Sowing Beauty

November 21, 2016
Meadows are largely thought to be expansive swathes of untamed land, often weedy and grassy, and not always inviting. Hitchmough, a professor in the department of Landscape at the University of Sheffield in England, overturns that perception, asserting that meadows, prairies, and grasslands can become beautiful, colorful works of art through informed sowing of multiple types of seeds. Insofar as open fields can be designed, the author makes the case that sowing calculated seed mixes will not only result in welcoming landscape but will create meadow-like vegetation in human-settled landscapes. Though some deference is given to understanding the importance of native plants for a specific region, which naturally reduce maintenance and preserve longevity, Hitchmough’s purview reaches beyond this, aiming to cultivate a robust blend of natives and exotics and to “make a positive contribution to providing resources to support biodiversity with as little collateral environmental damage as possible.” This is a hopeful and expansive book for the gardener who can see a field as a canvas. Color photos.