Stamford, CT
Nothing speaks more of my childhood than slogging through hay fields on hot summer days in upstate New York. Grasshoppers jumping; clothes wet from spittle bugs; grass cuts stinging from sweat; the never-seen bob-o-links raising their voices…
Today, trendy gardens, like the New York City High Line, are often meadows. In addition, there’s a strong ecological movement to turn turf to meadow.
If you’re so inclined (and I hope you are), the NPWG team blog is the place to be. We have meadow-guru Catherine Zimmerman, and just about every other contributor has added something about the design, installation, native plants, insects or ecology of meadows. Just scroll through the team list at the bottom of this page for someone from your part of the country, then have fun seeing a native plant meadow through their eyes.
Monarch butterflies on heath aster in a wild garden along the Long Island Sound in Stamford CT
Of course, if you care about wildlife, what you want to encourage in your meadow, and your sunny drought-tolerant garden, are your local natives (not cultivars or other “nativars” – what you want is the real McCoy). For those of you living in Southern Connecticut, this post continues the series on natives to plant here.
common yarrow along an unmowed roadside, Stamford CT
In Southern Connecticut, the natural state of things is forest and wetlands. Sunny, dry meadows occur as temporary openings in the forest canopy caused by storms, fire, and filled-in beaver ponds. Meadows have also been created here by humans since the Native Americans burned forest understory to encourage the deer population (if they only knew where that would end up…).
Bumblebees on goldenrod, Bartlett Arboretum
However, between blow-downs, the native plants that thrive in well-drained full sun keep their species alive by being niche players in any scrap of sunshine they can find. Today, look for our native meadow plants in these niches, now mostly railroad right of ways, roadsides, and the edges of parking lots.
Wild lettuce growing out of a crack in the sidewalk, Stamford CT
Before getting to the plants, two things I often hear as common wisdom that I think need correcting:
First, you don’t need an initial herbicide application to create your meadow. Catherine Zimmerman shows you how in her book, Urban and Suburban Meadows: Bringing Meadowscaping to Big and Small Spaces. Further, it’s my personal observation that where herbicides were used (imagine spreading enough Round-up or whatever to cover a 4-acre plot), it didn’t do any good — the undesirables showed up any way.
Second, annual mowing of the whole native plant meadow does more harm than good — it kills many of the insects and chases out the animals that would otherwise live there. If you feel you must mow, say to encourage different species of plants and animals, do no more than a quarter of the area a year. In deer-ridden Southern Connecticut, mowing to control revision-to-forest is not necessary — the deer will keep your woody plants pruned to height, thank you.
Eastern cottontail rabbit selecting near-native echinacea for lunch
Native Plants for the Dry Sunny Meadow
- Common yarrow (Achillea millefolium)
- Pearly everlasting (Antennaria plantaginifolia)
- Butterfly weed (Orange milkweed) (Asclepias tuberosa)
- Heath aster (Aster ericoides)
- Blue False Indigo (Baptisia australis) (southeast USA)
- Partridge-pea (Chamaecrista fasciculate)
- Field thistle (Cirsium discolor)
- Purple coneflower (Echinacea purpurea) (Midwestern USA)
- Eastern daisy fleabane (Erigeron annuus)
- Flat-topped Goldenrod (Euthamia graminifolia)
- Jerusalem artichoke (Helianthus tuberosus)
- Indian-tobacco (Lobelia inflate)
- Wild Lettuce (Lactuca Canadensis)
- Wild Bergamont (Bee Balm)(Monarda fistulosa)
- Common evening primrose (Oenothera biennis)
- Sweet everlasting (Pseudognaphalium obtusifolium)
- Black-eyed susan (Rudbeckia hirta)
- Narrowleaf blue-eyed grass (Sisyrinchium angustifolium)
- Canada goldenrod (Solidago canadensis)
- Early goldenrod (Solidago juncea)
Note on daisy fleabane and field thistle: these plants are great in the meadow but I do not recommend them for garden since they reproduce a bit too vigorously to be good garden guests.
Argiope aurantia spider with rudbeckia, Bartlett Arboretum meadow.
