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Seed or plugs for small meadow on lawn?

Does anyone here have any experience of converting lawn to meadow? I'm debating seed Vs plugs. Don't really want to lift all the turf as my back won't cope! Area approx 5 m x 5 m on clay and not full sun. Currently long grasses from no- mow- may with a few poppies and other wildflowers/weeds. Prefer the plug method currently which would be planted aug/sept.abd thinking Perennials rather than annuals. Worried about the clay/ bit if shade caused by aspect and surrounding trees. Any thoughts or advice please? Many thanks

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  • nutcutletnutcutlet Posts: 27,445
    I'd grow from seed because it's much cheaper but grow the plants on to larger than plug size before planting in grass. You can waste a lot of seed sowing into grass so not good unless you have a free supply. The only thing I would direct sow is Yellow Rattle


    In the sticks near Peterborough
  • Hi thanks. Could I start growing from seed now for this Autumn planting if I went down this route? Could I then plant into short/ scarified grass?
  • McRazzMcRazz Posts: 440
    You can definitely seed the area but you'd need to open up the sward with some hard scarifying in September. The aim is to scarify back to 40-60% bare soil at which point you can overseed with a meadow seed mix. Tread/roll in the seed and then leave overwinter. From march start your meadow maintenance regime as per the standard advice (google it).

    Wildflower meadows require a lot of patience and foresight as they can't be created overnight. They take a number of years for the nutrient levels in the soil to balance themselves out and for the species best suited to your local environment to establish themselves. The reality is that the seed you introduce will render mixed results but will fill a stop gap until the species that thrive locally make their way into your plot.
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