Don’t let the title of Mini Meadows turn you off– it’s not about developing a wild, unkempt backyard full of “weeds” and animals. You’ll be surprised to discover simply how stunning a meadow can be, even in an urban or suburban environment.
Author Mike Lizotte is the owner of American Meadows and has been in the meadow company since he was 14. Known as the Seed Man, he was currently the meadow expert at 18 at the retail counter of the seed business he worked for (he still works there, by the method, but now he and his partner own the business). He’s spent his life discovering meadows and plants, checking out books, talking with fellow gardeners, and putting in meadows.
Benefits of a Meadow Garden
The author helps readers plainly understand the many advantages of a meadow, despite size, such as:
A meadow garden utilizes less water than a traditional yard.
It just requires mowing one or two times a year.
It supplies food and homes for pollinating pests, helpful pests, birds, and other animals.
Having the variety of those birds and bugs makes the garden more intriguing to children.
It’s an excellent scheme for disintegration control, and for hills that are tough or perhaps hazardous to cut.
And if all that isn’t sufficient to persuade you, the EPA states that 17 million gallons of gasoline is spilled filling lawn mowers every year.
What’s Covered In The Book?
In Mini Meadows, Lizotte has a short area for each meadow-related question or condition possible. He covers subjects such as:
Suitable meadow size– sizes can range from a traditional meadow, to the roadside parkway (” Hell strip”), to small containers.
How to prepare the soil and how to keep the meadow.
Which plants are suitable for varieties of soil, direct exposure, pollinators, quantities of water, areas, and climate condition. He offers plant lists to help you select the best plants.
How to draw in useful pollinators and wildlife to your meadow.
The pros and cons of plugs (small plants) vs. regular container plants.
Recommended annuals, perennials, biennials, groundcovers, and a couple of vines– these are all listed in their own sections, with great color pictures.
How to collect and utilize seeds, so you can broaden your meadow or just keep it going.Recommendation
Mini Meadows is a short however enjoyable read, with beautiful images to complement the text. It is a basic book, however motivating, specifically for those to whom gardening is new.
The only thing I found doubtful is that a genuinely self-sustaining meadow needs to have a fair little turf in it– lawns and broad-leafed plants have a symbiotic relationship, and he barely touches on yards as something that can be included. Besides that, it provides quite solid details all the way through.