Tour a Modern Meadow Garden with Year-Round Interest

Get a behind-the-scenes tour of a beautiful mountain landscape

hayfield gardenshave been a long - go gardening “ trend ” that many have induce to embrace . But most spaces can look more wild than curated . This garden , owned by Jay Sifford , an award - wining house decorator from North Carolina , indicate how a landscape can comprehend all the near attributes of a meadow garden ( pollinator favorable , aboriginal plant comprehension , humble - shock creation ) while refining the less desirable attributes ( messy , one season of appeal , no station for human fundamental interaction ) .

In this video , Jay explain why he chose todesign a meadow gardenin the first place . He trace the location of the before long - to - be garden and how that influenced what its design would be .

Although traditional meadow are for the most part planted along a flat planing machine ( akin to a prairie ) , Jay ’s meadow is laid out in a bowl - like fashion . This was partly due to topographical challenges from web site work , but also because of his desire to make the meadow a place where people were cover by the garden . Here are some of the steps Jay take on in creating this garden .

Step 1: Install a roadside berm

A mounded James Jerome Hill helped keep water from running off the road and across the septic champaign . It also provided a smashing degree of privateness and create good drain for the conifer and grasses embed near the road . The overall roll shape of the fresh garden act as as a nurturing outer space , providing the opportunity to create the seating country at the epicenter as kind of a point in an amphitheatre . The optic is intentionally directed downward ( by gravel and mulch pathway — sometimes turning to annul spill plants ) , giving the space “ labyrinth ” vibes . All of this is designed to slacken the garden visitor down . Once you are seat in the Adirondack chairs at the bottom , however , your heart is describe upward by the tree and vertical skunk to the sky , since eyes follow shapes .

Step 2: Plant select species in rhythmic patterns

People seek ease in patterns . Therefore , Jay started establish the meadow design by laying out salient shapes . A grouping , or anatomy , may be comprised of 150 ornamental smoke , for illustration , but the human brain reads that as one unit of measurement , not 150 individual units . The plant selected needed to put up at least two out of the following three attributes : construction , seasonal appeal , and/or pollinator - friendliness . There is a admixture of native and foreign-born plant .

Step 3: Ensure there are four seasons of interest

One in particular amaze issue with traditional meadow is that in wintertime they do n’t look like much . This presents aesthetic problem for a home nurseryman who wants the landscape painting to await in effect , even in the off - season . Jay ’s meadow is located in the front of his habitation ( averyprominent localization ) , and because of the large looking glass windows of the house , there is always a unmediated horizon to the meadow — even in winter . To control 12 - months of interest , Jay has done several thing . He has leave the decorative locoweed up until early March to savor watching them dance kinetically in the twist . He has plant many nontraditional meadow garden plants such as conifers and other evergreens . And he has made sure the overall layout of the beds and hardscape provide a strong silhouette . So even when much of the plant life material has died back , the precis continue incessant .

More on conventionalised meadow gardens :

To see more of Jay ’s garden , gibe out hisGarden Photo of the Daysubmissions :

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