Two years ago my husband and I planted a meadow of wildflowers in front of our solar array. We covered the grass with landscape fabric for 6 months before seeding. It has been amazing to see the flowers taking over. This year the black eyed susans are just amazing! We are now looking to do the same thing in our front lawn. Thank you for all of the helpful advice!
So many people are dealing with stilt grass, this is great information!
My question is about hardscape- I want to add a patio in my backyard - I believe you’ve mentioned areas in the shapes of circles and rectangles help signal “I have arrived” to a “destination” within the yard/garden. What are your thoughts about squares or half circles? Besides the golden ratio, is there anything else to consider regarding the lay out? I have already dragged the table and chairs to the area to get a sense of it and mowed the grass around it to get a feel for what it might be - but it’s an expensive thing to get wrong.
Do you have any recommendations for those of us in the high high plains of denver? It is so dry, hot, and we have Clay soil. With this year's City water restrictions (we were declared in a drought in March!), our lawn is mostly dead now. Sounds like it's a good opportunity for natives since we don't have much shade and it is really exposed here. So the sand application would probably help with the clay soil, just wondering if there's any other recommendations for our particular climate in Colorado?
Thanks for the subscription for completing the Less Lawn More Life challenge 🙏. I'm delighted to be here.
My yard was completely xeriscaped by a previous owner. Likely at least several years ago because the heavy black fabric is worn where I've checked it. I started my new pollinator meadow in the backyard on the one spot without fabric. It's thriving, and I want to expand to a bigger area in the backyard.
But I'm stumped (pun intended 😆). Should I remove the fabric and plant/sow directly into the dirt, or just add a bit of dirt and mulch on top of the fabric?
Hmmm, good question. I will research and write an answer. Which type of landscape fabric is it---the papery consumer one or the heavy, woven professional one?
Forgive a random gardener butting in here, but my experience with this stuff is unequivocal: it absolutely must be removed. (Sadly, because it can be a bitch of a job, and the (sub)soil beneath is likely terribly compacted and needs to be loosened as well.)
Regarding the much appreciated hypertufa-planter link: where does one get those two burly men and their power tools? Also...my succulents have never grown so hyper-fast! Amaze amaze amaze!
LOL! Several readers pointed out that's an AI video. I'm embarrassed I did not look into it before linking. I must've been distracted by the burly guys:)
I never even considered it might be AI-- that's how Boomer-Gullible I am! I just found it funny, comparing the logistics of achieving that outcome to what my progression would be: buy the cement and perlite; stash it in garage; forget I bought it; see it and wonder why I bought it; on and on. I dutifully notated their recipe but, having hypertufa-ed once a long time ago, I'd suggest adding some reinforcing fiber to help things hold together. Thank you for posting it, AI or not. :-)
You made me grin, bolting out mid-research to yank stiltgrass out of the new side meadow. And casually slipping in the rescue of pristine areas before you touch the worst infestation is gold. Every instinct would say to throw yourself at the biggest problem first but you invert it. The quiet through-line that I really love is that emptiness is the invitation. Density is the defense. The answer really is more plants.
I’m always so excited to read about approaches to meadows that use a lighter touch, and have also had good luck planting into turf—thanks so much for sharing your approach!
I also love this post (https://prairieecologist.com/tag/invasive-grass/) and many others on this blog, because I think it’s a great explanation of how to deal with troublesome rhizomatous grasses in meadows.
In my experience, since the various bluegrasses show up in almost all meadows anyway, it’s helpful to know how to manage them in the long run, so I’ve totally still planted into dense turf, just knowing that it’ll take a bit more patience and time!
Thanks so much for the information! I've found dealing with sod to be one of the most difficult parts of native plant gardening. Our house is on old farmland, and it took me longer than I like to admit to figure out that "lawn" usually refers to turf grasses, not tough old hayfield plants mowed short and walked on. Given how many lawn care products there are in stores, it seems like introduced turf grasses barely want to live in the first place. Hopefully some day I will work out a method of sod removal that is effective, lol.
Thanks for all this information. We have a very large area (about 10,000 sq')- that used to be partial grass, some gardening areas. It over the last years became a dreadful mass of mugwort. We want to make it into a native wildflower meadow. To start this year we have had it mowed every few weeks so it never gets more than 8" high. We'll keep doing that through fall. What's our next step? Thanks.
Two years ago my husband and I planted a meadow of wildflowers in front of our solar array. We covered the grass with landscape fabric for 6 months before seeding. It has been amazing to see the flowers taking over. This year the black eyed susans are just amazing! We are now looking to do the same thing in our front lawn. Thank you for all of the helpful advice!
Sounds beautiful!
So many people are dealing with stilt grass, this is great information!
