EDDIE SEAGLE: Plant a meadowscape

May 22—"Teaching is more than imparting knowledge; it is inspiring change. Learning is more than absorbing facts; it is acquiring understanding." William Arthur Ward. "Real strength has to do with helping others." Fred Rogers. "Check your ego at the door. The ego can be the great success inhibitor. It can kill opportunities, and it can kill success." Dwayne Johnson. "I can't change the world but I can change the world in me." Bono. "Hope is being able to see that there is light despite all of the darkness." Harvey Milk. "Horticulturally, the month of May is opening night, Homecoming, and Graduation Day all rolled into one." Tam Mossman.

Are you tired of spending every Saturday mowing your large lawn spaces instead of relaxing in the garden? Surround yourself with beneficial beauty and embrace the ecological, beautiful benefits of meadowscaping — plant a meadowscape. Meadowscaping replaces traditional lawns with wildflowers and grasses to create a wonderfully wildlife-friendly, vibrant meadow-like aesthetic with enormous ecological benefits.

Meadowscaping can involve replacing an entire front lawn with beneficial plants, creating a beautiful border of wildflowers and grasses along your property line, or purposefully planting a portion of your yard with environmentally beneficial native plants.

Why choose meadowscaping? Whether you want to reduce your carbon footprint, attract more birds, bees, and butterflies to your yard, or simply prefer relaxing surrounded by pretty plants instead of hauling out the lawnmower every weekend, meadowscaping makes an excellent alternative to turf lawns. Once established, low-maintenance meadowscapes require less labor and expense than traditional lawns. However, snakes and other wildlife creatures could become an issue.

Americans began a love affair with lawns after World War II. As the creation of mass housing (the "suburbs)" took off, many deeds included covenants that required homeowners to mow lawns at least once a week during the growing season. The immaculately manicured, bright-green lawn became part of American culture. With historically low groundwater levels across the country, the massive water requirements of lawns means that we need to rethink our obsession with expansive turf areas around the home.

Before you begin ripping up your front lawn to transition it to meadowscaping, make sure to check your Homeowners' Association rules, as well as any local ordinances that prohibit a front yard planted entirely in wildflowers and ornamental grasses. While many communities embrace the meadowscaping movement—with some municipalities even paying residents as an incentive to remove turfgrass in favor of more sustainable plantings—not everyone is enamored with less lawns.

Take some time to decide how much meadowscaping you want to include in your landscape. Whether you intend to plant your entire front landscape with wildflowers or prefer to leave a patch of lawn for the kids' soccer practice, just remember—any transition you make to less lawn helps the environment. You can incorporate meadowscaping into borders, backyard seating areas, or in the challenging areas between the sidewalk and street. Starting with a small meadowscape makes sense: you can determine what flowers and grasses work well in your sites before undergoing an entire lawn excavation and renovation.

It takes time for a meadowscape to establish into a beautiful, blooming ecosystem—and it can look a little barren until flowers fill in. By placing a temporary sign in your yard that states, "Meadow in Progress" or "Future Wildlife Habitat," you'll help answer neighbors' questions before they can even ask them. Once the meadow becomes a beautiful, thriving wildlife habitat, consider adding a pretty, permanent sign to help educate your community about the benefits of meadowscaping.

Before you order your first seeds or pick out native plants, spend some time evaluating the space for your future meadow. Check the amount of sunlight it receives throughout the day, as well as throughout the seasons. Sunlight may be more prevalent in early spring than later in summer when deciduous trees leaf out and provide shade. Also, check if any outbuildings or fences shade the meadow space throughout the day. While many wildflower mixes and plants prefer full sun, you'll also find excellent options for shady spaces—you just need to know how much sun your future meadow space receives to plan accordingly.

Whether you choose wildflower seeds or established perennial plants for your meadowscaping project depends on several factors. While we'd all love to plant a meadow full of beautiful, mature plants that instantly create a gorgeous garden space, fully-grown plants are more expensive but create instant color. To create a pretty meadow cost-effectively, consider a combination of sowing seeds and planting established perennials. Because it may take perennials grown from seed up to three years before blooming, it makes sense to allocate a portion of your budget to purchasing established perennials to give the meadow a head start.

When choosing seeds and plants for your meadowscape, consider species that match your goals. If you're looking to attract pollinators, choose flowers beloved by bees and butterflies. Want to attract hummingbirds? Add tubular flowers with high nectar content. If bird watching is your favorite pastime, plant grasses that birds adore and leave the seedheads on flowers to feed the birds.

You'll find a great assortment of seed mixes for your meadow, with many of them labeled with their benefits, as well as growing region. Whether you're looking for wildflower mixes that Save the Bees Mix, Monarch Butterfly Mix, Bird Lovers Mix, Deer-resistant Wildflowers, or a Mix Ideal for Shade, you can find the perfect meadow mix. Meadowscaping is a good alternative to having to maintain massive turf areas in your residential landscapes and roadway medians.

This fact sheet is provided as an educational service of the National Garden Bureau (www.ngb.org/meadowscaping/).

"Seek good, not evil, that you may live. Then the Lord God Almighty will be with you, just as you say He is." Amos 5:14. "Be very careful, then, how you live — not as unwise but as wise, making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil." Ephesians 5:15. "In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven." Mathew 5:16. "Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!" 2 Corinthians 5:17. "I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God so that you may know that you have eternal life." 1 John 5:13.

Eddie Seagle is a Sustainability Verifier, Golf Environment Organization (Scotland), Agronomist and Horticulturalist, CSI: Seagle (Consulting Services International) LLC, Professor Emeritus and Honorary Alumnus (Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College), Distinguished Professor for Teaching and Learning (University System of Georgia) and Short Term Missionary (Heritage Church, Moultrie). Direct inquiries to [email protected].