Our adventure began in early 2000 when my husband and I bought 500 acres of an old farm in the Driftless Area of western Wisconsin. The Driftless Area is the part of the Midwest that was never covered by glaciers, so the land is beautiful – with steep hills and narrow valleys. I’m interested in native plants and natural landscapes, so I thought it would be fun to return the land to prairie and how it looked before it was farmed.
When someone asks for help to increase pollinators in their landscape, many times the initial request is to start a pollinator meadow from seed. We love successful wildflower meadows started from scratch—but they can take several years of work. In the right place, just reducing mowing can result in improved conditions for pollinators.
What new skills or activities did you try during COVID lockdown? Walter Kittredge began an entirely new venture after retiring from his 45-year career at the world-renowned Gray Herbarium at Harvard University. He opened a native plant nursery called Oakhaven Sanctuary.
In today’s rapidly urbanizing environment, we have a unique opportunity, if not a duty, to create livable landscapes that are attractive, easily managed, and provide a rich complement of plants to support diverse ecosystems. Let’s adapt a naturalistic design aesthetic that allows us to use native plants in home gardens, reflecting our regional spirit of place.
The term rewilding first appeared in the conservation world in the 1980s with a continental-scale vision to protect large tracts of wilderness and connect these areas with migration corridors. Maine’s Wild Seed Project considers rewilding to be not just for the large wilderness areas or charismatic megafauna like wolves. Instead, they focus on actions that people can take right outside their doors.
By Neil Diboll
Many flowers and grasses commonly associated with Midwestern prairies also occur in the meadows of New England. Some species are widely distributed throughout the region, while others are only occasional or rare. Most are more common in the prairie region, but some are abundant in the Northeast.
Establishing a meadow is difficult; you have to combat chaotic weather forecasts and wait at least three years to see results all while managing clients’ anxiety around whether or not it’s working. Knowing which species typically have the most success in establishment and longevity is a crucial factor in creating a sustainable meadow. Here are the top ten meadow species (from seed) that will make your meadows work.
by Cathy Neal
Successfully establishing a meadow from seed is a three-year process, with the first year devoted to good site preparation. It can be a hard sell, but time spent eliminating competitive vegetation before you plant is essential to long-term success.
by Nick Novick Opportunities for a meadow project to go south lurk at every stage, from design and customer interaction to installation and maintenance. Getting a meadow going is enough of a challenge without committing avoidable mistakes. The list could just as well be 9 or 21 items, but 10 seems like a friendly, round…
by Mary B. O’Neill, Ph.D. Reprinted with permission, this article first appeared in the July 2017 issue of Main Street Magazine. The American Dream of homeownership, good fences making good neighbors, and lush, rolling lawns – it’s the mythic trifecta of life in these United States. Or is it? Homeownership is down, while fences and…
by Tara Mitchell ELA’s 23rd Annual Conference in March brought together three highly knowledgeable experts for a question and answer panel session on Native Grass and Wildflower Seeding: Mark Fiely, Horticulturalist at Ernst Conservation Seeds, Carlos Montoya, owner of Native Plant Associates on Martha’s Vineyard, and Larry Weaner of Larry Weaner Landscape Associates. Moderated by…
by Silvana Valiani What started out as a routine after dinner dog walk in the spring of 2012 resulted in the implementation of our municipality’s first Meadowscape to avoid annihilation by the weed police.
