Leaves are a valuable source of organic matter to improve the soil in a lawn and garden. They also help keep the weeds down and provide homes for overwintering insects.

If you want a lawn - If the leaves are large, thick or if there are tons of them, they can block light and smother your grass, killing it. So you can rake or blow leaves into one area, like against a fence or into a fenced garden to overwinter, or use them as mulch in a garden.

If you want a meadow - We recommend that you leave the leaves. Keeping the leaves intact, as opposed to chopping/shredding them, benefits overwintering insects and other wildlife, giving them shelter from both the weather and from predators, as well as a place to forage. Decomposing insects, millipedes, freeze/thaw cycles, and fungi will all work together to reduce the thickness of the leaf litter by spring.

Here is a good article on Leave the Leaves https://xerces.org/blog/leave-the-leaves

Marian

In terms of plant choice and maintenance, there are several good resources for meadow cultivation in the mid-Atlantic:

• Maryland DNR: Wildflower Meadows
  https://dnr.maryland.gov/wildlife/pages/habitat/wawildflowers.aspx
• Xerces publication: Mid-Atlantic Native Meadows
  https://xerces.org/sites/default/files/publications/19-052_MidAtlantic_Meadow_guidelines_web.pdf
• Extension - How to Make a Meadow
  https://extension.umd.edu/resource/how-make-meadow
  (see links to additional information at the bottom of the page)

You could also seek consultation with a Chesapeake Bay Landscape Professional, as they have training in specialized areas within sustainable practices, such as conservation landscaping or sustainable landscape management (either of which may include meadow design, planting, and maintenance).

The Xerces society also has publications by ecoregion about recommended pollinator plants; here's the mid-Atlantic list.

Although published by Howard County, there are pollinator garden templates you may find useful (to adapt to a meadow-structured planting) on this page: https://livegreenhoward.com/land/pollinators/
They're still applicable to Anne Arundel County.

Birds rely heavily on insects as a food source, so plants drawing pollinators and insects that feed on native host plants will also draw birds. For plants that provide food directly (berries, seeds, nectar), here are a couple of references:

• MD DNR
  https://news.maryland.gov/dnr/2019/01/02/habichat-native-birds-plants/
• Recommended Plantings for Migratory Songbird Habitat Management
  https://scholarworks.rit.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?referer=https%3A%2F%2Fhttp://www.google.com%2F&httpsredir=1&article=1816&context=other&fbclid=IwAR3V6dljuH7foln1LrUwqe2OyhzcjyVPJBU_NRvMUPvWQqfWkMkVKP1rYj0

Lastly, there are several reference lists below for Maryland native plants. There will of course be a lot of overlap, but they can vary a little because different lists use different criteria for inclusion, one of which can be ease of sourcing the plant material.

• USFWS
  https://www.fws.gov/chesapeakebay/pdf/NativePlantsforWildlifeHabitatandConservationLandscaping.pdf
• Extension
  https://extension.umd.edu/sites/default/files/2021-03/Native%20Plants%20of%20Maryland.pdf
• Chesapeake Bay Native Plant Center
  https://www.nativeplantcenter.net/
  (Searchable by region, so you can select Coastal Plain for your area and see all of the species it lists for that ecological zone.)

Miri

Good luck!

Remember, we are here to help whenever you may need it.