Wildflower Gardens: Join the Movement, Be A Biodiversity Superhero!
Photo from University of New Hampshire Cooperative Extension
It’s a bird, it’s a plane, it’s … a wildflower garden! Seriously, though, Superman would definitely have a wildflower garden if he could, ‘cause they are out there saving the world right now.
We at Site Structures Landscape have been offering wildflower garden installations for the past few years, as we see this is a need in our world. Read on to see how we installed several wildflower gardens -- or meadows, if you prefer -- at a group of townhomes in New Hampshire in 2020, and stay tuned for updates in future newsletters showing how they progress!
You can be a superhero for the environment right here in NH and Maine by joining the movement. How? First by reading all about wildflower gardens in this blog. And then by contacting Site Structures and letting us come get you started. We’ll clear part of your yard and plant seeds for a low-maintenance meadow that will attract pollinators and promote biodiversity. Bonus: You’ll also get a cool new topic to brag about to your neighbors and friends, who will want to join this sustainable garden trend themselves!
What Are Wildflower Gardens?
A wildflower garden is made up of a variety of species of plants that attract and support a variety of pollinators. Wildflower gardens provide food and habitat for pollinators. They are beneficial in that they encourage biodiversity by appealing to a bunch of different insects, mammals, and bird species.
Why the Planet Needs You to Curb Your Lawn Love
When you look at lawns, you won’t find many individual insects, never mind species! Lawns are a monoculture and do not support much life. Don’t get us wrong, lawns have their purpose and place (keeping soil in place and providing living and recreational spaces) but could we maybe live with a little less lawn? Food for thought!
Why Is Attracting Pollinators So Important?
Pollinators are the true superheroes, if we’re honest, and you can at least be their sidekicks by starting wildflower gardens. Pollinators are important to transfer pollen from male to female flowers. This helps ensure germination and genetic variability.
Ahem, let’s nix the scientific garble, shall we? Germination means the plants can reproduce. The seeds created will over-winter and sprout seedlings (baby plants) in response to warm weather in the spring. Think of dormancy like bears going into hibernation. Plants, like bears, store and live off of nutrients and energy sources stored in their bodies (roots for plants, fat and protein reserves for bears) to keep them alive during the winter.
Genetic variability accounts for slight differences between individuals of a population, whether it be plants, insects, mammals...really anything living, these differences are important for natural selection that will help a species survive as their environment changes over time. Plants will develop flowers that resemble pollinators to attract them, increasing their chance of successful germination, or enlarge their leaves to catch more sunlight. Some will become carnivorous. If this sparks your interest, check out this article from the Smithsonian Magazine.
Over the past 40 years, Earth’s insect populations have decreased dramatically. Insects are needed to pollinate most of the plants on Earth. Without them, plants would not be able to set seeds and reproduce. And without plants, we simply would not exist!
How Your Garden Can Help
We as landowners and green industry professionals can do something to help -- we can plant native plants. (We can also remove invasive plants, scroll down for our February 2021 blog all about the dangers of invasives.) We can create wildflower gardens to help fill the gaps in the pathways created by developments. These pathways are important for some pollinators to complete their migrations. (Think of Monarch butterflies!)
Where Should You Install A Wildflower Garden On Your Property?
Wildflower gardens take some planning to create, so if you have a natural meadow alongside a woodland area on your property, you might consider leaving it. It may look messy to our human standards, but ecological processes often rely on the randomness of nature. If you are thinking of starting a wildflower garden from scratch, the first and most important thing to ensure success is to have a clean slate. Another important factor is the site condition. Is the site hot, sunny, and dry? Is it cooler, moist, and shady? You will need to pick the right plant for the right place. If you live in an area with a dense population of deer, rabbits, or other snack-loving wildlife (we’re talking to you, Seacoasters!), you will need to pick less desirable plant species -- and you may want to consider installing a fence!
How We Would Prepare Your Property
Before we can plant a wildflower garden, we have to clear your site. If there is pre-existing vegetation (lawn, weeds, etc…), it must be removed or killed, along with existing weed seeds. This can be done in a few ways. The lawn can be removed with a sod cutter, for example (as shown in photo), killed with herbicide or strong concentrated vinegar, or smothered. Smothering is the easiest method but requires the most time and patience.
What Would We Plant In Your Wildflower Garden?
Since native plants are vital for a healthy garden -- as they help support the native pollinators that evolved alongside the plants -- the plant choices for your meadow should be native to your area. For us here in the Seacoast area of New Hampshire and southern Maine, cold hardiness zones can range from 6 (directly on the coast) to 5a or 4b, depending on microclimates within your property (areas that may be more protected from wind or exposed to a lot of heat from the sun). Hardiness zones are a guide that can be used for plant selection. Each zone is defined by a temperature range based on minimum winter temperatures. The zone maps are a reference point to determine if a plant will be able to survive the winter. To be safe, the minimum temperature should be assumed as -20℉ if you are inland, but can be a bit warmer if you are in a protected area on the coast with more temperate weather patterns.
Twenty below zero might seem wildly unusual, especially after the mild winter we had entering 2021, but to have a successful plant community we need to select plants that will consistently thrive. Native plants, in addition to the pollinators that have evolved along with them to withstand and thrive in local conditions, are an easy choice for low-maintenance plantings that are more likely to thrive. Low risk, higher rewards!
