Yard of the Week: Wonderful Wildflower Meadow Replaces a Lawn
Native plants and other sustainable features help welcome wildlife and improve the ecosystem at a Massachusetts property
An experienced gardener turned out to be a dream client for the landscape design team at Offshoots, as everyone’s goals for creating a sustainable, productive environment were aligned. “One of the homeowners used to work as a gardener, and it was her idea to transform her front yard into a meadow,” says the firm’s owner, landscape architect Kate Kennen. Kennen focused on making the entire landscape more productive and healthy, with a focus on native plants. The result is a beautiful yard that attracts pollinators, yields food and improves the health of the surrounding wetlands.
After: The front yard was once a large expanse of bluegrass; now most of it is a pollinator-attracting, low-maintenance, drought-tolerant meadow. When this photo was taken, a mix of wildflowers was taking root, with black-eyed Susans (Rudbeckia sp.) helping to establish the meadow during the first phase.
The meadow mix is diverse and includes a wide variety of grasses and perennials. The look of the meadow will be colorful and will change with the seasons. For example, wild lupine (Lupinus perennis, USDA zones 2 to 10; find your zone) will grace the meadow in late spring, while aromatic aster (Symphyotrichum oblongifolium, zones 3 to 9) and smooth aster (Symphyotrichum laeve, zones 4 to 8) will bloom in the fall.
Offshoots designed the project and installed all the plants, while Renovo’s Landscape and Construction installed the hardscape. “It’s important to understand that soil is a living system, and it’s great when we can do the horticultural installation ourselves. I’m able to experiment with new innovations, take risks and make any necessary adjustments with maintenance,” Kennen says. Offshoots also takes care of the ongoing maintenance for this project.
Tour 3 Marvelous Meadow Gardens and Learn About Their Plants
The meadow mix is diverse and includes a wide variety of grasses and perennials. The look of the meadow will be colorful and will change with the seasons. For example, wild lupine (Lupinus perennis, USDA zones 2 to 10; find your zone) will grace the meadow in late spring, while aromatic aster (Symphyotrichum oblongifolium, zones 3 to 9) and smooth aster (Symphyotrichum laeve, zones 4 to 8) will bloom in the fall.
Offshoots designed the project and installed all the plants, while Renovo’s Landscape and Construction installed the hardscape. “It’s important to understand that soil is a living system, and it’s great when we can do the horticultural installation ourselves. I’m able to experiment with new innovations, take risks and make any necessary adjustments with maintenance,” Kennen says. Offshoots also takes care of the ongoing maintenance for this project.
Tour 3 Marvelous Meadow Gardens and Learn About Their Plants
Before: The driveway was a straight line from the street to the garage.
Wetlands border the edge of the property above the meadow, and a woodsy buffer zone can be seen here to the left of the house. The plans for the property included reestablishing native plants to help clean runoff water as it moves toward those wetlands. The plans required approval from the Westwood Conservation Commission, a body of the town’s government that regulates all work in or near wetlands and river resource areas.
Eradicating non-native invasive species, including Japanese knotweed, multiflora rose, buckthorn and Norway maple, was an important phase before planting and is part of the ongoing maintenance.
Wetlands border the edge of the property above the meadow, and a woodsy buffer zone can be seen here to the left of the house. The plans for the property included reestablishing native plants to help clean runoff water as it moves toward those wetlands. The plans required approval from the Westwood Conservation Commission, a body of the town’s government that regulates all work in or near wetlands and river resource areas.
Eradicating non-native invasive species, including Japanese knotweed, multiflora rose, buckthorn and Norway maple, was an important phase before planting and is part of the ongoing maintenance.
After: The new driveway is curved, allowing for different views along the journey to the garage.
Kennen sourced materials as locally as possible to minimize the project’s carbon footprint. The stone palette includes Goshen stone (from Goshen, Massachusetts) and granites from Connecticut and Vermont. “The Connecticut granite walls have an agrarian feeling to them,” Kennen says.
Plantings along the front of the house include alternateleaf dogwoods (Cornus alternifolia, zones 3 to 8) and a transplanted Japanese stewartia (Stewartia pseudocamellia, zones 5 to 8).
The shrubs are a mix of bottlebrush buckeye (Aesculus parviflora, zones 4 to 8), dwarf fothergilla (Fothergilla ‘Mount Airy’, zones 5 to 8), dwarf oakleaf hydrangea (Hydrangea quercifolia ‘Pee Wee’, zones 5 to 9), Gem Box inkberry (Ilex glabra, zones 5 to 9) and Carolina azalea (Rhododendron carolinianum, zones 6 to 7). There’s also a mix of perennials and ground covers.
