The Meadow Walk: Part 1
Take a peek at how I’m transforming a 350’ lawn into a ‘Meadow Walk’! Slowly this area will be filled with native plants for you and wildlife to enjoy!
Meadow dreams…
For years, I envisioned a meadow like the one in this photo by the Wild Seed Project. A meadow bordered by woodlands. One filled with native grasses and flowers to offer beauty and support wildlife in every season.
For 20 years, I wanted to turn the lawn on the West side of the house into a meadow. It would have a winding path based on the deer trail.
The area is perfect for a meadow!
It is roughly the length of a football field and about 75’ wide. Surrounded by woodlands, vernal pools and even a small pond. This area and beyond it had been pasture from the early 1800s until the late 1970s.
Native plants already edged the borders, ‘waiting in the wings’ to come on stage.
There is a little grove of Pine trees and shade from the old Maples. Birch, Cedar, Black Walnut, and Pine mixed with Red Oiser and Silky Dogwoods. Of course, it has its fair share of invasive Morrow’s Honeysuckle. But thick patches of Milkweeds, Asters and Goldenrods filled up the spaces in between.
For about 12 years we kept this large area mowed. We still called it the ‘Meadow’. For fireflies, we only mowed in late June thru September only about once a month.
My kids loved picking Wild Strawberries in June, Wild Raspberries in July and bouquets of Asters in September. It was a sunny lawn for our kids to play baseball & badminton or lay in the sun reading a book. We hosted camp outs and even had fireworks on Christmas Eve.
The something happened…
Then early one Summer the riding lawn mower broke down– and the decision was made to let Nature take over the show.
We were at the beach most days anyway!
So we pushed mowed the path the deer used from the front to the back pond plus an area under the trees for playing & picnics.
The rest of the lawn we let grow. We simply stopped mowing/mulching the leaves. This practice was recommended at the time to “decompose leaves into the soil faster”....
Again.. All we did was stop mowing the lawn and shredding/raking the leaves…
I didn’t read books about meadows nor did I look it up on Google. Hey back then there wasn’t ‘Google It’ let alone internet on our road. Looking back if I knew then what I know now… I’d do more research and maybe ask an ecologist to visit. I take a full year to do nothing but remove all the invasive species too!
Back in 2010. we simply stopped mowing & chopping the leaves!
What happened next still astounds me.
Suddenly, we had more insects like grasshoppers and even native preying mantis. Even that first Summer we saw an increase in WILDLIFE visiting the meadow!
But it was the next season when we saw dramatic changes.
Early the following Spring (No Mow Year 2) there were noticeably more birds singing & foraging in the leaves.
And the insects came followed by more birds and even bats! In July, the farm’s firefly population skyrocketed as did the grasshoppers, ladybirds, and butterflies.
The fireflies were like clouds in the ‘Meadow’. We even had to use drink covers at our campfires to stop them from ‘taking a dip’! One night the kids left their window screens open and clouds of fireflies came inside. Too a full night to catch and release them!
We began seeing Tiger Swallowtails, garter snakes, and even more native preying mantis. We even had to make a new ‘Spring Rule’ to not overturn logs as we kept finding salamanders hibernating there!
But you’ll never believe what the kids got most excited about (after the fireflies of course!)
CRICKETS! CRICKETS! CRICKETS!
Crickets, like the Fireflies, were easily seen and heard. Many were held in children’s hands and measured by their thumbs. Crickets inspired the kids to create funny stories about crickets. Adventure stories where the Crickets went to the library or sat on pillows to sing children to sleep.
There are many singing insects that call sunny meadows home like Common Katydids plus Spring & Fall Crickets. At the time, we called them all crickets because that is what we were seeing were Field Crickets.
Now we’d had crickets and other night time chorus singers before the ‘no mow’ year. Before this change the night insects seemed very loud with their late Summer chorus.
But after 2 years of not mowing or wrangling the leaves…. they were EVERYWHERE!
The Summer Night Chorus was noticeably louder. Why? Because there were MORE field crickets & katydids! Walking in the grass or path they leaped away from our steps in waves much to the delight of everyone especially small children. Plus more insects meant more frogs to add to the nighttime chorus!
Eight years later…
the Summer insect chorus is so beautiful we’ll often grab a glass of lemonade and sit under the Maple trees to listen.
I’ll even wake before dawn just to listen to the choir change- just before dawn there a silence for just a few moments as the field crickets settle down and before the first Robin sings. Magical.
And it all began simply because I didn’t want to replace a riding mower!
There were big changes in Winter too!
Because we didn’t cut down all the ‘meadow’ there was more food for birds and other wildlife in Winter.
