Suburban Flower Meadow Started with Seed

Every yard has that spot (or spots) that could use a little love.  An example is the narrow strip of land between a fence and driveway….or in the backyard against the house that just seems forgotten.  It could be any number of places.  Maybe you’ve tried to grow something there…maybe the spot just seems to difficult to do anything.  These areas can go from eye sore to spectacular…and it can all start from seed. 

I have a great example of just how awesome these spaces can be transformed.  Last November (2014), I was working with a couple in South Orange that wanted to renovate their backyard.  They had an existing patio causing them some heartache.  It was three levels, all of which had different problems.  Of the three, the highest level didn’t have railing and was too small for chairs.  They were worried one of their kids might toddle outside and fall off the edge.  They wanted to have a backyard where they could sit back and enjoy the sunsets without worrying about someone falling.  So, we designed a single level patio made with reclaimed brick.  We sloped the ground to the lip of the patio so that railing wasn’t required and it also eliminated any concern about falls. 

We finished the patio two days after Thanksgiving.  During the install, we got both snow and rain, so the backyard turned into a mud pit. 

The ground was covered with snow throughout the winter, so it wasn’t a big deal to it to be bare dirt.  But once the snow melted, we need to get the backyard ready for entertaining.  The new yard did have a bit more slope than the original, and it was against the house.  These two conditions meant we needed to give it special attention.  Special attention means amending the soil, and selecting the right seed for the specific conditions of the hill.  It could have easily become one of those spots forgotten, instead we decided to create a suburban flower meadow.  

The nice thing about wildflowers is that they grow just about anywhere, and you can start from seed.  There are wildflower seed mixes for wet and sunny areas, dry and shady area and everything in between.  The one thing about starting anything from seed is that you need to use lots of seed.  If you decide to DIY a meadow, I’d suggest buying twice the amount of seed you think you need.  More seed means more chances for lots of germination.  Too little seed could mean lots of weeds and unsightliness.   

Anyhow, the suburban flower meadow turned out great.  It did take its old sweet time to start growing.  

However, once seedlings starting popping up, the meadow appeared almost overnight.  Now were there was empty dirt, there are thousands of wildflowers.  The owners like it so much we are going to expand the meadow into more parts of their yard.  We’ll add more seed every year to keep the meadow lush and colorful. 

Flowers came in thick and bright. Every year, we're planning to add seed to keep the density and allow different flowers to grow.