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Kennen sourced materials as locally as possible to minimize the project’s carbon footprint. The stone palette includes Goshen stone (from Goshen, Massachusetts) and granites from Connecticut and Vermont. “The Connecticut granite walls have an agrarian feeling to them,” Kennen says.
Plantings along the front of the house include alternateleaf dogwoods (Cornus alternifolia, zones 3 to 8) and a transplanted Japanese stewartia (Stewartia pseudocamellia, zones 5 to 8).
The shrubs are a mix of bottlebrush buckeye (Aesculus parviflora, zones 4 to 8), dwarf fothergilla (Fothergilla ‘Mount Airy’, zones 5 to 8), dwarf oakleaf hydrangea (Hydrangea quercifolia ‘Pee Wee’, zones 5 to 9), Gem Box inkberry (Ilex glabra, zones 5 to 9) and Carolina azalea (Rhododendron carolinianum, zones 6 to 7). There’s also a mix of perennials and ground covers.
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This is a good point for pausing and getting oriented. The street is shown running along the left side of this plan, with the meadow between it and the front of the house; the driveway cuts through the meadow. Wetlands run along the property’s edge above the meadow, at the top of the plan.
Adding a working barn was also part of the project’s scope. It is located opposite the garage, with a new entry court between the two (at the bottom of the plan).
Behind the new working barn, marked in white, Offshoots installed a food forest. A gravel garden runs along the back of the garage and house, with views of the raised bed vegetable gardens. Off the top-right corner of the house is Blueberry Hill, a sloped garden marked by large rugged stone steps surrounded by blueberry bushes and other productive plants.
Adding a working barn was also part of the project’s scope. It is located opposite the garage, with a new entry court between the two (at the bottom of the plan).
Behind the new working barn, marked in white, Offshoots installed a food forest. A gravel garden runs along the back of the garage and house, with views of the raised bed vegetable gardens. Off the top-right corner of the house is Blueberry Hill, a sloped garden marked by large rugged stone steps surrounded by blueberry bushes and other productive plants.
Once visitors have parked their cars, this is the approach they take to the front door, with beautiful views of the meadow edged by woods along the way. The gardening homeowner wanted to leave a small area of lawn close to the house, and Kennen gave the meadow’s edge some pleasingly gentle curves. The lawn area also serves as a path that leads directly to Blueberry Hill around the corner.
The landscape architect looked to the surrounding properties and planned the meadow mix accordingly. “There was an existing agrarian meadow across the street with lots of goldenrod [Solidago sp.],” Kennen says. “We wanted to let our mix establish first, knowing those would spread into this meadow.”
The meadow is an evolving, living system, and as mentioned, Offshoots is providing ongoing maintenance to establish it. This will include removing invasive species and interplanting new native vegetation over a period of three to five years.
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The landscape architect looked to the surrounding properties and planned the meadow mix accordingly. “There was an existing agrarian meadow across the street with lots of goldenrod [Solidago sp.],” Kennen says. “We wanted to let our mix establish first, knowing those would spread into this meadow.”
The meadow is an evolving, living system, and as mentioned, Offshoots is providing ongoing maintenance to establish it. This will include removing invasive species and interplanting new native vegetation over a period of three to five years.
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The food forest is located past the driveway, and the plant selections are productive for humans and wildlife. Trees include Canadian serviceberry (Amelanchier canadensis, zones 4 to 7), common elderberry (Sambucus nigra, zones 3 to 9), pawpaw (Asimina triloba, zones 5 to 9), sugar maple (Acer saccharum, zones 3 to 8) and persimmon (Diospyros virginiana, zones 4 to 9).
Woodland shrubs in the food forest include gooseberry (Ribes hirtellum, zones 4 to 6), purple flowering raspberry (Rubus odoratus, zones 3 to 8) and highbush blueberry (Vaccinium corymbosum, zones 5 to 8). The food forest also has a variety of ground covers, including Virginia strawberry (Fragaria virginiana, zones 5 to 9), ramps (Allium tricoccum, zones 5 to 9) and Canadian wild ginger (Asarum canadense, zones 3 to 8).
How to Create a Wildlife-Friendly Garden
Woodland shrubs in the food forest include gooseberry (Ribes hirtellum, zones 4 to 6), purple flowering raspberry (Rubus odoratus, zones 3 to 8) and highbush blueberry (Vaccinium corymbosum, zones 5 to 8). The food forest also has a variety of ground covers, including Virginia strawberry (Fragaria virginiana, zones 5 to 9), ramps (Allium tricoccum, zones 5 to 9) and Canadian wild ginger (Asarum canadense, zones 3 to 8).
