CULTIVATING A MEADOW THAT FEELS WILD
At Harvard Business School’s Ruth Mulan Chu Chao Center, a diverse native meadow brings color, texture, and biodiversity to the rooftop while demonstrating how living infrastructure can remain dynamic throughout the year. Recover began maintaining the Chao Center green roof in early 2023, joining a growing portfolio of green roofs across the HBS campus. The meadow is intentionally more cultivated than some of the other green roofs at HBS, with ongoing horticultural care focused on guiding the plant community while preserving its character and ecological value.

Recover’s horticulture team uses continuous, targeted editing to manage aggressive perennials, create space for a diverse mix of species, and maintain a deliberate balance between structure and spontaneity. The result is a cohesive landscape where varying heights, colors, and textures work together while allowing the meadow to evolve naturally over time.

The plant palette combines flowering native meadow plants and grasses with select non-native species, including Penstemon digitalis, Salvia officinalis, Echinacea purpurea, and Solidago canadensis. We prioritize plants that provide nectar, pollen, or serve as host plants for a variety of bees, butterflies, and other pollinators and insects.

As the growing season winds down, Recover leaves seedheads and plant material standing through the winter rather than cutting the meadow back completely. These stems provide overwintering and nesting habitat for insects while seedheads offer food for birds. The meadow may look different from season to season, but it is never inactive—continuing to provide habitat and ecological value throughout the year.