Indian grass in the the Bartlett Arboretum meadow
Native Grasses for the Dry Sunny Meadow
- Big bluestem (Andropogon gerardii)
- Switch grass (Panicum virgatum)
- Little bluestem (Schizachyrium scoparium)
- Indian grass (Sorghastrum nutans)
Native Shrubs for the Dry Sunny Meadow
- Indian Hemp (Apocynum cannabinum)
- Spreading Dogbane (Apocynum androsaemifolium)
- Sweet fern (Comptonia peregrine)
- Pasture Rose (Rosa carolina)
- Caneberries (blackberries, raspberries, etc – NOT invasive wineberry)
- Eastern red cedar (Juniperus virginiana)
lady bug on non-native stinking chamomile, Cove Island Wildlife Sanctury
Frequently seen Non-Native Plants in Meadows
These plants are some of the natives from the temperate zones of Eurasia and North Africa that are now found in temperate zones all over the world. While they don’t have the same value to our native wildlife as our native plants, should they show up in your new meadow, not to worry. They don’t tend to get out of balance and tend to disappear on their own as the meadow matures.
- Stinking chamomile (Anthemis cotula)
- Lambsquarter (Chenopodium album) (hybrid with native species)
- Ox-eyed daisy (Chrysanthemum leucanthemum)
- Chicory (Cichorium intybus)
- Bull thistle (Cirsium vulgare)
- Queen Anne’s lace (Daucus carota)
- Common St. Johnswort (Hypericum perforatum)
- Butter and Eggs (Toadflax) (Linaria vulgaris)
- Birdsfoot trefoil (Lotus corniculatus)
- Red clover (Trifolium pratense)
- White clover (Trifolium repens)
- Common mullein (Verbascum Thapsus)
- Cow Vetch (Vicia cracca)
Pioneering, nutritious lambsquarter is of both local and foreign origin.
Least desirable meadow plant
Mugwort (Artemisia vulgaris) is an invasive that blooms at the same time as common ragweed (Ambrosia artemisiifolia), and looks much the same. However, mugwort is much more widespread in hot, dry places and even worse for allergies. Further, mugwort is difficult to control — studies show that the best bet is to ground cut every few weeks for 2 to 3 years.
Red clover is non native; it is, though, a nitrogen-fixer
that helps improve soil quality
The prior posts in this series are:
- Native Shrubs and Small Trees for Southern New England
- Native Trees for Southern New England
- Southern New England’s Native Vines
- Native Plants for Southern Connecticut Rain Gardens and Wetlands
- Nature’s New England Winter Garden Design
- Native Woodland and Shade Garden Plants for Southern Connecticut
Bee balm with hummingbird moth.
© 2012, Sue Sweeney. All rights reserved. This article is the property of Native Plants and Wildlife Gardens. If you are reading this at another site, please report that to us
About Sue Sweeney
It would be helpful if a link to Catherine Zimmerman’s method for creating meadows without herbicides was provided. Anyone, anywhere in the world with internet access might read this blog post. Are we automatically supposed to know who Catherine Zimmerman is? Does Catherine’s technique work in every instance and in every location in the United States? No matter what is already growing on the site? And is it a technique that everyone can do? The elderly? The handicapped?
And I’m not sure what’s wrong with using Round-Up on 4 acres, or 40, or 400. It can’t be worse than a monoculture of an invasive pest plant. Nor is it any worse than the dozens of allelopathic chemicals that many plants produce to stunt the growth of other plants or even to kill other plants. For example, garlic mustard produces chemicals that interfere with the formation of mycorrhizae in other plants (90% of all flowering plants form mycorrhizae), thus, preventing tree and shrub seedlings from becoming established. So are the mycorrhizae-inhibiting chemicals, that effectively serve as herbicides, better for those 4 acres than Round-Up?
Also, what studies indicate that the best method to control mugwort is by cutting it down to the ground every few weeks for 2 or 3 years? In the Hempstead Plains grassland in Long Island, New York, mugwort was “nearly eliminated by mowing 2-3 times/year for three years, or by applying herbicide two years in a row, with little subsequent regrowth” (http://www.invasive.org/gist/moredocs/artvul01.pdf).
The author distinguishes between a meadow and a garden (see her note about daisy fleabane and field thistle); however, isn’t a meadow a type of garden? I’m assuming that by “meadow,” the author must mean a large area that is not in close proximity to houses (otherwise, why distinguish it from a garden?). But if that is the case, the author should have explicitly stated that her post pertained to large, rough areas and not force the reader to make, perhaps incorrect, assumptions.