Your plant palette should include species that bloom in early spring, summer, and fall to provide year-round interest for you and to have a mix of different species that, as a community, provide food for all parties within your garden’s ecosystem for the span of the growing season. When you talk to us about starting one of these gardens, we can discuss specific plants for your meadow.
How A Wildflower Garden Can Save You Time and Money
One of the great things about these meadows is they need less maintenance than typical lawns and gardens. Meadows usually don’t require fertilizer as their needs are met with low inputs of nutrients, whereas lawns take more to keep up and also cost more in the long run to maintain. These wildflower gardens also don’t often require large amounts of water, whereas -- for example -- large leaf hydrangeas require lots of water.
How Long Does The Wildflower Garden Process Take?
We can come and clear your lawn and plant the seeds in one or maybe two days, but it takes three years for a wildflower garden to fill in completely. The ground should be completely covered at that point. Full coverage is ideal for retaining moisture, providing habitat for the critters you are trying to attract, and keep weed competition down. (Another bonus: Less time spent weeding!)
Why Living Mulch Is Such a Good Thing
Keeping the ground covered also keeps your soil in place as the community of plants becomes a living mulch. Living mulch is more sustainable than traditional mulch since it doesn’t need to be reapplied every year and it provides habitat for the pollinators. It also doesn’t run all over the place during heavy rainstorms! Anyone have a pile of relocated mulch recently? If not, you’ve most certainly seen evidence of that happening elsewhere. We’re not here to say traditional landscaping is bad (we love to provide that service too!), but rather to encourage asking more questions to determine what type of landscape is right for you. If you’re interested in a wildflower garden of your own, consider asking yourself some of the following questions. What kind of habitat exists on my property? Is it something I want to encourage to thrive? Can I keep my traditional landscape, but still enjoy watching the busy-bee (pun intended) pollinators at work? How much life do I see being supported in the landscape mulch within my traditional garden beds? Should I give Leigh a call to discuss the options and identify an area that I could devote to a wildflower garden? (Hint: Yes!)
For more guidance on how to change your landscape to fit your needs, scroll down for our March 2021 blog sharing every step of the garden design process.
Garden Tip: Don’t Feel the Need to Remove Those Leaves
This is sort of a sidenote, but it also connects to the wildflower gardens. We’re experts at fall clean-ups, but we’re also happy to let you leave those leaves on the ground to help the pollinators. Each season it is recommended to leave the plant debris until spring. Psst…some of the pollinators overwinter in the stems of those plants! Leaving your leaves on your property is beneficial for pollinators since they overwinter on leaves as eggs and pupae. OK, we know leaving a lot of debris can create a mess in your yard. But even leaving just 12” of the stock is beneficial, if leaving the plants alone looks too messy. It is also recommended to leave the plant waste from cutting your gardens down in the fall somewhere on your property so that when the pollinators emerge from the stocks, they can continue their life cycle in the area where you have been caring for them. This way they can continue to benefit from your wildflower garden instead of being transported to the town dump.
Site Structures employees work to transform the lawn in front of a townhome in the greater Durham area into a wildflower garden
Here’s What We Did in 2020 to Start a Wildflower Garden
OK, now let’s break down the planting process! We worked on a few different wildflower gardens in 2020, from a residential yard in Maine to several townhomes in New Hampshire. Here’s what we did at the townhomes in the greater Durham area.
We removed some small lawn areas that were surrounded by pavement and continuously had a hard time growing grass. We started by removing the existing lawn with a sod cutter, then raked and removed any roots associated with the grass to ensure it would not grow back.
We then spread some wildflower seeds in the treated area, lightly back-raking them in to rough up the soil’s smooth surface, increasing the surface area touching the seeds.
Next, we laid some landscape straw mat on top of the seeds and soil. This will help keep the seeds and soil in place. We tacked the mats down with landscape staples so they wouldn’t blow away.
Through the straw mat, we planted native landscape plant plugs. These “plugs” are 4-5” established root systems within a soil base with small, young plants showing above the soil line. Since they already had roots, they will give our project a head start this spring. Some of the plants selected were perennials that come back every year but take time to establish. Certain plants were introduced to the garden in seed form -- either because they were annuals that will provide color in one season, or because they will take faster and are more vigorous growers.
After planting, we have to water the seeds. In this townhome community, the homeowners who agreed to let us transform their lawns took it upon themselves to make sure they regularly watered the plants. We had a significant drought last year, but their town allowed them to water their plantings. Hopefully, we won’t have to go through a year like 2020 again, on the drought front (or otherwise).
What’s the Next Step for These Wildflower Gardens?
Next year we will remove the straw mats, once the plants get started, and we will add outlines of bark mulch. The mulch will create a cleaner, more ordered look, as these little gardens are right in front of the doorways to the townhome units. We will keep you posted and update you with photos later in the 2021 season.
Contact Us For a Wildflower Garden Installation
Are you ready to be a biodiversity superhero? For more information on wildflower meadows, please visit the UNH Cooperative Extension website. If you want a wildflower garden on your property, please email Leigh at leigh@sitestructureslandscape.com or call Site Structures at (207) 438-9995. We’re proud to be part of this natural movement and love having new clients join the fold!
Until next time,
Leigh Lessard, Director of Landscape Maintenance, and the Site Structures Crew