Meadow

Woodend Meadow Restoration

With the goal of providing habitat for a greater diversity of species, in 2013 ANS began restoring a large section of its meadow adjacent to the Woodend Sanctuary entrance drive off Jones Mill Road. Larry Weaner, a horticulturalist specializing in native plant gardens and meadows, identified plants appropriate to the upland, lowland, and shaded areas of the meadow, mixing in a large proportion of deer-resistant species. (See the plant list). From late summer to early fall, staff and volunteers prepared the site: moving fauna to safety, raking, mowing, removing existing plants (many alien), and sowing a temporary grass cover. In October, a team of some 50 volunteers set out and dug in 3,000 plants and reseeded with native sedges and forbs. Separated from the unrestored section by a mowed buffer, the area encompasses zones of high ground and low, sun and shade, and a portion protected by a deer exclosure.

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Volunteer planting day, Oct. 2013
Photo by Roswitha Augusta

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September 2015

In 2014, the restored meadow came to life with a succession of native plants blooming among grasses, hosting a variety of fauna as well as naturalists young and old: Master Naturalist Volunteers, nature campers, and wildlife biology students from the University of Maryland. Some deer browse was evident, with taller plants thriving better in the exclosure, but most species, and the meadow overall, were unharmed.

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Volunteers find a 10×10 grid useful for estimating species
percentages in various parts of the meadow.

In its second year, the diversity of meadow species continued to grow as the plantings matured. Although some non-native plants emerged, with orchard grass predominating in some sections, a delightful variety of unplanted native species have also come up, such as field thistles which attract swallowtails and goldfinches. Volunteers and staff continue to maintain the area, removing invasive plants, spraying deer repellent, inventorying species, and mowing in February and May.

For more information about helping restore the meadow, contact [email protected].

Meadow team leader: Pearl Marks
Staff contact: Lisa Alexander

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