Kathleen Groll Connolly, Landscape & Garden Designer, Speaker, Writer
After almost three years of planning and planting, the meadow was coming into its own. The grasses were finally tall and healthy. Flowering plants lit up the field. As a finishing touch, an inviting new walking path had just been created.
Then disaster struck. A mowing contractor, not familiar with the project, had time left after completing his primary work at the site. He decided to do the owners a favor: He cut the meadow to the ground, including forty-plus shrubs and hundreds of wetland plants. Tractor tires ground all that careful work into oblivion.
Two voices speak loudly these days about landscaping, and they are in opposition. One proclaims the need for neatness along main streets. The other defends the need for midtown bird and insect habitats, which may not have the clean lines of a conventional lawn and landscape.
I've had a half-acre meadow for the past 18 years. I wonder how much lawnmowing that has saved? Meadows are a great way to replace lawn—and they’re great for the bees, butterflies and birds as well.
Have an hour to spare? Let's take a walk. First, take in the flowering meadows, visit a wildlife preserve, then saunter down the sweeping waterfront lawns. There, catch views of lighthouses and ferry boats. Next, walk the formal gardens, the cutting gardens, and see the new working greenhouse.
Ever hear of meadow-in-a-can? It's a clever marketing idea but ever so misleading to the would-be grower. A wildflower meadow is a special type of growing space, not a place where we toss some seeds and hope for the best.
