During the past twenty years, developers of residential communities have been encouraged to set aside open space or common
lands in an effort to enhance the rural character of suburban communities and provide habitat for wildlife. These open spaces
often include wetlands that cannot be developed and rocky sites that would be costly to convert into residential lots. However,
in many better designed communities, relatively large open areas are preserved as meadow or forest. Such undeveloped common
lands are often the pride of suburban communities and their presence enhances the value of residential lots.
In time, the character of these valued open spaces can change, usually not for the better. A meadow that provided vistas of wildflowers and enhanced the sense of spaciousness can be invaded by Autumn Olive (
Elaeagnus umbellata Thunb.), Bullbriar (Smilax rotundifolia L.) and Red Cedar (Juniperus virginiana L.), producing an unsightly and impenetrable thicket . This
encourages the attitude that these meadows should be planted to grasses, mowed regularly, and used as informal athletic
fields. Such conversions are at times useful and serve the community well, but often people prefer to retain the meadow, enjoy the solitude, and observe the birds and wildflowers.
Is it possible to arrest the progression to weedy thicket without undue maintenance? Yes, if certain principles of plant communities and biodiversity are recognized.
First, it must be remembered that open upland meadows are not natural plant communities for most of New England. When the
European settlers arrived, the East Coast was forested. The only open spaces were tidal marshes, sand dunes, and some inland
bogs. Most of the land was dominated by an oak, hickory, and chestnut forest or some variation of that. Today's meadows are
usually abandoned fields that were once planted to crops or used as pasturage for livestock. When left to their own devices,
such sites support a succession of plant communities, eventually culminating in a mixed hardwood forest. In short, a meadow is
not a stable vegetative community in New England, and it will not persist without human intervention.
However, meadows can be managed to retain their open character and provide habitat for desirable plants, birds, insects, and
mammals. But their management is a long-term undertaking that should be accommodated in the community's budget for landscaping and maintenance.
Two Basic Approaches to Meadow Management
One approach to meadow management is to create a prairie meadow populated with wildflowers and warm-season perennial
grasses. The objective is to create a community of plants similar to what once prevailed on the western plains, where antelope
and bison grazed and wildfires discouraged invasion of woody species. This approach often requires elimination of existing
vegetation as well as destruction of underground plant parts and much of the soil seed bank. Such site preparation is labor-
intensive and frequently requires two or more years to complete. Prairie establishment can also require considerable labor
because the warm-season grasses, which constitute the core prairie vegetation, are slow to establish, and seeding of
broad-leaved flowering plants should be delayed by one or two years, until the grasses take hold. However, once established, it
can be maintained with relatively little effort_annual mowing or burning but little else. Creating a new prairie meadow is often more work than a community landscaping committee is willing to undertake.
An alternative, less labor-intensive approach is to start with what is already present and manage the site so as to encourage
desirable species while discouraging unwanted vegetation. The work must be spread over several years, but the intensive initial
effort can be avoided. Also, the site will not require denuding, leaving it vulnerable to erosion. For most southern New England residential meadows, this may be the most realistic approach to take.
Establishing the Meadow
The first step is to determine how the land was previously used. Was it planted to a field crop (corn, potatoes, nursery stock,
etc.), or was it used as a pasture or hay field? If the former, vegetation will include successional plants ranging from herbaceous
weeds to deciduous trees. If it was a pasture or hay field, the sod of cool-season grasses probably will still be evident.
How easily the site can be enhanced and maintained as a meadow will depend on its history. A field used to grow crops will have
a complex assortment of mostly perennial plants but not a well developed sod. It will have fewer grasses and more areas of
exposed soil, providing space for a number of woody invaders that, if ignored, will turn the site into a thicket. A few woody plants such as Red Cedar (Juniperus virginiana
L.) are not objectionable; their evergreen columnar shapes add visual interest and provide protection for birds and other small animals. But if red cedars are allowed to become too numerous, the meadow is
lost and the cedars are eventually displaced by larger trees. Invasive exotics such as Autumn Olive (Elaeagnus umbellata Thunb.) and Asian Bittersweet (Celastrus orbiculatus
Thunb.) cannot be tolerated. Greenbrier (Smilax sp.) and Poison Ivy (Toxicodendron radicans (L.) Kuntze), though native, are also undesirable. Maintaining a meadow is a constant battle to
prevent these plants from invading and gaining dominance.
