Mid-Atlantic Native Meadows: Guidelines for Planning, Preparation, Design, Installation, and Mainten

[NEWisc]

A new publication (pdf download) put out by the Xerces Society has some interesting info on creating a meadow in the Mid-Atlantic states. Mid-Atlantic Native Meadows: Guidelines for Planning, Preparation, Design, Installation, and Maintenance includes things like the plant succession that you can expect from a new sowing of seeds in a meadow project. It's 40 pages long, but a lot of those pages are beautiful examples and illustrations of the concepts presented. And a lot of the material is applicable to a much wider area than just the Mid-Atlantic states.

Native meadows, filled with perennial wildflowers and waving grasses, are growing in popularity with property owners and designers because they provide benefits to people, pollinators, and wildlife while demonstrating sustainability values. We are excited to announce this new guide created in collaboration with Xerces member Alice Sturm and her team at Mahan Rykiel Associates. This guide outlines the unique considerations for native meadows in landscape architecture, with the goal of helping green industry professionals in the mid-Atlantic create successful meadow projects.

This is the link to the pdf download:

http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?f=001wtusJ...eQ0beZmUaLrA==

[dapjwy]

Thank you for sharing.

I want to look into this. My attempts so far at smothering and replacing lawn with native meadow has be mixed and not as successful as I had hoped.

My focus for the past two years have been on my water feature--pond, stream, waterfall, wetland project (digging out for wetland now--before I've created the stream and waterfall).

I want to prepare for the meadow (smother large section) while I focus on the water feature...then seed next year.

[NEWisc]

I found this interesting:

Option: Sheet Mulching or Solarizing
A chemical-free option, which is practical on smaller sites, is laying cardboard (smothering) or clear plastic (solarizing) over the ground to kill existing vegetation and weed seeds in the top inches of soil. (on p. 17)

I hadn't made much of a distinction between the two, but they go on to point out some noteworthy differences.

I hadn't seen the term "Stale Bedding" before either - live and learn!

[dapjwy]

I think I should look into solarizing.

[havalotta]

Areas in full sun are best for solarizing during the hottests months June-August.
Water thoroughly and cover it with clear plastic sheets and secure all sides Allow it to cook for a minimum of one month to 6 weeks
Another options is to remove the plastic after 4 weeks, till it under, water and replace plastic and secure. Let bake one more month

Take note: By doing so you will have KILLED all the beneficials in the soil. That can be rectified though by adding organic compost

[dapjwy]

Originally Posted by havalotta

Areas in full sun are best for solarizing during the hottests months June-August.
Water thoroughly and cover it with clear plastic sheets and secure all sides Allow it to cook for a minimum of one month to 6 weeks
Another options is to remove the plastic after 4 weeks, till it under, water and replace plastic and secure. Let bake one more month

Take note: By doing so you will have KILLED all the beneficials in the soil. That can be rectified though by adding organic compost

Thanks, havalotta.

That was my concern...killing the beneficial organisms. I think that is why I have held back on trying it. Still, smotheringbwith cardboard and leaves must kill some, too.