Nature and Gardening: Why I Love My Meadow

Three years ago when we moved from a neighborhood to the country, I was excited about having a little more green space around me. The house we bought was seven years old and had a nice, established lawn. However, the area beyond the manicured back yard, a space less than an acre, was a scruffy hill of weeds that the previous owners kept mowed. It had no irrigation and only the toughest weeds grew there. The ground was rock hard, and rocky. And believe it or not, I was excited about that weedy, scruffy space on the hill. Because I wanted a meadow.

Today, because of agriculture and America’s love of lawns, we have less than one percent of native grasslands left. It takes only one acre of natural grasslands to reintroduce ground breeding birds such as quail and meadowlark, birds that benefit from the protection of tall grass.

One benefit of having a meadow is that it needs no irrigation (think present day California) and unlike a lawn, it needs no fertilizer, which is a benefit to the Chesapeake Bay. Plus, pollinators, birds and wildlife benefit from a meadow habitat, unlike your grass lawn that has nothing to offer nature. A meadow is easier work than a lawn, but is not completely maintenance free. Without mowing or a controlled burn each year, an unmaintained meadow will revert to forest in a relatively short amount of time. First cedar trees appear and then oak, pine and others soon follow.

To create a meadow, you must eliminate the weeds and cool season grasses present before replanting. I used vats of Round-Up but the weeds basically rejected my efforts. I don’t have a tiller, plus my meadow is on a slope, so after mowing it very short, I got to work with a hoe and a rake and did my best to loosen the soil. It took about two weeks of serious labor in early spring to prepare my meadow. Although it seemed like most of the weeds were gone, apparently the weeds and Bermuda grass were just biding their time before returning with a vengeance. Finally, I raked an area, planted seeds, raked another area, planted seeds, and so on, walking over each planted area to press the seeds firmly into the soil. Each area I raked produced a mound a river rock from just beneath the surface.

This is my third year planting my meadow and fortunately I learned in a recent meadow class at the community college that it takes about three years for a meadow to become firmly established. I also learned that a meadow shouldn’t be all about flowers – a proper meadow is a balance of 60 percent grass and 40 percent flowers. Recommended grasses are a combination of little blue stem, big blue stem, switch grass and Indian grass. Bermuda grass and crab grass don’t count. This year, I am closer to the recommended mix but still have way too many weeds, despite additional vats of Round-Up.

I also learned that the recommended flower selection includes natives such as coneflower, aster, mistflower, Joe-pye-weed, liatris, brown-eyed Susan, goldenrod, and ironweed. (I learned this in the class that was offered soon after I finished planting this year’s meadow.) I purchased seeds on-line by the quarter-pound, half-pound and pound, and probably over-seeded my space. My rationale for over-seeding was that planting on a hill, some seeds would be washed away in a heavy rain. The native flowers I chose were: coneflower, white yarrow, coreopsis, monarda, liatris, brown-eyed Susan, milkweed, cosmos and a native sunflower. Then I broke the rules -- I planted non-native seeds as well. I planted about a pound of zinnias, because butterflies and gold finches LOVE them. I also planted tall verbena for the butterflies and because it reseeds easily. I planted a little dill and parsley to feed black swallowtail caterpillars, but I think it may be too dry for them to succeed. Next year I will add mistflower and aster to my selection.

With the expense of bulk seeds and Round-Up, and all of the hard labor preparing the soil and fighting a losing battle with Bermuda grass, why do I bother? Because I love my meadow. It is so full of life. There is a wide variety of bees and pollinators and insects. The place literally buzzes. It is also full of butterflies all summer long. Great spangled fritillaries, tiger swallowtails, zebra swallowtails. pipevines, painted ladies, silvery checkerspots, eastern black swallowtails and lots of skippers. I am on the lookout for monarchs but sadly I haven't spotted any yet this year, although milkweed awaits them. My meadow is full of grasshoppers, lizards and dragonflies. Several times I’ve seen turkeys in my meadow. Even a darn groundhog lives there. When I walk out to my meadow, dozens of goldfinch take off in flight. They love eating the seeds from the zinnias. At dusk I watch flycatchers and gnatcatchers darting about, low over the meadow, eating insects.

My meadow may not be a proper meadow. My skills may be sorely lacking. I don’t have any power equipment except a mower. The crappie grasses are wearing me down. And still, I love my meadow. I love the diversity of life it supports. I love that it succeeds only on rainwater. I love the butterflies, dragonflies and gold finch. I love the turkeys. And I don’t dislike the groundhog.