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Wildflower border planning

kyle279kyle279 Posts: 12
in Garden design
Hi all,
I have a relatively small back garden which is more or less just a rectangle of grass bordered by hedges. This year I made up lots of containers but I haven't planted much into the ground yet. I planted wildflower seeds into a trough planter I had lying around and was amazed at how many bees and other pollinators were on them every day compared to the other supposedly 'bee friendly' plants in my other containers. I'd like to create a small border on the sunniest side of my lawn for some flowers, so my idea was to plant tulip bulbs, allium bulbs and wildflower seeds. The tulips would bloom and die down before wildflowers grow in. I had heard that lots of people plant tulips with forget-me-nots underneath but I'm thinking that this would get in the way of the wildflowers. I'd love to have flowers in my garden all year round, particularly anything that can be a boost for pollinators. I'm also thinking of naturalising crocuses and maybe irises (if they will grow) into the lawn. Does anyone see any problems with this plan or have any advice? It would be much appreciated!

Posts

  • ZeroZero1ZeroZero1 Posts: 577
    Forget me nots flower early spring and self seed easily. Once you have them they seem to never go away. It's possible to let them flower and then uproot them. Obviously there are many types of wild flowers, but plenty will flower a bit later. 
  • kyle279kyle279 Posts: 12
    Ah, okay, so forget-me-nots would likely get in the way of the wildflowers. Any tips for anything else to grow around the tulip bulbs that might fill out the space? Should I just go nuts with bulbs and plant lots of them or go the opposite direction and keep it simple?
  • ZeroZero1ZeroZero1 Posts: 577
    I would not say they would get in the way - they are easy to deal with, just pluvk them out if needed, wild flowers are all different.
  • FireFire Posts: 19,096
    Hi, if you are thinking of naturalising iris reticulata into the lawn, I understand they don't come back much after a few years. I would chose plants that are reliably perennial. If you want tulips that will def'ly return, choose species types.

    Wall flowers and linaria and  (among many others) are flowers beloved by bees.
  • kyle279kyle279 Posts: 12
    By wildflowers I'm meaning a mix of poppies, cornflowers, foxglove, marigold, red campion, etc.
    @Fire, that's very helpful, thank you!
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