A Meadow Landscape: Curated Botanical Guide
A beautiful 47-page companion design resource guide to the Meadow Landscape project, for thoughtful garden inspiration
This letter is part of Design Dispatches, design-forward essays exploring how spaces (both indoors and out) are shaped, why design choices matter, and how the built environment influences the way we live. You can easily adjust your email preferences anytime to skip this section and still receive all the other stories, reflections, and design inspiration from The Whiskey Porch.
Greetings dearest reader,
This guide was created as a companion to the Design Dispatch story, A Meadow Landscape: From Bare Lot to Layered Garden.
Inside, you’ll find a thoughtfully organized collection of trees, shrubs, grasses, meadow plants, pollinator favorites, and seasonal perennials used throughout the Meadow Landscape project in Zone 7. It includes 47 pages of beautifully presented design guidance and inspiration.
The guide includes planting roles, sun and water notes, design principles, color cues and palettes, and quick-reference lists to help you think more intentionally about how layered gardens come together.
Paid members of the porch can download and keep the companion botanical guide from this project, along with a larger view of the design plan to zoom in and study. To access the download scroll down to the bottom of this letter.
What’s Inside the Guide
Table of Contents
Opening Note
How to Use This Guide
Sun & Water Notes
Design Principles Behind The Meadow Landscape
Botanical Inspiration Color Palette
Structural Trees & Shade Canopy
Evergreen Structure & Screening
Meadow & Pollinator Perennials
Grasses & Movement
Rock Garden & Desert Plants
Fragrance & Cottage Garden Plants
Bulbs & Seasonal Layering
Final Thoughts
Quick Reference: Plants by Water Need
Quick Reference: Plants by Sun Exposure
Quick Reference: Plants for Wildlife Habitat & Pollinators
Quick Reference: Plants for Cut Flowers
Quick Reference: Plants with Herbal History
An Important Note on Using this Guide Thoughtfully
Large Image to Download and View
Botanical Inspiration Color Palette (sample page)
The Story Behind the Design Process
A Meadow Landscape: From Bare Lot to Layered Garden
Behind the design: creating a landscape that feels rooted, and a peek inside the process, and the before & after transformation.
With contentment & possibility,
P.S. This was a real labor of love to put together for all you lovely people - I truly hope you enjoy it and I can’t wait to create more gifts that help you craft a smaller, simpler, more beautiful life.