While former crop lands are more prone to woody invaders, they are also more easily revegetated by desirable species. Close
mowing or burning followed by overseeding with mixtures of meadow perennials can quickly increase botanical diversity and
visual interest. Several seed companies have formulated seed mixes that contain species that are adapted to open sites and will
maintain themselves if woody invaders are kept at bay. (Many species included in these mixes are not native to Rhode Island,
but remember, there are no native upland meadows in the state.) Some mixes also contain several warm-season and
cool-season bunch grasses; they will not produce a dense sod but should maintain a constant ground cover that will limit invasion by undesirable woody species.
The best time to overseed a meadow is early-to-mid fall when weed seed germination is reduced. Drilling the seed or disking it
into the upper half inch of soil will increase germination and establishment without causing excessive damage to existing
vegetation. Many seeds will not germinate until the following spring, when they will offer some competition to germinating
weeds. It will take two to three years for an overseeded meadow to reach its full glory, and the overseeding may have to be
repeated if the initial seeds failed to germinate or if the plants did not become well established.
Maintaining the Meadow
Once a desirable stand of meadow grasses and flowering perennials is established, it can be maintained by mowing or burning
once a year. Opinions vary as to when a meadow should be mowed or even if an annual mowing is necessary. Mowing mimics
the burning and grazing that traditionally supported the persistence of prairie communities. Burning prevents invasion of woody
plants, keeps perennial cool-season grasses at bay, and strips organic residues from the soil surface, allowing the soil to warm
early in spring. Once a meadow is established, mowing can replace the need for burning. A mid-spring close mowing is best:
most meadow perennial wildflowers will not have emerged by then; perennial cool-season grasses will have begun growing and
should be cut back by close mowing; woody invasives will also be cut down and forced to regenerate from basal buds.
Dicotyledonous perennials will gain enough of an advantage to permit them to compete with the grasses and invasive woody plants.
Spring mowing will also permit maximum seed production of desired plants, so that if the site is disturbed or plants killed, the
meadow can regenerate. Leaving the plant stalks in place during the winter will reduce the number of soil freeze-thaw cycles
and insure greater plant survival. Insects will also be able to overwinter if meadows are not mowed until mid-spring. Thus, spring
mowing appears to offer advantages for preserving diversity while discouraging weedy invasives.
In contrast, a meadow that was recently a cool-season grass pasture or hay field will likely retain a grass sod that resists
weedy invasion. Such a meadow can be managed by mowing during early spring. However, its cool-season perennial grasses
need light to survive over the winter; they will not tolerate heavy shade from high growth produced during the past summer. If
a grass meadow is mowed in fall, the hay should be removed so plant crowns receive light. If the summer's growth was excessive and mats down, shading plant crowns, fall mowing may be advisable.
Introducing Botanical Diversity
A cool-season grass meadow will lack botanical diversity. Seeding a prairie mix in such a meadow will not succeed without first
weakening the grass sod. Very close mowing or use of a herbicide can severely damage the sod, exposing the meadow to weed
invasion and possible erosion. If greater plant diversity is desired, herbicides can be used on a limited basis to create bare
islands or borders in which perennial prairie plants can be seeded or planted. For two or three years these areas will be
vulnerable to weeds, but their smaller size will make weed control manageable. Once these islands are established, they can be mowed along with the meadow.
The best way to remove grass sod from small areas is by spraying the vegetation with glyphosate (e.g., Roundup) at the rate
recommended on the label. Glyphosate is recommended because it is highly unstable in soils and leaves no residue. It can persist
for several weeks in plant tissues but is quickly degraded by soil microbes to simple inorganic materials. It is readily absorbed by
leaves and moves to growing points (shoot and root meristems) where it kills dividing cells by inhibiting the synthesis of several
critical amino acids required for protein synthesis. The herbicide is most effective if applied when translocation of photosynthetic
products out of leaves is rapid. Normally this is when leaves are fully expanded and shoot and root growth are in progress. Also
suitable is late summer, when leaves are healthy and energy reserves are being replenished.
