Open Meadow

It wasn’t a blank slate…but it was close.

There were a few berry plants along the fence, clinging to life in the four inches of poor soil that sat on top of a thick layer of compacted rock and gravel. Not a blank slate, but this garden would literally need to be built from the ground up.

The homeowners wanted a garden with a natural feel, reminiscent of the flowering meadows of her Nebraska childhood. They also wanted a hospitable garden, for pollinators and people alike. Even with a small amount of square footage and an even smaller budget, that’s exactly what they got.

After establishing the layout, we ripped out old sod and built soil by tilling in as much biomass as we could get our hands on: leaves, bark and compost. We also added organic fertilizer and mycorrhizae to help get the right balance of fungi essential in the plants ability to metabolize nutrients. Finally, natural stone was used to add depth and dimension to an otherwise flat lot and retain all that gorgeous new soil.

In a small garden, every plant counts. We chose plants, trees and shrubs known for good behavior and form, a long bloom season and an ability to attract pollinators. To make the narrow garden feel more expansive, we chose a soft, coherent color palette and wove it all together with different textures and grasses like Sesleria ‘Campo Azul,’ and Stipa gigantea making sure to capitalize on the view of an adjacent park behind their home.

Now, the garden is the favored home of all sorts of bees, hummingbirds, swallowtails, jays, robins and chickadees, along with dragonflies, bunnies, and even the family’s one-eyed cat, Ben. It is a garden meant to be lived in, not just viewed from the street. There are spaces to host and comfortable chairs tucked in to the perfect spot to watch the sun rise over a garden still wet with dew.

Only in it’s third year, this open meadow garden is already brimming with life, and well established to grow even more beautiful into its maturity in the years to come.