How to Design a Meadow Garden With Multiseason Interest

A naturalistic mix of grasses and flowers brings easygoing artistry to almost any home garden

Naturalistic , meadow - expressive style are visually dynamical , always convert , and have long seasonality . They arouse the feeling of being in nature and spotlight natural wheel of growth to crumble . Somepublic gardensof this style include theLurie Gardenin Chicago , theMeadow Gardensat Delaware Botanic Gardens , and theOudolf Gardenon Detroit ’s Belle Isle .

Plants for a meadow garden

Making an engagingnaturalistic gardenusing predominately perennial cosmetic locoweed and wildflower requires a level of artistry . The grasses offer an array of showy inflorescence and leaf blade of various shapes and colors . They animate a hayfield planting with drive , heavy , and plays of ignitor . Wildflowers are unmatched in their striking forms and intense colors , and many of them have long - last ornamental features .

Cool - season cosmetic green goddess , like ‘ Goldtau ’ tufted hair grass ( Deschampsiacespitosa‘Goldtau ’ , Zones 4–9 ) , northern sea oats ( Chasmanthiumlatifolium , Zones 3–8 ) , and down Lyme pasture ( Leymus arenarius , Zones 3–10 ) are great selection to get the show started while tender - season grasses like little bluestem ( Schizachyrium scoparium , Zones 3–9 ) are emerging . sequence cool- and warm - season grasses will leave continuous interest into early wintertime , while bush like ‘ Mt Aso ’ pussy willow ( Salixgracilistyla‘Mt . Aso ’ , Zones 4–9 ) and Virginia sweetspire ( Iteavirginica , Zones 5–9 ) bestow early flower color and interesting foliage to the planting well into fall .

Tips for meadow garden design

If you ’d care to create your own meadow - style garden , it ’s a good mind to start with some inquiry to deepen your knowledge of your preferred plant palette . rule an open , sunny quad , and take some metre to consider your innovation options . As you work out your planting plan , it may be helpful to keep these rules of thumb in mind , inspired by noted meadow - style public garden :

A Meadow Garden Through the Seasons

In spring , my meadow garden ( fancy above ) has the strongest displays of emerge shape , textures , and foliage supply byornamental grasses , some herbaceous wild flower , and shrub that punctuate the meadow with their flush and leaf vividness .

In midsummer , cool - season ornamental grasses show maturing foliage and bloom heads , while warm - time of year grasses pop out bloom . In the photo above , coastal plain Joe Pye weed ( Eupatoriumdubium , Zones 4–8 ) , ‘ Blue Fortune ’ giant hyssop ( Agastache‘Blue Fortune ’ , Zones 5–9 ) , and cupful industrial plant ( Silphiumperfoliatum , Zones 3–9 ) bring spattering of colour into this section of the garden . decorative grasses are starting to get on , with ‘ Karl Foerster ’ feather reed grass ( Calamagrostisacutiflora‘Karl Foerster ’ , Zones 5–9 ) and the efflorescence of self-aggrandizing Andropogon gerardii ( Andropogon gerardii , Zones 4–9 ) and switchgrass ( Panicumvirgatum ‘ Shenandoah ’ , Zones 5–9 ) .

later on on in summertime , a well - designed meadow - style garden will be burst with wildflower accent and a confluence of different ornamental grasses . Here , the varied bloom forms of dulcet coneflower ( Rudbeckiasubtomentosa , Zones 4–9 ) , rattlesnake master ( Eryngiumyuccifolium , Zones 3–8 ) , blunt mountain mint ( Pycnanthemum muticum , Zones 4–8 ) , and loving cup plant complement the o.k. texture of ‘ Goldtau ’ tufted hair’s-breadth grass , which forms an airy cloud , while warm - season grasses like piffling Andropogon gerardii and ‘ first light Light ’ miscanthus ( Miscanthussinensis‘Morning Light ’ , geographical zone 6–9 ) conspicuously display colorful foliation .

When the first hoar arrive , a stage of works maturity and decay lends a raw common sense of somberness to the meadow garden . Even when they are undress of bold colors , there is still a profound beauty in browned foliage , bleak forms , plant skeletons , and seed heads . In the planting above , a palette of browns from the mature forms of little blue stem , Korean feather reed grass ( Calamagrostisbrachytricha , Zones 4–9 ) , and ‘ Karl Foerster ’ feather reed grass are enhance by a play of good afternoon sunlight . Soon enough the winter will be over , and the cycle of time of year will begin again in this naturalistic physical composition .

— Thomas J. Mrazik is a horticulturist and proprietor of Goodly Gardens in Worcester , Pennsylvania .

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meadow-style garden in late spring

By late spring, the author’s vibrant meadow-style garden is filled with emerging foliage, evolving forms, and animated grasses.Photo: Thomas J. Mrazik

meadow garden with purple accent plants

In late spring, flowers begin to add eye-catching forms and colors to this meadow planting, while grasses catch light and contribute movement.Photo: Thomas J. Mrazik

meadow garden in midsummer