Like many residential neighborhoods, the Inverary community in Chester County included a large common lawn as open space. But community members had visions of a more diverse habitat to beautify their community, add recreation value, and reduce the environmental impact and financial burden of maintaining mown grass.
In 2022, the Inverary Homeowners Association (HOA) Council met with Willistown Conservation Trust to create a plan to improve the neighborhood’s open space.
Through collaborative planning meetings, public presentations, and plenty of feedback, the HOA Council and residents chose to convert two key areas totaling 9.5 acres from lawn to meadows.
Planting occurred in the spring of 2024 with a native seed mix of almost 30 species including asters, goldenrods, milkweed, coneflowers, and grasses. Although meadows typically take two or three years to establish and flourish, the change became apparent as soon as that summer. The newly sown fields lit up with yellow and green.
The success of this project is now influencing other communities, who have reached out to Willistown Conservation Trust for similar guidance in their neighborhoods.
Inverary will plant two more acres of meadow in the spring of 2025, creating sites that will provide a beautiful entryway into the community and expand on the initial work to build a more accessible connection between the other restored areas.
