The suburban landscape is one of the best places where we reform the time effort and energy that is expended into low ecological value spaces. One of the best ways in which we can help support beneficial wildlife and pollinators is through the transformation of our lawns, borders, and other marginally utilized spaces into native wildflower and grass plant communities.

On this page we hope to help our clients through the decision making process on the best approach for transitioning their lawn into a meadow.

1. The Suburban Meadow- Transplanting A Meadow

 There are many benefits of establishing a meadow from transplants (mature container grown species). 

1. More immediate impact. Plants have already mature root systems and allow for first season flowering and a maturation cycle 2 seasons ahead of a meadow started from seed.

2. Transplanting allows for more designed layout allowing for large single species planting blocks which help convey a more designed look versus a more naturalized blended appearance with a seeded meadow. This is often best for smaller landscapes or the front yard of a property where aesthetic considerations and scale play a part in balancing a garden aesthetic versus a more naturalized space.

3. Mechanical methods of resetting existing plant or lawn growth are possible. The sod from a lawn can be cut out, or for larger spaces, tilled under to reset it’s growth. Mulch can be utilized when planting to reduce weed seed germination along with pre emergent weed controls to further reduce first season weeding maintenance.

The installation time frame for transplanting a meadow is usually May-July and again in Mid August to Mid/late September.

The main drawback to transplanting a meadow is its cost. When working at scales larger than 1500-3000 sq/ft, we often recommend looking at starting a meadow from seed.

2. Native Meadow Seeding

Starting a native meadow plant community from seed is often the most appropriate and budget friendly method to establishing a larger meadow.  When looking at replacing large scales of lawn to a native plant community, this is the best option.

1. Most cost effective method for replacing larger scale lawns.

2. More plant species selection to choose from. There are more species available from seed than what is grown in the commercial nursery trade.

3. More naturalized appearance hides weeds better and generally requires less maintenance to keep it looking balanced.

The best time to sow a native meadow seed mix is generally in the late fall/early winter, also known as dormant seeding.  This allows for the seeds in the mix that need the cold weather and frost cycle to stratify the seeds and break dormancy come spring.  The second best time a meadow can be seeded is in the spring. Some of species in the mix will remain dormant until the following season's winter stratification process.  With either we are utilizing the moist soil of the spring to provide the best conditions for germinating seed. Summer seeding is also effective for smaller scale work where supplemental irrigation is possible.

Site Preparation

The success of establishing a meadow from seed is most connected to the preparation of the site.  One wants as clean a seed bed as possible.  This means controlling any vegetation currently present and that will emerge the following season.  There are two main approaches to achieving a soil bed ready for seeding

1. Systemic Herbicides. The most efficient, effective, and least wasteful way to reset existing plant growth is through the use of systemic herbicides such as Glyphosate (Round Up).  This effectively controls vegetation, does not disturb the soil and thus does not bring new weed seeds to the soil surface (very important to removing as much weed competition).  Two applications before seeding is recommended to control growth.

2. Solarization. The other common method that does not involve the use of herbicide or disturbing the soil is solarization. This is where black plastic is laid over a site for the length of no less than one growing season. Ideally periodic removal and recovering of the area is performed to encourage more seeds already present in the soil to germinate and then be smothered again.  This is a process we do not offer as it is less efficacious that the herbicide approach and in our opinion produces longer term issues for the environment with the plastic persisting in the landfill waste stream for many decades. If a client wanted this approach it would fall on them to prep a site in this manner.

Each method has their pros and cons, but in general we recommend using systemic herbicides to prepare a site.  Herbicides are more effective at controlling all vegetation and has considerably less waste than using plastic to solarize a site.  The half life of an herbicide in a landscape's soil is about 1 season whereas a plastic sheet that is used for solarization will end up in a landfill and persist in the environment for 100+ years.  With both approaches you are trying to get as much of the weeds in the soil seed bank to germinate and be controlled before it comes time for the native wildflowers and grasses.  The main reason for this is that the maturation timeline for native wildflowers and grasses is generally 3-4 years. Their slower growth can be overwhelmed by quick growing annual and perennial weeds if their presence is not significantly reduced before seeding.

3. The Mowable Meadow - Over-seeding an existing lawn

Starting a meadow from seed with a blank canvas is generally going to have the best results (most diverse flowering display, more balanced flower to grass composition) but might not be the ideal situation for everyone. For some I understand the use of herbicides to prep a site is a non starter. An alternative option is seeding an existing lawn with native wildflowers and grasses. This is what we call the mowable meadow.

