Flower plugs for lawn

RBManc · April 2023

Hello,

I have recently started some flower plugs to put in a wild area of my lawn - I usually let a crescent moon shaped patch grow long from around mid-May and leave it to the next year when I cut it right back ready to let it grow again.

I have sown the seeds in 6cm pots with the intention of using my bulb planter to take out cores (apparently the bulb planter takes out cores of 6cm) of the lawn so that I can then just plug my ready grown flowers in. I've sown lawn daisies in pots on their own, and then several pots of a mix of Cornflowers, Corn Marigolds and Corn Poppies.

My question is - will the flowers manage through the grass? I intend to mow the area of the lawn short and possible scarify it before taking out the plugs and maybe strim the edges of the plugs even shorter to try to lessen competition from the grass. I'm going to try to leave the seedlings in the pots until they already have a decent root system. I may also leave letting it grow long until the end of May, but once the plugs are in it will make it difficult to mow.

Thoughts are appreciated

Thank you

Nanny Beach · April 2023

I tried for several years to make a wildflower area under fruit trees at the bottom of my garden. I tried seeds,plug plants, expensive £1each this was quite a few years ago. I used perennial plants, the grass very quickly takes over. I tried yellow rattle as a parasite, didn't germinate a single one. If you plant a lot of the ones you suggest, they should hopefully look nice for this year. Poppies don't like being transplanted. In the end I bought wildflower turf,hired a turf cutter, removed all the grass from this area,I planted red perennial poppies after trying for years to grow the Flanders type. Every year we have to remove grass. This area is just cut in September.

RBManc · April 2023

I would quite like to take quite a large strip of lawn out and do it that way but would like to plan ahead and I feel I've already left it a bit late... Maybe I will just go for it next year.

Sounds like you put a lot of effort in to trying to make it work at least! I had the same issue with yellow rattle - it just wouldn't start for me at all. I managed to get clover to grow in it easily - I just spread the seeds mixed with my grass seed after I had scarified.

I'm happy to try it as a bit of an experiment this year and if it works - fantastic. If it doesn't - back to the drawing board and start looking to hire a turf cutter!

nutcutlet · April 2023

You need to rethink which flowers, Poppies, Cornflowers and Corn Marigold are traditional cornfield edge plants, they grow in cultivated soil with the crop. They are not grassland plants. Try Cowslips, Scabious, Knapweed and some Yellow Rattle

RBManc · April 2023

@nutcutlet Darn - I thought I was going for the right kind of thing as I had read that cornfield flowers could handle more nutrient rich soil

Well, the plugs have been sown and have germinated now so I will either just give it a go for the fun of it and rethink for next year or use the plugs elsewhere so they don't go to waste.

nutcutlet · April 2023

they can handle the soil, not the competition, they make great garden plants

paulsturgess · April 2023

What time of year did you sow the yellow rattle? General advice is that it needs a cold period to germinate.

A few years ago I used a strimmer on a patch on my lawn in the Autumn, took away the cuttings, scarified the area and sowed yellow rattle. Fortunately it germinated really well the following Spring.

Yellow rattle really is the key, because it suppresses the grass.

I’ve since been adding perennial meadow plants like the ones nutcutlet mentioned and others. I’ve found oxeye daisies the easiest to grow from seed so far.

I would plant the plugs elsewhere. Or if you have lots maybe try half and half just as an experiment.

Flower plugs for lawn

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