequentlytoensurevisitorshave year, inFebruary.Pathwaysaremowed meadow atRiverFarmismowedoncea woody plantsfromdeveloping.The etation andhelpspreventopportunistic cuts backthepreviousyear’sdeadveg- Mowing themeadowonceortwiceayear Step 4. Farm’s meadow. first seasonofeachphaseRiver weekly hasbeenrequiredduringthe and anaverageof20hoursweeding intensive. Wateringwithsprinklers season tohelpplantsgetestablished. irrigation isneededforthefirstgrowing must bewateredimmediately.Regular After seedingorplantingameadow,it Step 3. in Baldwin,Maryland. Bluemel ofKurtNursery,Inc., Initial maintenanceofameadowis MOW PERIODICALLY WATER ANDWEED —C.O.

DAVID ELLIS (3) Meadow pp.31-35 4/26/06 1:37 PM Page 35

This just-letting-it-grow method pre- around her meadow because it prevents the supposes that the gardener will: meadow from encroaching on her lawn, 1) monitor the meadow regularly and Resources and it “keeps people from thinking it looks be able to recognize potentially unwanted Meadows by Christopher Lloyd. unkempt,” she explains. plants and woody growth while it is young Timber Press, 2004. The twice yearly or annual mowing is enough to be yanked out, and a maintenance dream that takes time, be- 2) take the time and effort to systemat- Natural Landscaping by John Diekel- cause the labor of meadow-making is ically destroy them as they emerge. mann and Robert Schuster. Univer- heavily front-loaded. “The first year is the sity of Wisconsin Press, 2002. hardest,” says Bowers, who ticks off trou- PLANTING THE MEADOW blesome intruders to be eliminated: from Once the existing vegetation is eliminated, The Wildflower Meadow Book: A Gar- vines like oriental bittersweet and Japan- it’s time to sow seed or plugs—small root- dener’s Guide by Laura C. Martin. ese honeysuckle to woody plants such as ed plants. For a large area, seeds are cheap- Globe Pequot Press, 1990. ailanthus and paulownia that grow back er, but slower to develop. To prevent seeds with vigor from their stumps after mow- from blowing away and help keep them ing. To rid the meadow of these nuisances moist, consider applying a light mulch. MOWING IT DOWN Bowers paints the cut stumps with Gar- “The benefit of plugs over seeds are that “A meadow left to its own devices,” says lon®, a weed and brush herbicide. the meadow establishes faster,” says River Bowers, “will not stay a meadow.” Once it Farm Horticulturist Peggy Bowers, “and is up and growing, maintaining it involves you can create patterns.” Instead of ran- removing invading weeds and periodic dom planting for the River Farm meadow, mowing to prevent woody plants from tak- Bowers sited taller grasses farther back, ing over. Mowing timing and frequency while short grasses such as Bouteloua gra- varies depending on the situation. At least cilis were planted on the front edge. She one mowing is generally recommended be- placed forbs in swaths throughout the tween late autumn and early spring. meadow. Cohen planted her meadow Cohen cuts her meadow back once a year using plugs and a few native bulbs. in February as does Bowers. Although most meadow species toler- For aesthetic reasons, Reed usually ate drought fairly well, it is important to mowed twice each year—once in late water the seeds or plugs until they are well winter and again in midsummer. Sum- established. After planting her meadow mer mowing kept the meadow shorter, Cohen “watered it for several weeks.” which made it easier to see the flowers After that, says Cohen, “we did nothing.” that came up. Summer mowing should A monarch butterfly alights on some At River Farm, the meadow was watered be timed to avoid disturbing nesting milkweed flowers in the River Farm meadow. weekly unless there was a significant rain- wildlife and emerging box turtles. fall. Watering continued for a year. Cohen also maintains a neatly cut edge Already the River Farm meadow is showing promise: “Meadows are not low maintenance but they are low impact on the environment,” says Bowers. “As far as wildlife is concerned, the meadow is pro- viding numerous kinds of habitats.” Bow- ers has observed bobwhites, eagles, robins, groundhogs, wild turkeys, and a family of foxes who have made the meadow their home. Bluebirds nest in their boxes, and a variety of butterflies abound. Anyone who has installed a meadow will tell you it is the devil to get started, but well worth the effort. Inscribed on a piece of slate in the River Farm meadow are the words left by Emily, Annie, and Jess— AHS interns who helped Bowers plant and weed the meadow last summer: “Meadows are not made by sitting in the shade.”

AHS Horticulturist Peggy Bowers mows the meadow at River Farm once a year, in February, Carole Ottesen is a contributing writer for

DAVID ELLIS (3) LEFT: CAROLE OTTESEN / AHS ARCHIVE. RIGHT: VIVEKA NEVELN to remove opportunistic woody plants and allow desired plants to grow in the new season. The American Gardener.

May / June 2006 35