My question is about hardscape- I want to add a patio in my backyard - I believe you’ve mentioned areas in the shapes of circles and rectangles help signal “I have arrived” to a “destination” within the yard/garden. What are your thoughts about squares or half circles? Besides the golden ratio, is there anything else to consider regarding the lay out? I have already dragged the table and chairs to the area to get a sense of it and mowed the grass around it to get a feel for what it might be - but it’s an expensive thing to get wrong.
What an excellent question, Bridget! And you’ve clearly been following along—I’m flattered:) I’ll answer in the next newsletter.
Do you have any recommendations for those of us in the high high plains of denver? It is so dry, hot, and we have Clay soil. With this year's City water restrictions (we were declared in a drought in March!), our lawn is mostly dead now. Sounds like it's a good opportunity for natives since we don't have much shade and it is really exposed here. So the sand application would probably help with the clay soil, just wondering if there's any other recommendations for our particular climate in Colorado?
Another great topic, Rachel. I will get some additional expert input and write about it in the newsletter.
Thank you!
Thanks for the subscription for completing the Less Lawn More Life challenge 🙏. I'm delighted to be here.
My yard was completely xeriscaped by a previous owner. Likely at least several years ago because the heavy black fabric is worn where I've checked it. I started my new pollinator meadow in the backyard on the one spot without fabric. It's thriving, and I want to expand to a bigger area in the backyard.
But I'm stumped (pun intended 😆). Should I remove the fabric and plant/sow directly into the dirt, or just add a bit of dirt and mulch on top of the fabric?
Hmmm, good question. I will research and write an answer. Which type of landscape fabric is it---the papery consumer one or the heavy, woven professional one?
Thank you! It's the heavy black woven professional one. With a thin mix of dirt and small gravel.
Forgive a random gardener butting in here, but my experience with this stuff is unequivocal: it absolutely must be removed. (Sadly, because it can be a bitch of a job, and the (sub)soil beneath is likely terribly compacted and needs to be loosened as well.)
I appreciate your perspective. I've been thinking about removing it a little at a time as I design each bed.
The good news is I have no lawn which is one of the reasons I bought this house.
Regarding the much appreciated hypertufa-planter link: where does one get those two burly men and their power tools? Also...my succulents have never grown so hyper-fast! Amaze amaze amaze!
LOL! Several readers pointed out that's an AI video. I'm embarrassed I did not look into it before linking. I must've been distracted by the burly guys:)
I never even considered it might be AI-- that's how Boomer-Gullible I am! I just found it funny, comparing the logistics of achieving that outcome to what my progression would be: buy the cement and perlite; stash it in garage; forget I bought it; see it and wonder why I bought it; on and on. I dutifully notated their recipe but, having hypertufa-ed once a long time ago, I'd suggest adding some reinforcing fiber to help things hold together. Thank you for posting it, AI or not. :-)
You made me grin, bolting out mid-research to yank stiltgrass out of the new side meadow. And casually slipping in the rescue of pristine areas before you touch the worst infestation is gold. Every instinct would say to throw yourself at the biggest problem first but you invert it. The quiet through-line that I really love is that emptiness is the invitation. Density is the defense. The answer really is more plants.
"Density is the defense." Indeed!
I’m always so excited to read about approaches to meadows that use a lighter touch, and have also had good luck planting into turf—thanks so much for sharing your approach!
I also love this post (https://prairieecologist.com/tag/invasive-grass/) and many others on this blog, because I think it’s a great explanation of how to deal with troublesome rhizomatous grasses in meadows.
In my experience, since the various bluegrasses show up in almost all meadows anyway, it’s helpful to know how to manage them in the long run, so I’ve totally still planted into dense turf, just knowing that it’ll take a bit more patience and time!
Thank you for that super helpful link, Claire, and for sharing your experience. So glad planting into turf is working well for you, too.
Hi! I would like tob earn more about hiw you can assist and support meadows.
Will be writing more on meadows soon, Gisela. Stay tuned.
Thanks so much for the information! I've found dealing with sod to be one of the most difficult parts of native plant gardening. Our house is on old farmland, and it took me longer than I like to admit to figure out that "lawn" usually refers to turf grasses, not tough old hayfield plants mowed short and walked on. Given how many lawn care products there are in stores, it seems like introduced turf grasses barely want to live in the first place. Hopefully some day I will work out a method of sod removal that is effective, lol.
Interesting point, Sandra. Someone else asked about turning a hayfield into a meadow. I'll do some research on this...
I will be very interested in what you find out! If you need any help with methods that don't work very well, I can definitely help with those.
Thanks for all this information. We have a very large area (about 10,000 sq')- that used to be partial grass, some gardening areas. It over the last years became a dreadful mass of mugwort. We want to make it into a native wildflower meadow. To start this year we have had it mowed every few weeks so it never gets more than 8" high. We'll keep doing that through fall. What's our next step? Thanks.
Egads, mugwort! Definitely worth writing about in the newsletter. Stay tuned, Veronika.