How to Create a Wildlife-Friendly Garden
Before: The backyard was pretty much a blank slate, except for the homeowners’ raised-bed vegetable garden, seen here on the right. It was important to the homeowners to leave some grassy expanses for their kids and the family’s dogs.
After: Out back, there’s a series of outdoor rooms that begins with this gravel garden behind the garage. Adirondack chairs sit on a bed of granite-edged gravel. The gravel garden continues toward the house, with plants and pavers scattered about within it.
Kennen used boxwoods to add year-round evergreen structure to the garden. Flowering dogwood (Cornus florida, zones 5 to 9) and beach plum (Prunus maritima, zones 3 to 8) trees also add structure around the patio.
The stair railing marks a back door, and Kennen placed an herb garden right off the door for easy picking.
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Kennen used boxwoods to add year-round evergreen structure to the garden. Flowering dogwood (Cornus florida, zones 5 to 9) and beach plum (Prunus maritima, zones 3 to 8) trees also add structure around the patio.
The stair railing marks a back door, and Kennen placed an herb garden right off the door for easy picking.
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Lavender was a must-have for the gardening homeowner, so Kennen transplanted existing shrubs of it throughout the garden and supplemented those with new ones. The lavender adds color and fragrance, and attracts pollinators.
Off the other side of the back of the house, Kennen replaced an existing deck and stairs with a stone patio and granite steps, and installed new plantings.
“We wrapped the patio with productive native pollinator plants,” she says. These include bearberry (Arctostaphylos uva-ursi, zones 2 to 6), Piedmont azalea (Rhododendron canescens, zones 6 to 9) and dwarf inkberry (Ilex glabra ‘Shamrock’, zones 4 to 9).
“We wrapped the patio with productive native pollinator plants,” she says. These include bearberry (Arctostaphylos uva-ursi, zones 2 to 6), Piedmont azalea (Rhododendron canescens, zones 6 to 9) and dwarf inkberry (Ilex glabra ‘Shamrock’, zones 4 to 9).
Another permaculture principle Kennen employed was using local restorative growers, such as Native Plant Trust. “We find local nurseries that carry plants from local growers. They grow native plants,” she says. She notes that plants that can crossbreed will help a landscape adapt to new conditions over time, unlike plants that don’t crossbreed.
Kennen notes that using plants from local growers also helps keep the carbon footprint in check, as they are transported over fewer miles than plants from nonlocal growers. While Native Plant Trust is a regional New England organization, you can visit a local cooperative extension office to learn more about procuring and planting native plants.
Off the back of the house is an existing vegetable garden with a high deer fence.
Here’s a glimpse of Blueberry Hill, off the far side of the house. It’s a sloped garden marked by rugged stone steps and productive plants, including lots of highbush and lowbush blueberries. This photo shows just a small patch of the entire Blueberry Hill garden.
The diverse mix of trees, shrubs and ground covers provides brilliant fall color and beautiful, edible berries. “Blueberry Hill and the food forest are both permaculture areas that we integrated in a way that looks ornamental,” Kennen says.
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The diverse mix of trees, shrubs and ground covers provides brilliant fall color and beautiful, edible berries. “Blueberry Hill and the food forest are both permaculture areas that we integrated in a way that looks ornamental,” Kennen says.
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Read more landscape stories
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Shop for your outdoor spaces
Yard at a Glance
Who lives here: A family of five and their two dogs
Location: Westwood, Massachusetts
Size: About 1.8 acres (0.7 hectares)
Landscape architecture and plant installation: Offshoots
Hardscape installation: Renovo’s Landscape and Construction
Before: The front yard was almost all lawn. Kennen used permaculture principles to guide the design process, focusing on landscape health and productivity.
Permaculture was conceived in the 1970s as a sustainable approach to agriculture; it has since been broadened to include thinking about human impact on ecology. At its essence, permaculture reflects thinking globally and acting locally. A designer asks not only how a design can improve a property’s ecosystem, but also how the design can contribute to the greater ecological systems and community.
The permaculture principles Kennen employed include:
- Attracting pollinators
- Cleansing runoff water
- Improving the health of surrounding wetlands
- Minimizing the amount of water, fertilizer, energy and other resources required for maintenance
- Producing food for people and wildlife
- Reestablishing native plant communities
- Using a diverse and resilient plant palette
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