Weeks of lawn mowing can make a backyard meadow — a carefree carpet of flowers and grasses — seem like an especially appealing alternative.
Even small yards can accommodate a patch of meadow.
Although a mature meadow requires little maintenance, thorough preparation and planning is needed to establish it. Don’t let “meadow in a can” or some other promise of an instant meadow fool you into believing that just sprinkling seeds or rolling out a seeded, biodegradable carpet will result in a carefree riot of seasonlong color.