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Six Weeks in the Life of an Experimental Meadow

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Six Weeks in the Life of an Experimental Meadow

July 29, 2024

Where would you expect to find a meadow filled with native flowers and grasses, where once an expanse of lawn grew? In a suburban front yard, as the short-back-and-sides neighbors give the gardener’s tousled vision the stink eye? At the summer home of weekend warriors who have newfound respect for the perils of mugwort? Or in an urban cemetery that doubles as a laboratory for biodiversity? Green-Wood Cemetery in Brooklyn, New York, is home to an experimental wildflower meadow, seeded in October of 2022, and part of the cemetery’s Urban Grasslands initiative.

This summer, from June through July, I visited the meadow over the course of six weeks, watched its palette evolve, learned about the reasons for the transition from lawn to wildflowers, and some of the challenges unique to this unusual site.

Above: Coreopsis and Penstemon in the experimental meadow in early June.

Set on a ridge in South Brooklyn, with views of New York Harbor, Green-Wood is no ordinary cemetery. The green space is a haven not only for the dead but for the living: for birds and the birders who watch them, for a monk parakeet colony, for honey bees in hives, for native pollinators, for artists in residence, for researchers, and for the local community, who find respite from urban life among the towering trees of this nationally accredited arboretum and historic landmark.

Above: In early June the meadow’s palette is yellow with white relief from Penstemon and Achillea.

Stippled with weathered marble and brownstone headstones, the 1.2-acre wildflower meadow is one of four re-wilded areas in close to 30 acres of public lots on the cemetery’s historic perimeters. “These lots were some of the first areas to be developed as an affordable internment option when Green-Wood was established in 1838,” says Sara Evans, the Director of Living Collections and Curator at Green-Wood. In contrast to the large, opulent family lots, she explains, “the public lots are dense with small graves characteristically marked with modest headstones primarily made of more delicate stone.”

Collectively, they are now the site of the ongoing project to transition from high-maintenance turf that requires noisy and carbon-unfriendly mowing (which also risks damaging these vulnerable headstones), “to resilient native species more tolerant of drought, an increasing feature as the planet warms and the climate changes,” she says.

Above: Designed by Larry Weaner Landscape Associates, the experimental meadow is divided into six blocks.

Each of the six sections in the experimental meadow is seeded with a different combination of native grass and wildflower species “that also differ in species-richness (low-to-medium-to-high diversity),” says Sara. The goal is to test and see what communities evolve, especially in terms of mowing stresses. Paths are mown to allow access for visitors and researchers, and each wildflower block is given at least one annual mow with a weedwacker or hedge trimmer, “cut very high, at eight to ten inches, to leave material for nesting pollinator habitat and seed heads to establish a seedbank.”

Above: Coreopsis leaning over a mown path in the meadow.

To prepare the site prior to sowing, the existing lawn grasses were treated with herbicide. Sara explains that such a large area, “with hundreds headstones,” cannot be solarized. (This technique involves placing expanses of plastic sheeting over unwanted vegetation to heat the soil underneath, spurring the germination of seeds, and their subsequent death. With established plants it can take a very long time.) Despite the treatment, some resilient invasive and naturalized plants persist: Mugwort, as well as bermuda, foxtail, sweet vernal, and brome grasses remain a perennial challenge.

Above: Achillea (better known as yarrow) thrives in the meadow.
Above: Achillea has a broad native range that includes most of North America.
Above: “Transparency and plant density are an issue,” said Sara Evans, “because you want to see headstones.”

For meadow geeks, a complete plant list by Larry Weaner Landscape Associates for one block (M2, Unit B), includes:

Grasses, Sedges and Rushes:

Agrostis perennans, Autumn bent grass
Bouteloua curtipendula, Sideoats grama
Bouteloua gracilis ‘Hachita’,  Turf type blue grama grass
Carex brevior, Plains oval sedge
Carex molesta, Field oval sedge
Carex vulpinoidea, Fox sedge
Eragrostis spectabilis, Purple love grass
Juncus tenuis, Path rush
Schizachyrium scoparium, Little bluestem
Tridens flavus, Purpletop

Forbs (Wildflowers)

Asclepias tuberosa, Butterfly weed
Aster lateriflorus (Symphiotrichum), Calico aster
Chamaecrista fasciculata (Cassia), Partridge pea
Coreopsis lanceolata, Tickseed
Monarda punctata, Horsemint
Penstemon digitalis, White beardtongue
Pycnanthemum tenuifolium, Slender mountain mint
Rudbeckia hirta, Black eyed Susan
Solidago juncea, Early goldenrod
Solidago nemoralis, Gray goldenrod
Zizia aurea, Golden alexander

Above: Tousled flowers.
Above: In mid June Rudbeckia is beginning to succeed Coreopsis.
Above: By late June the Rudbeckia has erupted.
Above: Bees visiting common milkweed.

Are meadows good for pollinators? During a wild bee survey at Green-Wood conducted by Sarah Kornbluth of the American Museum of Natural History between 2017 and 2021, three times as many bee species were found in other meadow areas; in lawn-dominant areas, diversity was low.

Above: Sweet vernal grass persists, despite being unwanted.
Above: Solidago is emerging behind the Rudbeckia.

On a heatstruck, high contrast July day the Rudbeckia is a riot and the Solidago is in tight bud. Heat indexes in New York City top 100 degrees Fahrenheit in an unusually hot and dry spell. The meadow is put to the test.

Above: Opportunistic spires of uninvited Verbascum (mullein) punctuate the Rudbeckia in July.
Above: Pictured in early July, this is a block that was mown in late May.
Above: When temperatures climb, and rain falls sparingly, the paths turn crisp.

As the thermostat rises, nearby trees are pools of welcome shadow, while the path borders in the meadow are blurred by tall stems leaning to obscure their drying edges.

Above: In shimmering July heat, the wildflowers in the meadow are resilient.
Above: By mid July, the unseasonal lack of rain is showing, in an unmown block.
Above: The dramatic change, post-mow.

In early July the most floriferous block is mown. While the abrupt loss of so many flowers seems counter-intuitive, the operative word in the meadow’s title is “experimental.” The loss may seem wrenching, but, based on the rebound of the units that were mown in June, Sara says she feels confident that they will re-bloom. By late July she reports that the Solidago is already coming back.

The next wave of flowers will be left to go to seed: for birds, and for next year’s vibrant display. In the meantime, Sara advises, “You should really come and visit in the evening. The light is wonderful, and you’ll see bats!”

Summer hours at Green-Wood extend to 7 p.m., and on August 8th, at 8:30 p.m., bat biologist Nic Comparato will be leading a bat walk. (Tickets via the link.)

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