Pink, blue, and yellow flowers gently speckle a wispy grass meadow.

Mixed Meadow Garden

San Francisco Peninsula, CA

Project Overview

We have pioneered and evolved our meadow concepts for over 10 years in this amazing mixed meadow garden. The garden was the beginning of our work creating grass ecology that operates as a fabric. Over fifty varieties of grasses are blended together in sites of various topographic exposure on this ridge hillside. With proper species selection and grading, we created roads paved with grass and traffic-tolerant perennials that could support the weight of maintenance vehicles.

For our Mediterranean gardens, water conservation is our goal. The challenge for this garden was to create a beautiful meadow with the most amount of green with the least amount of water. We created depressions in the ground for water harvesting, and appropriately selected plants suitable for this water-scarce environment. Our go-to evergreen and drought-tolerant native groundcover grass for West Coast gardens Leymus triticoides 'Lagunita' creates a beautiful foundation layer for these other flowering grasses. Trails of white flowering accents turn to pink as you move to curated destinations in the garden.

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Featured Plants

Leymus triticoides Lagunita (Lagunita Creeping Wild Rye)*

Poa arachnifera (Texas Bluegrass)*

* Part of the Greenlee Meadow Collection

Tap any image for additional plant information.
Early morning light is captured by evergreen Miscanthus transmorrisonensis (Evergreen Eulalia).
A fall shot of some of the best flowering grasses for the West Coast. In the foreground, Muhlenbergia lindheimeri (Lindheimer's Muhly), in the midground is Muhlenbergia capillaris 'White Cloud', Miscanthus transmorrisonensis. Touches of color are provided by two of our go-to long-blooming drought-tolerant plant material, Salvia leucantha (Mexican Bush Sage) and Gaura lindheimeri (White Gaura). Lushness belies these incredibly drought-tolerant plants.
Located on a ridgetop, the foundation grass Pennisetum spathiolatum (Slender Veldt Grass) is paired with Centranthus ruber (Red Valerian), a long blooming drought-tolerant perennial, Erigeron karvinskianus (Santa Barbara Daisy), and faded foliage of earlier blooming bulbs.
Native Asclepias curassavica (Butterflyweed), home to endangered butterflies, grows with Amaryllis spp (naked ladies).
Sedge pathways of Carex praegracilis (California Field Sedge) weave through drifts of fescues and pennisetums, Gaura lindheimeri, and blue flecks of Ajuga reptans 'Texas Tough' (Suntough Carpet Bugle).

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Pathway layout is a crucial part of meadow design. We like to put paint on the ground, stand back and think about it, before proceeding.
A new meadow installation with perennials and grasses planted from 1 gallon cans awaits fall bulbs and annual flower overseed.
Year 2 of the meadow. The short drought-tolerant evergreen grass, Poa arachnifera (Texas Bluegrass), is overseeded with drifts of native and non-native annuals: orange and yellow California poppies, blue Linum perenne (Perennial Flax) and fragrant Lobularia maritima (sweet alyssum). The annuals make an immediate show in the early stages of the meadow while the grass plugs are filling in.
You wouldn't expect to find tulips naturalizing in California Mediterranean gardens. These species tulips, Tulipa bakeri 'Lilac Wonder,' grow well in a sedge meadow planting.
Gaura lindheimeri 'Siskiyou Pink' (Beeblossom).
Amaryllis belladonna, a fall blooming bulb from South Africa that deers and gophers don't eat. Bullet proof.
A California winter shot. A green road with Leymus triticoides Lagunita (Lagunita™ Creeping Wild Rye)* rated for the weight of a fire truck, along with our native bentgrass Agrostis pallens and rosemary (left). Background is mixed meadow.
Sporobolus wrightii (Wright's dropseed) is hardy to USDA 5 and is a fabulous substitute for invasive Pampas grass.
A decomposed granite pathway edged with Carex remota (European meadow sedge), and Asclepias curassavica (Butterflyweed) (yellow). Sweet alyssum and narcissus add subtle accents and fragrance. Patches of grass without flowers foreground texture and give a pleasing place for the eye to rest.
A meadow planting makes an excellent border to a traditional lawn. It helps the lawn feel more in sync with nature.
The mature seedheads of Verbena bonariensis are thrown up in the air and hover above the rich russet colors of the Sesleria autumnalis grasses in the foreground and provide winter interest.
This is a grain garden with annual heirloom grains. Grains come in many colors, textures and heights and can be ornamental and utilitarian - you can make beer or biscuits.
Muhlenbergia reverchonii 'Undaunted' is in glorious morning light with dew that makes it crystalline. Sesleria 'Brushstrokes'* in the foreground provides a neutral dark green texture to showcase the gorgeous flowers of Verbena bonariensis.
A matrix of cool-season groundcover grasses, Pennisetum spathiolatum (Slender Veldt Grass), Festuca mairei (Atlas fescue), and dried seed heads of Agapanthus that provide interest in this mixed grass meadow even though the flowers have faded.
Winter in a Mediterranean garden. Cool-season grasses and sedges are green. On the left, is the incredible versatile Leymus triticoides Lagunita (Lagunita™ Creeping Wild Rye),* with a pathway of Carex pansa. Sweet alyssum has naturalized and is at its best in the cool winter weather.
Muhlenbergia emersleyi is one of our favorite new Greenlee Meadow Collection grasses. The flowers are a gorgeous rich purple on emergence and the seedheads quickly provide fabulous golden effects.

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