To the list of grasses, I would add various witch grasses (in the genus Dichanthelium).
If a meadow is supposed to have one-fourth of its area mowed every year, then I would advise against planting sweet fern, pasture rose, caneberries, and eastern red cedar. All of these can become too woody in 2 or 3 years to mow. However, perhaps the author has in mind the use of high-powered riding mowers. Again, if her advice applies specifically to very large meadows that are mowed with heavy equipment, then that should have been explicitly stated. Note that these problems do not arise with Indian-hemp or spreading dogbane, both of which are perennials (not shrubs).
The list of non-natives that we don’t need to worry about is unusual. First, she left off yarrow, which is surprising since there is a picture of yarrow in the blog post. Secondly, ox-eye daisy, Queen Anne’s lace, common St. John’s wort, butter and eggs, bird’s foot trefoil, white clover, and mullein have all appeared on noxious weed lists or invasive plant lists somewhere throughout their range. For example, mullein has been reported as invasive in AZ, CA, CO, CT, HI, ID, IL, MO, NJ, NV, OH, OR, PA, SD, TN, VA, WA, WI, WV, and WY (http://na.fs.fed.us/fhp/invasive_plants/weeds/common-mullein.pdf). Are climatic, edaphic, and biotic conditions in Connecticut such that these plants are unproblematic? Oh, wait, that can’t be the case since some of them, such as mullein, are reported as invasive in Connecticut. Additionally, what, exactly, is meant by “don’t tend to get out of balance” and “tend to disappear”? Since, the word “tend” is used, does this mean that they sometimes do get out of balance and that they sometimes spread instead of disappear?
It is strange that a blog post on a web site titled “Native Plants and Wildlife Gardens,” carries a warning about weediness in native plants (daisy fleabane and field thistle); however, there are no such warnings in a list of non-native weeds, a list that mostly consists of plants that are known to be noxious weeds or invasive plant pests in many parts of their introduced range. On the contrary, the author goes out of her way to minimize their harmful potential and views them as friendly visitors to the meadow that “tend to disappear.”
Xavier, this site is dedicated to information, education, and conversation. We explore many topics from a variety of angles, and not everyone agrees with everything that we’ve written. And that’s ok. That’s what conversation is about. But we do ask that conversation be carried on in a respectful manner.
You’ve raised some valid points, many of which are discussed in detail in other articles at this site. Each post is a small snapshot, and builds on the hundreds of other articles on this site. It’s not possible in every article to address every issue that may arise, or even to link to every issue. It’s also not possible to address every regional variation for every plant. That’s why our team is composed of writers from all around the country. Each of us brings our own knowledge based on the areas where we reside and have experience.
It’s important to realize that Sue did link to Catherine Zimmerman’s articles here at this site in her post, and if you’re interested in her work, it would be a good idea to browse through all of those articles. In case you missed this link above, you can find Catherine’s articles here.
I cannot answer every one of your arguments here as each of them would require a separate post. I do recommend that you spend some time browsing through the other articles at this site. I’m sure you’ll find that we’ve already answered many of your questions.
The link you provided did not take me to Ms. Zimmerman’s articles but, after a little bit of digging, I found this link, which does: http://nativeplantwildlifegarden.com/author/catherine. None of the articles address killing established plants prior to creating a meadow. I will try to obtain her book.
Thank you for taking the time to reply to my comment.
I would counter some of the points in the above comment by Xavier as I have experience with gardens and meadows. I do have a meadow in an area at the back of the property. I did use a herbicide…several times we used Round Up and it did no good. We instead added a bit better soil and seeded in natives. As invasives such as Common Teasel came to create a monoculture, we have had to hand eradicate them. We never mow our meadow. There is no reason with snow. It reseeds and has grown in nicely although we still have problem areas that have invasive thistle or a bit too much Queen Anne’s Lace. I must have missed something since I did not read where you advocated mowing Sue. As a matter of fact you discourage people from mowing so I was confused by the comment above.
Had I known more about meadows when I started, as Catherine has shown in her meadow posts and projects, I would have done things a bit differently. I agree Sue that some of the non-natives you have mentioned have left and the natives we sowed and that seeded themselves have taken over nicely as they should.
