I've always missed this thread. Looks as though you're doing well Nick, I wish you the best of luck with your project. You do need a bit of patience. My meadow here is coming up to the start of the fifth year. Things do take time to establish when grown in grass the natural way and sometimes you think you've lost some but suddenly you see you haven't lost it at all and then get an explosion of flowers. I have Loads of cowslips in flower at the moment it really makes all the hard work worth while. Just at the moment Nick you'll see flower heads of Sweet Vernal Grass, they won't be ready for setting seed for a good while but if you find any remember where they are and go back to collect seed. The grass smells wonderful when disturbed or cut. The roots have an odd smell of detol too, very odd but a lovely grass, it tastes very much like coconut when you chew on a bit. Though if you have any blood thinning medication don't eat too much as it does thin the blood.
Countryfile have been giving away packs of wild flower seeds. Go on to the BBC website and find the Countryfile page-you might still be able to get some free seeds!
Posts
i promised a picture of emerging yellow rattle - bet you thought i had forgotten
Nice pic chicky, no trouble recognising that
In the sticks near Peterborough
And all as a result of recommendations from you in autumn 2012 Nut. You have a devoted pupil
In the sticks near Peterborough
I've always missed this thread. Looks as though you're doing well Nick, I wish you the best of luck with your project. You do need a bit of patience. My meadow here is coming up to the start of the fifth year. Things do take time to establish when grown in grass the natural way and sometimes you think you've lost some but suddenly you see you haven't lost it at all and then get an explosion of flowers. I have Loads of cowslips in flower at the moment it really makes all the hard work worth while. Just at the moment Nick you'll see flower heads of Sweet Vernal Grass, they won't be ready for setting seed for a good while but if you find any remember where they are and go back to collect seed. The grass smells wonderful when disturbed or cut. The roots have an odd smell of detol too, very odd but a lovely grass, it tastes very much like coconut when you chew on a bit. Though if you have any blood thinning medication don't eat too much as it does thin the blood.
Countryfile have been giving away packs of wild flower seeds. Go on to the BBC website and find the Countryfile page-you might still be able to get some free seeds!
Hi all again,
The BBC seeds I got did not germinate, Monty's discards????!!!!.
I removed all thick lumps of grasses, dug out the extensive nettle root system, bramble roots & dandelions from my fifth acre plot.
I seeded my first patch 3x 5m last fall with seeds from "BOSTON Seeds" & all grew well.
Then seeded the second patch 3x6m with same seeds but this time hundreds to thousands of small nettles appeared everywhere amongst the wild flowers.
These nettles have their individual fine small roots. I puled out a lot where I could reach without standing on the other plants.
Do I leave these to grow, spread the roots & take over the plot, or walk all over & kill all the flowers?
This particular patch is the area where no nettles ever grew in the past, perhaps because of the thick clamps of grass.
Have you experienced this too?
My daughter says that maybe the seeds include nettles which are good for wild life??!!, surely not?
Thank you ......Nick