Over the last couple of weeks I’ve been in London having some unforgettable garden experiences. Thanks to the generosity of my UK colleagues Glynn Percival and Jon Banks I was treated to Kew Gardens, RHS Wisley Gardens, and Windsor Castle. I hope to construct several blog posts from these visits, but today’s post is an homage to the English garden meadow. Instead of monocultural turf lawns, mowed and sprayed into submission, why not consider a more biodiverse and visually pleasing approach to groundcover?
As the title of this post suggests, this is not a new topic in our blog. (You can read other related posts here, here, and here.) What was so stunning about these garden meadows (meadow gardens?) was the scale and effortless beauty. For instance, consider this tree-lined parkway at Kew, covered with English daisies.
I saw my first honest-to God cowslip in a meadow garden at the British Museum of Natural History.
How about these adorable tiny daffodils and checker lilies?
And here they are en masse.
This isn’t to say that the formal lawn isn’t a thing in England, It is.
But unless you have a castle, a baseball diamond, or a putting green to manage, why not consider something more appealing, not only to the eye but to your beneficial wildlife?
I love the casual beauty and biological diversity these meadows provide. Such an improvement over the traditional lawn (which is so poorly suited most American yards). I look forward to reading more posts about your trip!
English meadow lawns are great unless you have wild onions or burdock (or dandelions). I can tolerate the perennial violets and various kinds of self-sown grasses and clover.