I also agree Sue that there is a difference between a meadow and a residential garden and there are natives I do not want in a restricted garden space because they are a bit more aggressive for the space. They do much better in a meadow. I am also unsure as to the reference of yarrow as a non-native from the person commenting. Yarrow is a great reliable native as you so indicated. Nor did I read anything in your post about”weediness” of natives.
It is my experience that every state is different as far as non-natives/invasives are concerned. In my latest BWG post I talk about teasel which is not considered invasive in NY but is in other states… but it is no less dangerous once it gets a foot hold. Every microclimate and area is different and one needs to be an informed gardener to know how to combat these problems. Your post Sue gives us a good place to start and if we want more in depth info then we need to seek it out here at NPWG or in other places.
I also did not read any advocacy for non-natives or playing down of their harm nor advocating you keep or cultivate them in your post Sue. There should be no reason for any assumptions made regarding this post as the information was clearly presented. I would challenge Xavier to reread the post as it is written. I believe he would then answer many of his own questions and concerns.
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Thank you, Donna
I have reread the article with greater care to see if it would provide answers to some of my questions and concerns.
Regarding Catherine Zimmerman’s herbicide-free technique, I now realize the author meant “Catherine Zimmerman’s BOOK can show you how.” Leaving out the word “book” makes a difference, especially for readers of this blog, like myself, who just started reading it a few days ago and are not part of the Native Plant and Wildlife Garden blog’s in-crowd.
Rereading the article did shed light on why yarrow would be pictured in the article but not included in the list of non-native plants suitable for a dry meadow in Connecticut. Taking the article in its entirety, I now realize it was an oversight.
Rereading the article did answer what’s wrong with applying Round-Up to 4 acres. The author states that where herbicides are used they don’t do any good. However, as you and Carole make clear in your reply to my comments, gardening conditions are wildly different in different areas, indeed, even from one adjacent garden to the next. I now understand that the author was referring to her specific experiences and that I was incorrect to infer that she was making a blanket statement about all herbicides under all conditions in every part of the country.
The author states that if someone must mow, they should mow only one-quarter of the meadow once a year. This would leave every one-quarter of the meadow with 3 year’s growth between mowings. I’m still not sure how readers are supposed to deal with 3 year’s of growth of sweet fern, pasture rose, caneberries, and eastern red cedars (the shrubs she lists for dry meadows) with only a mower. But in any case, you are correct and I misread the author. She does not advocate mowing and I assume that, under her conditions, sweet fern, pasture rose, caneberries, and eastern red cedar can remain unmowed without turning the meadow into a shrub thicket, which is what would occur where I reside.
I now understand why the weediness of two native plants was pointed out but not the invasive or noxious weed potential of the non-natives listed in the section titled “Frequently Seen Non-Natives.” The author does not regard those non-natives as having such negative potential. Note that she specifically states that readers are ‘not to worry” if the listed non-natives appear in the meadow. I’m glad that’s cleared up and that the author was not advocating or downplaying noxious weeds and invasive plants.
Unfortunately, no amount of rereading can clarify which studies show that the best way to deal with mugwort is to cut it to the ground every few weeks for 2 to 3 years because that information is nowhere to be found in the article. Certainly a link to such studies would be helpful since all of my attempts to find the studies to which the author refers using Google, Google Scholar, and Google Books, have failed.
I appreciate your taking the time to respond to my comment.
I’m wondering if your yarrow confusion is a common name problem? If you check the USDA PLANTS profile for it, various subspecies of A. millefolium are native all over the US. You may be thinking of the one variant that isn’t native, which unfortunately shares a common name (i.e. “common yarrow”) with a half-dozen native varieties, all of which are members of the same species.
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Common yarrow (Achillea millefolium) is the first entry on the native plant list. As a local native plant it was not included on the non-native list. What confusion are you referring to?
Uh…the bit where our commenter above called yarrow not appearing on the non-native list an “oversight”?
Very nice photos! Enjoyed your article!
Donna – thanks
Sue,
Thanks for providing such a comprehensive post for all us CT-based gardeners in need of some plants to thrive in sunny, dry conditions. Providing readers with a list of the ‘good, the bad and the not-so-bad’, as well as insights into establishing and maintaining a meadow, will be a time-saver for many.