Pros:

• Doesn’t require extensive site prep

• Doesn’t require broad use of herbicide or large quantities of plastic.

• Allows for existing vegetation to hold soil and reduce erosion potential on sloped sites.

• Existing grass will provide first year texture and scale

• Can again be mowed as a lawn should one wish to go back to the traditional manicured appearance.

Cons:

• More variable in outcomes of plant community that persists

• More likely to be grass dominant overtime and benefit from seasonal disturbances such as aeration to keep flowers persistent

• Existing perennial weeds once controlled by mowing grass will likely emerge once area stops being mowed and might benefit from spot herbicide treatments.

Seeding times are best done in the spring to get annual flowers going the first season with annuals. A fall seeding would also work for germination of flowers the following spring. Summer seeding is possible if using supplemental irrigation.

Establishment Timeline for Seeding

The expected maturation of a meadow seeding is 3-4 years. The first year the plants will be focusing on their root development and not much foliage is produced above ground. Annual wildflowers will emerge during this time and also provide first year interest. Occasional mowing at the highest setting on a mower is appropriate keep the grass shorter to allow for better germination of the wildflower seed. Generally mowing can stop come June/July depending on weather. The second season is where the main perennial flowers will emerge. The early to flower species, such as the commonly used black eyed susan, will put on a showy display of flowers, while the longer to establish flowers are still working on their development. By year 3-4 the majority of wildflower species will start producing flowers and your meadow will begin to start looking like the mature plant community as intended. 

Meadow Maintenance

The maintenance benefits of a meadow are numerous in comparison to the traditional lawn. They include:

1. No yearly fertilization requirement. Native wildflowers and grasses generally thrive in poorer soil conditions and are often better suited to less fertility. No more nitrogen and it’s run off into our water supplies.

2. No more broad-scale weed control applications. Maintaining a homogenous planting of turf grass often requires to use of chemical herbicides to maintain a monoculture balance. With a meadow planting, herbicide use would only be for targeted and controlled applications to specific perennial deep rooted weeds and invasive plants as needed.

3. No large scale weekly mowing. A meadow is mowed once a year to clean up the dead above ground growth and reset woody plants in the space. One of the practices we do recommend is keeping mowed pathways. This could be every 3-4 weeks for a more informal less manicured path. Converting large spaces down to small amounts of mow-able space allows for reduced mow times and potentially at a scale where it becomes manageable for the home owner to use an electric mower. The mowable meadow approach will benefit from a Fall cut back before the winter while a native meadow will benefit from a late fall or spring cut back

4. No more weekly irrigation during the height of the summer. Meadow plants are most commonly at their peak during the dry summer months.

The first couple of seasons with a meadow garden will be its highest maintenance. Here is where the majority of weeding and controlling unwanted vegetation occur. The goal is prevent any vigorous weeds or invasive plants from establishing themselves in the space. During the summer months a monthly weeding is recommended and to be expected. This is reduced over time as the canopy of the planting closes and is able to naturally shade out and squelch any new weed growth.

Longer term weeding will still be necessary especially with the invasive plant problem that is present in most all of our suburban landscapes and environment. Plants like asiatic bittersweet can establish themselves in non mowed area during a growing season and it is especially important to remove any of these plants before they mature into berry/seed producing plants.

A meadow’s guaranteed yearly maintenance is a cutting back of plant material in the late fall/early winter, or in the early spring. This ensures the planting to look its best when it puts on new growth for the coming season as well as resetting any woody growth in the space. We recommend a spring cut back for the Suburban and Native Seeded meadow and a fall cut back for the Mowable meadow. A herbaceous dominant plant community such as a meadow is an early succession plant community in the northeast. Without the yearly disturbance of mowing slowly over time shrubs and trees will start to fill in the space as the natural success in our temperate climate is always heading towards a forest ecosystem. This is one of the main reasons why meadows are such a great addition to the suburban landscape as the regular maintenance of our gardens allows us to create spaces that normally would not persist if left alone in the wild.

Irrigation

A well designed plant community will not need regular watering once it is established. There are plants that will not need any supplemental water at all even in prolonged droughts. With that said, it is recommended that during a meadows establishment season (seeded or transplanted) that supplemental watering take place during periods of inconsistent rainfall. This generally means an infrequent but deep watering 1-2 times a week to keep the establishing roots well fed and with enough resources to keep their growth moving downward. No utilizing irrigation is possible when seeding but might prolong establishment as plant growth will be dependent on natural rainfall.