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The word meadow has a quixotic aura about it — billowing Gunter Wilhelm Grass , dancing wildflowers , fleet butterfly stroke . It all sound so dainty and ethereal — and simple . But a hayfield is also complex , durable and the epitome of all that is down-to-earth . And John Greenlee has been utterly seduced by them .
photograph by : Saxon Holt . SEE MORE PICTURES OF THIS GARDEN
Owner of Greenlee Nurseries near Los Angeles and widely acknowledge master of ornamental grasses , Greenlee has been in lovemaking with meadow since they hulk over his head as a male child growing up in California . Now , after decades of working with meadow ecologies , he also understands their unique design potential , which is the breathing in for his book , The American Meadow Garden : Creating a Natural Alternative to the Traditional Lawn(Timber Press ) .
While he has been honing the concept of “ design meadow ” for the preceding 15 years ( Greenlee prefer the Holy Scripture hayfield to prairie , experience that prairie implies vastness while meadows have more sense of place ) , a perfect fortune for Greenlee to put his ideas into practice presented itself when Carole Marks get hold of him looking for a way to complete her garden at her Mediterranean - modern - manner domicile ( plan by Stephen Arnn of AGG Design ) in Woodside , California . And Greenlee was additionally excited that he would be complementing an exist garden design by mark landscape architect Ron Herman .
Deutschmark had been search for a solution to the 2 - acre - plus unfinished part of her landscape painting , which include a godforsaken area and drain swale along a small creek . When she and contractor Mick Fox of Fox Landscape and Irrigation Inc. see Greenlee ’s designed hayfield at the 2007 San Francisco Flower & Garden Show , Marks remembers , “ I realise John ’s garden , and straightaway fell in love with the concept . ” Greenlee mention to the office as a best - case scenario — an exquisite sign set on property big enough ( 8 acres ) and conclude enough to nature to do something really interesting , Herman ’s solid design , and a squad of client , declarer and fashion designer who were immediately on the same page . The lofty finish was to make the meadow “ depend like God did it ” and be the connective tissue paper between Herman ’s more “ naturalistic courtly ” planting near the family and the surround California landscape painting .
A planting of lupines is part of the perennials component of Greenlee ’s design meadow . SEE MORE PICTURES OF THIS GARDEN
Greenlee set about installing 50 or so assortment of grass and grassy plants , to which he added hundred of what he calls “ meadow sweeteners ” — those plants that groove with green goddess and add together that sealed something , whether it ’s flower or seedheads , when “ drizzled ” through the hayfield . For the sweeteners , he turned to perennials like lupines , flame flower and yarrow , and bulbs like daffodil . ( While most of us think of bulbs as isolated ball or sweeps in a formal mete , most are in reality aboriginal to meadow ecologies . ) The bluff variety of plant textile on call for the Marks garden made a detailed plan on paper insufferable , but Greenlee is accustomed to designing on the spot ( he equate it to weaving material but in three dimensions ) . The end final result is what he call “ Mediterranean hayfield rabidness . ”
But Greenlee point out that it would not have shape if there were n’t already good bones to wind the framework around , and he gives full credit to Herman for that . In fact , Greenlee felt some pressure at the medical prognosis of adding to a Ron Herman garden : “ The streak was put forward jolly in high spirits . ” But Greenlee has work out with a roll of noteworthy garden designer — Andrea Cochran , Nancy Powers , Robert Irwin , Jack Chandler — and he was honored to tot Herman to the listing . Though the two designers have distinctly differentmodus operandi , Herman experience that the dividing line between his garden and Greenlee ’s “ only enhances our work . ”
The merge was made unseamed in part because both interior designer had sustainability in creative thinker . Herman ’s landscape , complete in 2007 , has a dry watercourse for runoff cachement , drouth - tolerant plants , a spill lawn for effective water use and permeable pathways of natural materials . While sustainable idea have been around awhile ( one example is the use of remains tile to channel rain in Hollywood in the 1940s ) , the real push during the past 10 years has equal everyone . Herman notes that all his new project have constituent of sustainability . Greenlee ’s hayfield is as green as it take , with its drought margin , species multifariousness , want of chemical substance dependency and magnetic attractive force for wildlife . As one of the most vocal proponents for finding surrogate for the received lawn , Greenlee sees meadow as an obvious solution .
One of the key aesthetic components that connects the work of both designers is the panorama — from the star sign looking out as well as from the meadow expect back . The organised arrangement near the house of grasses likeMiscanthusand blue fescue grass , and perennials admit black - eyed Susan , lavender , Russian sage andPhormium , finds counterpoint and echoes in the grassy , wild flower - dotted meadow beyond , and vice versa . An outsize fervour pit designed by Herman affords a cozy blot to sit down in the midst of the hayfield ( what dear way to bask a Zen moment or eyeball wildlife ) . For Greenlee , being in a meadow , as opposed to just looking at it from afar , is critical — Herman calls the engrossment experience an “ unexpected delight . ”
The conception of sequencing also found its way into both Greenlee and Herman portions of the landscape . Herman created a garden of layers , use a series of terrace and walkways and 90 - level turns , part hide one area from the next . The pathways stay on to meander through Greenlee ’s meadow , which has finger that extend through the property . The hayfield is itself the embodiment of sequence , incite in and out of sun and shade , with swathe of shorter and taller grass and perennial , and a secure connector to seasonal change .
saunter among the beckon grasses , as Carole Marks often does , contain to sit on a bench “ and just take in the beauty and peacefulness , ” it ’s easy to plug into to Greenlee ’s early Day of lying in a field watch clouds float overhead , and to understand why , for him , meadows are magic .
With its russet note and swordlike leaves , Phormiummakes a good companion for dim Mexican feather sens , Nassella tenuissima . SEE MORE PICTURES OF THIS GARDEN
MEADOW MAKING
SelectThere ’s more than one path to found a meadow . inseminate seeds can be tinny , but establish plant can contribute it to fruition faster . Or you may do both — plant some grasses and perennials as anchor , and sow seeded player in between . Annuals ( regionally appropriate unity ) can be used to give quick satisfaction the first year , though over time most will vanish as the recurrent plants gain ground . Beware of to a fault aggressive plants , native and not , or you will wind up with a monotonous mass of circumscribed species . And keep weeds under command .
SituateThere ’s more than one type of hayfield . you may orient your approach path to the distinctive industrial plant life of your region , your territory case , moisture conditions and hardiness geographical zone . Prairie Nursery in Wisconsin even offers seed admixture that are low grow , cervid resistant , clay glad and butterfly friendly . Take stock of your conditions first : If you have a great location for a moist meadow in Ohio , a Mediterranean hayfield is not the upright idea .
SatisfyThere ’s more than one manner to maintain a meadow . Remember , however , that any meadow or prairie planting is a long - term dedication and does call for regular input . Some people do controlled burns every two or three twelvemonth ( install fire breaks and keep the fire department inform ) , but mowing once a year in the spring works also . Both burn up and mowing keep woody industrial plant from pay off a beachhead , enrich the soil and perk up new plant growth .
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