Meadow

The Meadow is an open area in Naturescape designed with year-round interest, low-maintenance, and large space design in mind. Inspired by the work of Dutch landscape designer Piet Oudoulf, the Meadow incorporates both ornamental grasses and native plants to create visual interest in an otherwise lackluster space.

In the spring the Meadow is alive with native Camas lilies and dotted with bulbs like hyacinth, narcissus and fritillaria that were leftover from the original garden space. In summer, after the flowers fade, the grasses fill in and are intermixed with fireweed and native sanguisorba.

The Meadow also features a large wildlife snag, created when the original white pine became dangerously askew and had to be removed. A mason bee home resides on the smaller snag in the garden. After the grasses die in late fall they are left throughout the winter to provide shelter for beneficial insects and food for foraging birds. They are not cut back until the day temperatures are consistently 50 degrees, which is when nesting insects begin to hatch.