The St. Louis chapter of Wild Ones now has a DVD of “Urban & Suburban Meadows,” produced by Catherine Zimmerman. It begins by showing the drawbacks of traditional lawns. Here is an excerpt:
In addition to explaining why meadows are a lower maintenance landscape in the long run, the video includes detailed how-to information on site preparation and planting options. There is a brief presentation by Doug Tallamy, our favorite entomologist, highlighting the importance of insects to our ecosystem.
Lots of great before and after views round out the presentation, although overall the video is heavier on the “how to” and lighter on the “why” of meadows. We would highly recommend it for anyone thinking about creating a meadow, as it fully covers what to do and what to expect.
Wild Ones members may borrow the DVD for personal viewing or to show to garden clubs or other groups. If you’re interested, contact Fran Glass.
Would the book cover more of the why’s? I noticed there was a lot of effort to distinguish between meadows (Eastern) and prairies (Midwestern) in the “Look in” feature on Amazon, and I am torn about whether this would be majorly helpful to me in Missouri.
Meadow versus prairie is mostly semantics. However the native prairies of Missouri tend to have plants on the taller side. Still most of the shorter plants referenced in the video are native here as well. I would watch the video for the tips on site preparation, establishment and long term maintenance — and then work with a good native plant nursery or advisor to select the local native plants that are right for you.
Would the book be superfluous to the DVD? In other words, could I get everything I need to establish a small prairie planting from the DVD, except appropriate species, which would best be sought locally.
I am not familiar with the book. Looking at the table of contents online, it seems to dovetail with the video. Of course, the video doesn’t have the plant lists and other reference material. I think the video covered all the topics in enough detail to create a meadow. That said, the book is probably easier to reference as you are proceeding.
Are you in the St. Louis area? If you can make our upcoming meeting (https://stlwildones.org/calendar/) we could talk more and you could either join our chapter and check out the video or find a member who would share watching it with you.