Glyphosate is a nonselective herbicide_it kills any plant that absorbs the material through its leaves.
Nearby desirable plants should be protected from its spray. Apply any herbicide only on calm, windless days to avoid inadvertently damaging or destroying desirable plants.
To create an island or to clear a site for seeding, mow the grass in mid-August, then remove the cut grass and allow it to regrow to about a foot tall.
Apply Roundup at the recommended rate and do not disturb the site until the following spring. By mid-May, the sprayed areas
should be free of any living vegetation. Cultivate the dead grass into the soil and seed the area with desired species. Better
yet, set young plants directly into the dead grass, which will serve as a mulch and inhibit weed establishment. No fertilizer is
needed unless the soil is of poor quality, as evidenced by off-color vegetation and weak growth. Most meadow plants grow best
in a moderately acid soil. If a soil test shows that the soil is too acidic (pH below 5.5), apply ground limestone and, if practical,
incorporate it into the soil to a depth of 6 inches. Lime applied to the surface takes longer to raise pH.
Selecting native or naturalized plants will give the meadow a natural appearance, and these plants will adapt to local conditions.
Naturalized plants, though often regarded as weeds, will be at home in a botanically diverse meadow. Oxeye Daisy, Black-Eyed
Susan, Joe-Pye Weed, Chicory, Milkweed, Lupine, Yarrow, and Coneflower are among those compatible with a cool-season grass meadow.
Extensive plant lists are available. The Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center, Austin, TX, (www.wildflower.org) lists recommended
plants for the Northeast. Prairie Nursery in Westfield, WI, (www.prairienursery.com) has assembled a list of suitable plants for
the Northeast, many of which are offered for sale. Instructions for establishing a meadow are also given. The New England Wild Flower Society (www.newfs.org) offers seed mixes and seed.
One final consideration is elimination of undesirable woody plants. Large ones can be cut down, although most will regrow from
basal buds or rootstocks. Repeated cutting will eventually deplete their energy reserves, and they will die. If this approach is
impractical, herbicides can be used. Here a greater variety of materials can be employed, but Roundup may again be the
material of choice. Spot applications to the woody plant regrowth during late summer or early fall should do the job, although a
follow-up treatment the following year may be needed for well established plants. Greenbrier should be sprayed in late spring because its mature leaves are not easily penetrated by herbicide.
There is still much to learn about residential meadow management, but a beautiful, botanically diverse meadow can be created
and maintained with reasonable effort if you understand the problems involved and the principles underlying their solution.
Richard Hull, Ph.D., is Professor Emeritus of Plant Science at the University of Rhode Island. He served as co-president of RIWPS for two years.
MEADOWS IN THE FORECAST?
by Will Green
The managed meadow is hard to find in Rhode Island. There are, however, landscapes we consider to be akin to meadows:
abandoned farms and other vacant lands, highway edges and large detention basins. What they have in common is that they
are unforested and not managed for their vegetation, habitat or aesthetic values. Instead they are lands that are
indiscriminately mowed (along highways) or in the case of abandoned farms and pastures, they are lands in transition.
We enjoy seeing these grassy and weedy landscapes with summer blooms and flitting birds or butterflies. They contrast with
their surroundings, providing views to the horizons and distant treelines, and habitat to a host of plants and animals specifically adapted to these areas. So why don't we see more New England style meadows?
As Richard Hull and many others have pointed out, meadows are not natural to Rhode Island: therefore, undeveloped lands only
pass through this phase of succession on their way to becoming forest. To impose this landscape on RI towns requires that
municipalities legislate for meadows, an unlikely occurrence on either public or private lands.
Municipalities in Rhode Island manage private development through zoning ordinances and subdivision control legislation. Through
this legislation, zoning districts are established along with building requirements and permitting procedures. Towns are not in the
business of dictating how private landowners manage their lands, except where the health, safety and welfare of a community
are at stake (wetlands, aquifers and hazardous activities). Towns are equally unlikely to maintain public lands as meadow, since
this landscape requires more maintenance and resources than a forest (which are often maintained with benign neglect).