Birds became abundant on the farm in Winter as they could feast on the Solidago and Asters. In tree bark, logs and brush piles they fed on hibernating insects and larvae too.
In Spring and Summer, these same dried stems were vital nesting sites for insects such as solitary native bees and moths!
For eight years the ‘meadow’ evolved on it’s own. Then I began my journey into growing native plants and learning more about my 4 acre ‘bird feeder’…
Changes were needed…
Drastic changes. Mostly due to learning and creating this little wildflower farm!
I was getting better at propagating native plants for sharing and for the farm’s wildlife. And I was quickly running out of room for native plants in the front gardens!
The decision to ditch the plastic pots meant I needed even more space to field grow native plants from small seedlings into mature plants ready to go to their home gardens.
A meadow filled with flowers and wildlife would be a wonderful experience to share. I now had the plants plus a bit of knowledge and experience to make it happen.
The ‘Meadow’ ran wild until Spring ‘24
First I hand dug a 7’ x 30’ habitat garden out front. Yes that’s a pic of landscape plastic that I used to terminate the ‘lawn’ for six weeks. Afterwards I dug the soil 3” with a pitch fork and lightened the soil with a hoe and rake.
I did the same with a 40’ x15’ area in the back of the meadow for growing Iris, Monardas, Coreopsis, Lavender, and Agastache. Lots of ice packs and Bengay were also used! Ha-ha!
Tricks learned along the way…
Deerflies & black flies. I’m sure something eats them but they were a serious menace! I did learn that wearing white shirts with tight cuffs & the old trick of a long piece of grass in your hat works GREAT!
Small consistent steps make big leaps. Steps like planting cover crops or weeding in specific gardens on the same day every week pushed each garden forward.
The most fun trick I learned was on a complete whim!
It’s that BEACH UMBRELLAS are a gardeners best friend!
Need to weed when it’s hot & sunny OR a lightly raining? Want to shade some young plants or protect 8 Swallowtail caterpillars from a severe thunderstorm? Grab that beach umbrella!
Making Pathways
I loved the thin ‘deer path’ through the meadow and so did the wildlife. But a change had to be made there too.
Transporting tools & plants with my cart wasn’t working on the narrow path. I needed an easier ‘commute’ from the front and back areas.
So I widened it by 4 more feet! This also gave my hens a clearer field of vision against predators like foxes and raccoons.
Hesitating on a change
I’m sorry to tell you this but I had to get the Goldenrod and Ragweed in check. I really hesitated on this decision because so many pollinators and birds depend on these Autumn blooming plants.
So much so that I know when they and the Asters are just beginning to bloom long before I see the flowers.
Weeks before they begin bloom, I see less butterflies, bees and wasps in my front and side gardens! Alerted last year by their reduced numbers in these areas, I went looking & listening for them. Lo and behold there they were buzzing in the fields Asters and Goldenrods!
But… the Canadian Goldenrod and Ragweed are aggressive native plants. They’ve had 10 years of low competition from plants and mammals. Running unchecked they’ve crowded out other native plants like Common Yarrow and even a beautiful patch of Common Milkweed.
THE MEADOW NEEDED MORE BIODIVERSITY!
And I wanted a meadow walk filled with more diverse plants for butterflies, bees & birds plus to share with guests to the farm. What held it back was that I somehow had to get the Canadian Goldenrod (Solidago canadenis) and lawn in check. Then hand dig the sides of two 8’x 200’ garden beds!
I’ll be honest…
Elbow grease, moxie & an cold root beer can power any project.
I’d created over 600’ of garden beds by hand in a few short weeks. I knew I didn’t have the moxie. While I had lots of Icy Hot cream for sore muscles I nearly run out of elbow grease and Spreckers Root Beer.
The thought of doing it again on such a larger scale put the kibosh on the whole thing.
I figured I’d just tackle the walk 5’ at a time over a year or two.
Slow and steady I’d create more habitat garden beds.
But then I mentioned I was running out garden space and the idea of a ‘Meadow Walk’ to a flower farming pal. We discussed the pros and cons of Till or No Till.
It’s always a grand thing when one of your best pals is interested in the same topics as you are. Even better when they are right around the corner!
This pal is Jodi– the Queen of Sunflowers & flower farmer extraordinaire at Sage Creek Flowers.
Her and her husband Scott attend the same farmer’s markets as I do. Our flower farming chats are EPIC! And this one about tilling, running out of room and a bit of Summer fatigue was one of them!
Next thing I knew her husband Scott was driving over here to my farm on his tractor!
