The owners mowed two acres every week and never walked on most of it. We took the far half out of lawn, sowed a native meadow and kept one mown path through it, so the place now reads as a choice and not as neglect.
The meadow took three years to settle. The first summer is mostly annual weeds, which we warned the owners about in writing. Mown once each March, it now carries bluestem, mountain mint and coneflower from June until snow.
This garden, month by month
| In flower, fruit or color | J | F | M | A | M | J | J | A | S | O | N | D |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Golden AlexandersZizia aurea | ||||||||||||
| Black-eyed SusanRudbeckia hirta | ||||||||||||
| Mountain mintPycnanthemum muticum | ||||||||||||
| Purple coneflowerEchinacea purpurea | ||||||||||||
| New England asterSymphyotrichum novae-angliae | ||||||||||||
| Little bluestemSchizachyrium scoparium |