This an account of how a couple who moved to a new home with an established garden wished to make their own mark on the landscape with the least possible effort. Their answer was to plant wildflowers and the article quoted below traces their steps to complete their plan. The article is by Amanda and comes from the American Meadows website.
My partner and I moved into a new home in late June and with it came a delightful mix of already-established gardens. But being the garden-fanatics that we are, we still wanted some projects to call our own without disturbing the existing garden beds.
We thought of designing a new perennial bed, but by the time we moved in we just didn?t have the time, what with unpacking, painting, and all of those other fun things that accompany a move. Low maintenance landscaping with wildflowers seemed like the perfect answer. We could make our mark and get the satisfaction of watching something grow, minus the fuss and thought that go along with installing a formal garden.
Preparing the area for low maintenance landscaping
Jeremiah had one area that he wanted to plant and I had my own. He tilled a three-foot area in an L-shape on the inside of our fence, lining the back of our property. He found that it worked best if he weed-whacked the grass down to almost nothing before tilling. This area was in great shape and didn?t need any additional soil or compost added to it before planting.
My planting area abutted our stone patio and essentially extended an already-established bed by about four feet. This spot was a little harder to clear, with its stubborn roots and rocky soil. I had to bring in re-enforcements (my mom and dad) before planting, who helped me hand-pull the remaining grass and add in some compost to help enrich the soil. This was a bigger job than we originally thought, but was definitely worth it in the end.
See more at American Meadows
So beautiful!!