However, with current concerns about overdevelopment, sprawl, and the quality of air and water resources, many towns have
adopted alternatives to the traditional single family subdivision—alternatives that may also provide opportunities for establishing meadows.
Cluster housing, conservation subdivisions, and special mixed-use districts are examples of these. In each case, traditional lot
sizes and layouts are replaced by designs intended to result in fewer disturbances to the land, lower development costs and preservation of open space. It is during the design
phase for these projects that decisions about the use, character and location of open space are made. If the developer—or at a later date, the community—decide that they want to establish a
meadow on community-managed land, it can be achieved much more easily than by trying to persuade a number of individual
small landowners to convert their landscape. The results of a community managed meadow can also be more rewarding than
that of individual attempts at creating such a landscape, since a larger area will provide more species specific habitats.
While forests and meadows require different expenditures of time and money, there are benefits to having both. When the land
is in the public sector, a town's comprehensive plan and budget will determine what areas will be and how they will be
maintained. With towns struggling to manage development and maintain infrastructure and facilities, the best hope for creating
and managing meadows, as well as other large undeveloped open spaces, seems to be through alternatives to traditional
single-lot development patterns. Through the use of these alternatives, municipalities and their citizens can still reap the benefits from meadows and other valuable landscape forms.
Will Green is an Associate Professor of Landscape Architecture at the University of Rhode Island, where he teaches and hosts a
public lecture series. His research interests include sustainable design and development, and perennial planting design.
INVASIVE ALERT: WATER CHESTNUT (Trapa natans)
by Rick Enser
The past few years have seen a rising interest in water gardening with the construction of small backyard ponds vegetated with
an assortment of exotic plants. Water lilies, horsetails, spike rushes, and even the common native three-way sedge (Dulichium),
which has been offered at some nurseries under the pseudonym of "Dwarf Bamboo," comprise a new assemblage of garden
plants. Included in this mix are a few warm-climate species, such as Water Hyacinth and Water Lettuce, that have occasionally
been discovered in rivers and ponds, likely resulting from the disposal of plants by careless persons. Luckily, New England
winters succeed in eliminating these interlopers from Rhode Island's natural habitats so they have not become the invasive
problems experienced in southern states. However, one plant does have the potential to become a true nuisance in this area: European Water Chestnut (Trapa natans).
Water Chestnut was reportedly introduced to North America in New York about 1874 and was known to be cultured in the
botanical garden of Asa Gray in 1877. However, by 1879 it was already being found in the Charles River. Despite its attractiveness, Trapa
is capable of growing aggressively. With stems up to 16 feet long, the primary part of the plant is a foot
wide rosette of floating leaves that can multiply to produce extensive mats that deplete oxygen, resulting in the demise of other aquatic plants and animals. But more insidiously, Trapa
produces a 1.5-inch wide fruit capsule that is extremely hard and armed with spines sharp enough to puncture tires and cripple horses and dogs, not to mention beach strollers. Incidentally, the name Trapa
is derived from the Latin calcitrapa in reference to a caltrap, the name for a four-spined iron ball that was used in ancient warfare to hinder advancing enemy cavalry.
This plant has become such a nuisance in Massachusetts that a law was passed in that state specifically banning the spread and growth of Trapa natans
. (Unfortunately, it is already well established in several places, including the Great Meadows
National Wildlife Refuge in Concord, where hundreds of thousands of dollars have been spent trying to eliminate it.)
Although Water Chestnut has to date not been found in Rhode Island waters, state biologists are fearful of its eventual
appearance. This plant is not banned from sale in this state and is reportedly still being sold by a few local nurseries and pet
stores. The Rhode Island Wild Plant Society encourages people not to purchase this plant, and to let retailers know of the
potential dangers of its escape. Any plants found in local waters should be immediately removed and properly discarded.
Richard Enser is Director of the R.I. Heritage Program and serves on the RIWPS Board of Trustees as second vice-president and Chair of the Display Committee.
ALL IN THE FAMILY: The Milkweeds_Asclepiadaceae
by Richard J. Hull
