Walsh Park Suburban Meadow Framingham

FEATURED FILMS

GALLERY

Design & Build

SPRING

SUMMER

Fall

Site Conditions

With high winds, 12+ hours of sun, poor soil and a 45° angled south-facing slope, the site posed many challenges.

In addition to being a tough growing site, the steep incline made mowing hazardous for the City of Framingham’s Parks and Rec maintenance team.

Crabgrass and common weeds were the dominant layer of existing vegetation.

It was an ideal location to exemplify how our solutions at Green Abundance by Design work for even the most difficult of scenarios. Aesthetics, maintenance, and ecological function all had the potential for improvement.

Goals

The goals for the space were:

• Use native plants that are suited for the site as it is. Plants would need to be tough enough to handle the full sun, drought, high wind conditions, and the winter stresses from snow plowing and de-icing treatments.

• Increase the visual interest of the space. Have something beautiful to enjoy while waiting at the stop light.

• Create a garden that would create food and habitat for pollinators and birds.

• Solve the hazardous weekly mowing maintenance requirements.

Design

The focus of our design was to mimic features of a natural meadow, both in function and in layering, but with a more controlled and intentional layout.

We planted 14 different species of native wildflower, each planted in blocks across the entire length of the space. We then used 3 different native grasses (short, medium, and tall) to act as structural elements surrounding the flower plantings.

The installation was completed over the course of 2 days in the late summer of 2019, where nearly 1300 landscape plugs were planted over the 1300 sq ft of garden space.