I enjoyed your photos, the one of the spider and the rudbeckia is fantastic.
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I have been away and am just checking in on this discussion.
There is a lot to know about meadow making including, as Sue indicates, understanding your site. Sue addresses sunny, dry conditions in Southern CT. Meadows are sun loving, native plant communities suited to dry, mesic (medium) or wet soil conditions. Picking the right plants for the site and plants native to the area helps insure a successful meadow planting. Site preparation, removal of existing vegetation with minimal soil disturbance, is critical for establishing the meadow with the least future maintenance of invasive plants.
I tend to focus on urban and suburban settings for meadows and meadow gardens because I think we have too much non-native lawn and wildlife and humans would benefit with more diverse landscapes that native meadow plantings offer.
All in all, I find addressing issues such as site prep, meadow establishment and invasive plant control usually boils down to education. (Actually most things in life boil down to education) Before I researched my book, Urban and Suburban Meadows, I would have prepared a site by digging up the whole area. Now I know that will just bring up weed seeds and a bumper crop of weeds to fight endlessly. I thought, I read. Now I know. Education!
Whatever we do with our temporary patches of earth, I recommend we go gently and that includes discussions with our fellow gardeners. Most of all, let’s enjoy the benefits of birds, bees and butterflies and more that these native plant and wildlife gardens support.
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I have enjoyed this discussion. I appreciate Catherine Zimmerman’s “big picture” approach.
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Debbie – thanks for this.
Xavier – the reports of artemisia control studies that I’ve seen in the past were along the lines of the one you cite above from Hempstead Plains. My own field work has had similar results over the years.
My team usually cuts shrubs and the like, when desired, with pruners, loppers or hand pruning saws but that is a matter of individual taste. Since we are doing conservation restoration, we try to avoid power tools since they can disturb or injure wildlife.
Yarrow is included in the article as a native plant, so it is not listed as an alien. While there is some question about the purity of many native plants due to the introduction foreign plants that can or have interbred with them, it is my view, on balance, for the purposes the activities specified in the article, that the species form of common yarrow (Achillea millefolium) obtained from a reputable seller of local native plants is OK to introduce.
RoundUp: I have yet to see any reliable information that indicates that invasive plants, allelopathic plants or even lawn weeds like dandelions and plantain have been linked to the occurrence of cancer or birth defects. I only wish I could say the same for RoundUp. I, personally, do not use and do not recommend the use of potentially dangerous chemicals such as RoundUp for horticultural purposes.
I have not used it on a large area, but for spot treatments at the nursery I’ve had good success with Phydura. It is a vinegar and clove oil based broad spectrum herbicide.
http://www.prairiemoon.com/other-products/phydura-all-natural-herbicide-2.5-gallon/?cat=295
Nice stuff – no warming or caution which means it’s legally non toxic.
In most situations, I think, it’s easiest and most environmentally sound to simply cut weeds to the ground (using non-polluting equipment). However, for those pesky ones growing out the greenhouse floor under the tables, for example, this sounds like a good product.
I wonder if it has any impact on insects and mycorrhizae.
Yep, we use it where manual control is not feasible or desirable and never when it could come into contact with our nursery stock.
The concentrate is very acidic (citric acid and malic acid are two key ingredients), and even when diluted it can be a skin irritant. I wouldn’t want to splash any in my eyes, for example, in in an open cut on my hand. And given how well it works in killing plants quickly, I can’t imagine any animals that go sprayed would fair well.
Basically, an herbicide is one of the last tools I’d go for but when I need one this seems like a good first choice.
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Good info and discussion..thank you ,,Michelle
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BTW Xavier – The often-cited 2006 study that gave rise to the notion “garlic mustard produces chemicals that interfere with the formation of mycorrhizae in other plants”, to my knowledge, was discounted within the scientific community due to the use of flawed methodology. Have you seen any original research since that validates the idea? Not that garlic mustard is good but accurate science has its place too.
Fantastic post. I’ll be referring to it often.
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Fabulous article and your photography is equally great Sue! Great advice about mowing meadows and fields too. Thanks!
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Carol – thanks for this. I have so enjoyed your Bestiary and so have many of my friends – I share your posts on my FB page and often send out the links to my non-FB friends.