A few tips for creating a hillside meadow

Do you mow a hillside over and over, with little to show for your efforts? If so, consider transforming the area into a care-free wildflower meadow. Here's how to do it:

• A single annual mowing is usually sufficient to maintain such a meadow, rather than mowing it every several weeks.
• Meadow plants growing on a slope present an impressive picture that changes constantly as different species come in and out of bloom.
• Meadow gardens are always packed with intrigue. The show is a never-ending display of different plant combinations, usually pairing flowering plants with clump-forming grasses.
• The display is even more gratifying because very little site preparation goes into creating a meadow. When you seek out plants that thrive naturally in your climate and soil, the job is easy.
• After planting them once, many wildflowers multiply or reseed with no assistance on your part.
• You can use your saved time and energy to experiment with other flowers to add to the palette, fine-tuning your collection with each passing season.

They're somewhat wild and woolly by nature, so wildflower meadows are best located a short distance from your house, separated from it by a swath of neatly mown turf.

• It serves as an open area, allowing you to stand back and admire the view.
• It also acts as a buffer zone for wildlife, which is naturally drawn to wildflower meadows.
• A short fence also helps to set apart a wildflower area. Fences lend a sense of importance, too, making the meadow look like an intentional garden rather than a happy accident.
• Start small with a wildflower meadow and expand as you need room for a growing collection of plants.
• Many of the flowers listed here have such strong constitutions that they seldom fail when given an opportunity to grow.

Here's a brief list of plants that are sure to succeed in your meadow:

• Artemisia
• Aster
• Bee balm
• Blue star
• Borage
• Bugleweed
• Candytuft
• Catmint
• Columbine
• Coreopsis
• Creeping phlox
• Crocus
• Caffodil
• Daylily
• Dianthus
• Epimedium
• Four-o'clock
• Foxglove
• Hardy geranium
• Goatsbeard
• Goldenrod
• Grape hyacinth
• Joe Pye weed
• Larkspur
• Ornamental grasses
• Purple coneflower
• Rose campion
• Rudbeckia
• Shrub rose
• Sneezeweed
• Snowdrops
• Species tulips
• Spiderwort
• Squill
• Sweet woodruff
• Turtlehead
• Yarrow

In the interest of neatness, and to control tree seedlings and other woody weeds that inevitably pop up, a meadow should be mowed at least once a year, preferably in late fall.

• This job may be too rough for a mower, but it is easily tackled by a gas-powered weed trimmer equipped with a blade.
• Allow the debris to lie on the ground through winter as a mulch.
• Seeds may germinate under its protection, and it will prevent soil erosion.
• In early spring, rake open patches, loosen the top centimetre (half-inch) of soil with a hoe and, if desired, plant seeds of annuals like poppies, cosmos and larkspur.

While creating a meadow might seem like a lot of work, it is sure to save you time and energy throughout the year -- not to mention it looks beautiful! If you want to brighten up your yard and save time on mowing, a hillside meadow is the perfect addition to your property.