Pretty tractors & big smiles
I quickly ran through the walk scattering any insects and birds. Rescued a few wild growing plants like Common Yarrow and Wrinkleleaf Goldenrod (Solidago rugosa).
In less than an hour, Scott created over 2,000 feet of garden beds that would have taken me years to hand dig!
Now this was not a deep till instead only about 4-6” deep. It will never be tilled again and only lighted hoed to get keep the Goldenrods and Ragweed in check. This will protect the soils structure and microorganisms.
After the tilling, I let the soil rest for 2 weeks, then gently took my hoe through the top 2” of these long beds. Then I started planting hundreds of native plants and 15 native shrubs. I also sowed in native seeds plus an area with buckwheat for a cover crop.
During this time, George my cat & supervisor was very concerned! He spent days looking over the project and my plantings.
Scott’s tilling moved my plans for the farm up by YEARS! I finally had a place to grow ‘rookies’ for bare roots and next season’s plants. All without any plastics!
Planting, Weeding & Planting..
That’s when I found this sweet little treasure! A bell with everything from a lamp to an octopus.
I’m still researching this little bell. Just goes to show you never know what you’ll find at a 200+ year old farm!
October & November was spent planting hundreds of native plants in the Meadow Walk. I lost count at 426 and that doesn’t include those native shrubs!
I can’t wait to see the plants wake up in a few weeks!
A two for one special
The entire Meadow Walk is mostly full sun with a few areas of partial shade. But the Meadow Walk has ‘2 faces” that we discovered with the tilling. We have a dry meadow and a very ‘wet’ meadow!
The northern part of the meadow is dry sandy soils that need more organic matter. (Thank you Glacial Lake Lake Iroquois)
In contrast, the southern meadow is a wet meadow with more organic matter. This area is in full sun and bordered by a vernal pool and a higher water table.
Two different meadows.
One great opportunity to create a diverse habitat aka a giant birdfeeder! For example, the moist soil and light of the southern part of the meadow is perfect for growing Winterberry (Ilex verticillata) shrubs, Sweet Joe Pye Weed (Eutrochium purpureum), and three different species of Milkweed (Asclepias). All who support and host various insects which in turn will help birds feed their chicks or survive Winter.
There’s still so much to do in the ‘Meadow Walk’
This Spring and Summer I’ll be
Growing a cover crop of pea & oats to push out the ‘weeds’ in certain areas.
Mow back the edges where the Goldenrod & Ragweed still are crowding everyone out of the field. Hopefully the native seed mixes I sowed in January will then prosper.
Install Leopold Benches to sit on. Will be lovely to watch Nature on these in the meadow.
This lovely photo of a Leopold Bench has inspired me to attempt to create these benches for you. Instructions and more information can be found at Ruth's Waterfalls of the Finger Lakes and Rochester, NY (photo credit also Ruth’s Waterfalls)
I ditched plastic pots last year! Natural ‘pots’ of burlap, paper or wool help feed soil microbes and build soil health. Happy soil means happy plants!
By adding native shrubs like Carolina Roses and Winterberry in the Meadow Walk pollinators, birds and other wildlife will have more food and shelter in every season.
I’ve planted over 500 native plants in the Meadow Walk last Fall! Especially fast growing native plants like Brown-eyed Susan that will quickly fill in and shade out any unwanted plants.
What’s next for the Meadow Walk?
More planting for sure! But I’m planning more fun times like:
Workshops in Habitat Gardening, Nature Photography and even a herbal workshop!
Special U-Dig day AND U-Pick Flowers!
Stay tuned!
Part 2 of the ‘Meadow Walk’ adventure is coming up next week on the blog! Events & more!
Join the Lazy Dirt Gang to not miss the exciting news!
Follow the Garden Adventure on the ‘Gram & Youtube!
Citations for this post
Jordan Sarah Foltz et al. The Xerces Society for Invertebrate Conservation. Organic Site Preparation Methods: A Comparative Overview 16-027
Lawson, Nancy, 1970-. 2023. Wildscape: Trilling Chipmunks, Beckoning Blooms, Salty Butterflies, and Other Sensory Wonders of Nature. Princeton Architectural Press
Salon, Paul A, Chris F Miller, and United States. Natural Resources Conservation Service. A Guide to Conservation Plantings on Critical Areas for the Northeast. Washington, D.C.? U.S. Dept. of Agriculture, Natural Resources Conservation Service, 2012
Stone, Mary. “Nightime Chorus of Garden Insects.” Ask Mary Stone. September 09, 2024 <https://askmarystone.com/nighttime-chorus-of-garden-insects/>
