Mobilize the meadow
If you can work the ground, you can start mobilizing on your meadow plan. Key things you want to get in order before you plant any new seedlings, which is going to be after that last frost.:
Soil. You want it free of grass and weeds. You want to pick it up and be able to roll it into something that holds a little shape but also breaks apart. Martha Stewart says it should be like pie dough, but if you aren’t a baker… If you had a soils test, you will know what you need to add. Given the high likelihood you did not, every nurseryman in town is going to agree you need to add a blanket of compost mulch which is also going to keep weeds at bay. Later you will need to improve planting holes with an all-purpose organic feeder unless you know something more specific from your soils report.
Irrigation. Find your place in the aisle at the big box store where you see the most people. Just about everyone has an existing drip system they can connect into. If you don’t know how to build with polypipe, emitters and connections, go online. It’s simple and fun. Run your poplypipe in a matrix that allows you to put and emitter every 12 inches. You can also use the elaborate system of spaghetti pipes but I find them utterly tedious. I recommend you don’t bury the polypipe. It’s so much easier to fix a problem later when you can see it. The pipes are a little unsightly to begin with, but your meadow is going to completely cover them.
Anchor plants. If you started lots of perennials from seeds, you’ve earned the right to buy a few essential anchor plants. These have more stature, so you want to place them like punctuation marks in the story of your meadow. Here are my all time favorites:
False Indigo (Baptisia Astralis). This plant has it all. It fixes nitrogen in the soil, which our soils desperately need. It has blue lupin like blooms are a magnet for bees in spring, and they eventually become cool black seed heads (if you don’t cut them for bouquets). The best part: the blue green foliage that looks just like eucalyptus, but it’s a tough perennial that thrives in our climate and it a keystone plant in a meadow. (Yes, you can start it from seeds but it takes a really long time to get size.)
Blue Mist Spirea (Caryopteris). This drought tolerant shrubs attracts bees. It’s gray foliage and blue spires cool the late summer meadow. I cut lots for bouquet filler. The only caveat: you need to cut it back to six to 12 inches in winter, because it blooms on new wood. It’s worth it!
Beauty bush (Callicarpa). This vigorous, drought tolerant shrub has white flowers in summer and striking, bright purple berries in the fall. It’s low, arching form makes a handsome boundary at the edge of a meadow. Because it blooms on new wood, it benefits from cutting back in water (unless you already cut the berried branches for crafting).
Wild Thing Sage (Salvia Greggii). The world is full of cool salvias, so shop around. This is my favorite because it overwinters (and some don’t in zones 6 and 7), and the cherry red color pops in a meadow, qualifying it as an anchor if you plant a nice patch of it. Hummingbirds and butterflies cannot resist. Cut back after it blooms in late spring and you’ll get another flush in the fall.
Tall Burnett (Sanguisorba Tenuifolia). Good luck finding this. I ordered mine online. Fine Gardening featured all the sanguisorbas, extolling their virtues, so the rush is on. It’s almost like a grass. The tall whispy raspberry bobber move in the breeze and scream meadow.
Autumn Joy Sedum (Hylotelphinium). You cannot have too much tall sedum in a meadow. It emerges a bright green early in the season and gets pinker with time, looking great all season long and finishing off with nice seed heads for winter. It’s drought tolerant and can be divided every two or three years to make more plants, so it’s a good investment if you are working to fill space. I use it in bouquets all summer and fall.
Finally I want to mention some nitrogen fixers in addition to Baptisia mentioned earlier. Our Sierra Nevada soils are notoriously low in nitrogen. If you want your meadow to be self sustaining, get the nitrogen fixers in the soil so they do the fertilizing for you.
Russell Lupines (Lupinus). I’m a solid seed starter but I’ve had limited success start lupines from seeds. They are beautiful, but more importantly, they are nitrogen fixers, and nitrogen is almost non-existent in my soil.
Thermopsis villosa. Prairie Moon Nursery sells the seeds and plants for this native nitrogen fixer. It’s been called false lupine, but I think it’s a very nice contrast to lupine and looks more like a mustang. It blooms later, taller and is a lovely cut flower. It has a taproot, which means it can be planted close to bulbs, iris, and shallow feeders in the meadow because it’s reaching below.
Don’t stop at the list above. The locally owned nurseries do an amazing job of selling pretty, drought tolerant perennials, so buy as many as you can afford for your meadow.
With your irrigation in place, the soil improved, and the last frost date behind you. gather the plants you’ve grown from seed and some spring treasures from the nursery. It’s time to mobilize your meadow.