Nature's Calling: Blue Meadow Farm

Walk along soft pathways, enjoy the sounds of many birds (including a charming house full of doves), chuckle over amusing and imaginative plantings (there is even a Buddha sculpted from succulents), check out the giant Koi and perhaps bump into the brilliant but unassuming designers who created a living paradise of Blue Meadow Farms.

The Meeks Family at 378 Pulis Ave. in Franklin Lakes, has graciously agreed to open their doors—or rather pathways—as part of The Garden Conservancy’s annual garden tours. An opening reception will be held Friday between 4 and 7 p.m. and the garden tour will be held on Saturday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.

The Conservancy is a national organization that encourages owners of extraordinary gardens to allow the public a chance to take a peek beyond the garden gates. Since 1995 nearly 3,000 gardens have participated in Open Days, accounting for over one million visitors. A nominal fee of $5 is charged by organizers for the sole purpose of conserving historic or otherwise notable gardens for posterity.

Blue Meadow Farms is a unique landscape design company that bears the mark of distinction by its sophisticated and multi-faceted approach to creating beautiful environments for people with wide-ranging gardening needs. The nearly 8-acre property serves as a demonstration garden of possibilities for gardeners of all tastes and budgets. Antique-filled barns and related farm out-buildings as well as two restored farmhouses line the hilly landscape.

Started in the late 1950s by patriarch John A. Meeks, the business flourished in the gifted hands of a man who understood how trees and flowers could compliment structures on a property. Meeks’ children David, John W. and Katherine found they too were passionate about designing and joined in running Waterford in Saddle River and Blue Hill Farm in Franklin Lakes. Each brings a special talent and a fresh perspective as a result of academic studies and world travels.

Landscape Architect Blythe Yost, a 2005 Cornell Graduate with a BS in Landscape Architecture and Horticulture, and designer at Blue Meadow, initiated the connection with the Conservancy after attending a number of tours. She decided and rightly so, that the luscious garden beds overflowing with all manner of blooms, multiple water features including ponds full of enormous Koi swimming hungrily under the watchful eye of Budda would be of great interest to the public for both educational purposes as well as a way to join the Conservancy in preserving gardens.  (Worth noting in the larger pond are giant non-hardy lily pads called ‘Victoria’, grown by seed each year in the greenhouses. These pads are capable of doubling in size overnight. There are giant lotus flowers poised to bloom at any moment.)

Gardeners and designers will delight in the colorful pairings of flowers reminiscent of a Matisse or Monet painting. Winding pathways lead viewers around corners only to be surprised by tiny cottages adorned by Clematis vining its way along blue walls towards the roof or a cozy interior decorated by a mural depicting an ancient pastoral scene. Yet another scene is that of the orchard with its row of espaliered fruit trees dotted by chickens chatting amiably about that rooster over there.  Rows of now open-air greenhouses display nearly an acre of plant materials used by designers whose award winning work is acknowledged on many walls in the carriage house.  An organic garden and many specimen plants entice visitors to plan new gardens for themselves.

Blue Meadow Farms is highly respected in its field largely due to the talents of its credentialed and award-winning staff: John A. Meeks, RLA, ASLA a member of The American Society of Landscape Architects as well as a member of The Shade Tree Commission in Franklin Lakes.  He has been featured in numerous publications, has won many competitions such as The Tulip Award and lectures nation-wide;  Dan Muller, RLA, ASLA, designer and 1997 Rutgers Graduate specializing in landscape architecture and ornamental horticulture and John W. Meeks also a Rutgers graduate in Horticulture. The folks at Blue Meadows also make a habit of giving back to the community, an example being the design and implementation of the 911 Memorial Garden Pond with its gently cascading waterfall.

Blue Meadows and its crew of 30 work in the tri-state area landscaping everything from magnificent estates to pools and spas, focusing on the effects of nature as it compliments man in the environment. Blue Meadows Farms invites all to come and spend a few hours on Saturday afternoon, totally immersed in the fantastic, often idyllic world of attainable gardening. 

Visit Blue Meadow Farm on Saturday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. A $5 donation is requested. For more information on Blue Meadow Farms consult www.bluemeadowlandscape.com. For more information or to join The Garden Conservancy go on www.gardenconservancy.org. Members have access to the complete list of garden tours during Open Days.