Native Meadow

Tour of Native Meadow

Why A Meadow?  A meadow is an area dominated by herbaceous rather than woody vegetation.  Meadows contain mostly grasses and flowers.  In this part of the country, meadows occur naturally where it is too wet, too steep, or too rocky for trees and shrubs to grow.  The Native Americans burned large areas to maintain meadows.  The meadows offered hunting and gathering opportunities not found in the woods.  Even today man creates meadow, especially along road-sides, under power lines, and along other utility rights of way.  If it were not for annual mowing of these areas, eventually trees would grow here and shade the meadows out. 

At the CEC, we have created a meadow to replace lawn.  Meadows have many advantages over lawn.  First, they only need to be mowed once per year.  This saves time and resources and reduces the pollution and greenhouse gases emitted by lawn equipment.  Second, native meadows contain plants that support desirable wildlife, like goldfinches, hummingbirds, sparrows, and butterflies.  Meadows are far more interesting to watch than lawns.  Third, native meadows have fantastic seasonal interest.  Come back every six weeks, and you will never see the same meadow twice.  It’s always a new combination of plants and animals.  Flowers and their pollinators fill the meadow from spring to late summer, then the ripe seed heads of grasses and flowers—which are beautiful in the fall and winter—provide food for wildlife. 

Although a meadow does not require a site design, we planted drifts (masses) of certain plants for visual impact.  The meadow was installed by:  youth and leaders from the Juvenile Drug Court program; and members of the Anne Arundel County NAACP, US Navy, Unitarian Universalist Church of Annapolis, Anne Arundel Green Party, University of Maryland, Severn River Association, and Anne Arundel County Master Gardeners—who also help with on-going garden care.

Pictures:

Click on the thumbnail image below for a larger picture and description

   

Size: 1,500 square feet

• Purple Lovegrass
  (Eragrostis spectabilis)      
• Little Blue Stem (Schizachyrium scoparium)               
• Broomsedge (Andropogon virginicus)            
• Splitbeard Bluestem (Andropogon ternaries)
• Virginia Wild Rye (Elymus virginicus)
• Switchgrass (Panicum virgatum)                    
• Indian Grass (Sorghastrum nutans)   
• Purpletop (Tridens flavus) 

Wildflowers:

• Butterfly Milkweed (Asclepias tuberosa)
• Foxglove Beardtongue (Penstemon digitalis)
• Grey Goldenrod (Solidago nemoralis)
• Narrow Leaf Mountain Mint (Pycnanthemum tenuifolium)
• Mist Flower (Eupatorium coelestinum)
• Purple Sneezeweed (Eupatorium coelestinum)
• Orange Coneflower (Rudbeckia fulgida)
• Smooth Aster (Symphyotrichum laeve
  var. leave)
• Hyssop Skullcap
  (Scutellaria integrifolia)
• Spotted Mint (Monarda punctata)
• Hyssop Thoroughwort (Eupatorium hyssopifolium)
• New England Aster (Symphiotrichum
  novae-angliae)
• Joe Pye Weed (Eupatorium fistulosum)
• Turtlehead (Chelone glabra)
• Cardinal Flower (Lobelia cardinalis)