Planting wild flowers in a previously heavy weeded area?
Dnallov
Posts: 7
So I've got an area that is roughly 6 x 3 meters. The area has been heavily weed ridden for as long as I can remember (see the picture below of the area for reference):
So I want to get rid of the weeds and replace them with some wild flowers. I tried this last year. I used weed killer (roundup), waited for the weeds to die, planted the wild flower seeds and kept picking the weeds as they popped up. The wild flowers came out nicely; but the weeds (especially the nettles) where relentless, and I decided that it was too late in the year to do anything.
This year I want to try again. So I’m going put more effort into weeding which will consist of picking as many of the large weeds as possible, weed killing, cover area for 2 weeks and repeat.
After this I want to take measures to keep the weeds out before planting any seeds. I have read that laying newspaper is good at repealing weeds. So had this idea of laying wet newspapers (about 10 sheets thick) over the original ground and cover with an inch of top soil, then plant the wild flower seeds. Would this work, or would the newspaper stop the wild flowers from growing?
Any help or advice to my little project is much appreciated
Many thanks for any help
Posts
What type of wild flowers are you trying to grow?
Sowing seed into such a weed-ridden area is not going to be very successful, I'd pot grow and transplant when they're big enough to compete but annuals are usually best direct sown. Not and easy choice.
Annual weeds are best hand pulled or hoed before they seed. Deep rooted perennials, glyphosated. Don't cover glyphosated weeds.
In the sticks near Peterborough
I've dealt with areas like that in the past and turned them into 'garden'. It'll take time and a bit of hard work, but it can be done.
Spray thoroughly with weedkiller containing glyphosate. I'd use a knapsack sprayer to deal with that area properly. Wait until it's all died down and is brown - probably about 3 weeks. Then dig over the area thoroughly removing any roots, large stones etc. Leave fallow for 6 weeks - if more weeds appear then spray again and repeat until no more weeds appear.
While all that's happening I would be sowing and raising your own plants of perennial wildflowers in pots.
Then you can dig and rake the area again and sow or plant your wildflowers.
Always remember that weedseeds will arrive on the wind so you'll have to keep an eye out for weed seedlings and hand-weed them out, or you'll have the same problem all over again.
Good luck
Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.
I'd be tempted to lift turf from elsewhere to cover the area, and make your wild flower area where you have moved the turf from! You'll still need to remove weeds but hopefully they'll be less of a problem.
Ideally cover the area with clean low fertility medium e.g. sand/subsoil/crushed rock. You want the growing medium to be denuded and free of weed seeds.
de-turf the area, this will get rid of most of the main weeds (docks and dandelions might escape) and it will give a nice nutrient poor soil for the wildflowers to seed into.
also make sure that you have a mix of annual (cornflower, poppies etc.) and perennials (Red Campion, oxeye daisies etc.) that way it'll reseed itself nicely
Thanks guys; some really good ideas.
I like the idea of pot growing first and moving to the area, so am definitely going down that line.
I've adjusted my plan a tad. (I've got so many ideas in my head, my plan is changing by the minute!) What do you guys think of the following idea, after the area has been repeatedly poisoned and covered over a month.
1. Cover the area to create a barrier from the weeds, perhaps with wet newspaper as has been recommend online, and cover this with an inch of top soil.
2. Spead some wildflower/ grass mix (20% Wildflowers 80% Grasses) just to see how it takes, and because I want to create a mini meadow look with compatible grass.
3. Meanwhile in some pots I will plant 100% wild flower. This is a nice side project, and I can pick and choose the nicest wildflowers to place on the patch.
Let me know what you think.
The idea that all wildflowers need nutrient poor soil is a myth. Some might do well on it but they're just plants, all with different needs.
In the sticks near Peterborough
I have bought well established wall flowers from garden centre but didn't notice they had scraggy step once out of pot but have beautiful orange flowers what do I do now as they are tangling together do I stake them up weren't cheap very disappoint ed ..? Help
Start a new thread with a photo Mimie, things will get confused on this thread.
In the sticks near Peterborough
Dnallov- I would spray first, give it three weeks, then cover it with a very thick layer of wet newspaper topped with at least five inches of quality topsoil. Seed it with your wild meadow seed mix, and then add in pot grown wildflowers when they are a good size. From my understanding, the grass tends to take over within a year or two? So you might mix in a few packets of wild flowers in with your grass/flower mix to up the percentage a bit? Keep it watered when dry until the plants are well established. They'll need that extra water until the newspaper rots down a bit and they have their roots into the soil below. If the newspaper stays damp, they'll grow down into/through it fine.