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Wildflower Meadow
clairegreenlow
Posts: 125
Hi all
Always loved wildflower meadows. Whilst excavating in the Dordogne last year there was one right beside our site and I decided I just needed to have one whenever I had the chance!
We have a patch of 'lawn' beside our drive (see below) we are not overly fond of and has been decimated by a series of labourers. I was wondering if we could put one there?
My plan was to get the ground ready, then plant some plugs as well as sow seeds.
Has anyone done this? How often do you mow? Does it look a total mess in winter? Any tips or tricks?
Which is the best way people have found to prepare the soil? a black sheet/cardboard? dig it up?
Thank you!
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Posts
You need a poor, starved soil to begin with so I would skim off the turf and stack it somewhere where it will make excellent compost after it has rotted down. If you cover it with cardboard etc. it will kill the grass but it will break down and add nutrients to the soil. Then you will need a wild flower seed mix which can have varying degrees of success. You can sow that in Autumn but then sow some wildflowers in plugs which you can plant in place next Spring. It isn't instant and yes it does look a little 'wild' in winter. You should mow once in Autumn after the seeds have been set but some flowers feed the birds in Winter.
Thank you ever so much. I hadnt considered about the nutrients from the grass.
Now to google some of the better wildflower seed and plug suppliers!
what sort of wildflower meadow have you got in mind, which plants do you want to grow? Wildflower meadow has so many interpretations with an equivalent number of methods
In the sticks near Peterborough
Claire, Pictorial Meadows is a good place to start, they provide the wild flower seeds for local councils around Sheffield who sow them on grass verges and roundabouts etc. As well as selling seeds they also sell wild flower turf..
http://pictorialmeadows.co.uk
Last edited: 05 June 2016 22:33:30
nutcutlet - good point. I just want as much colour in there as possible. So thinking more cornflower and poppies than meadow grasses!
LeadFarmer - great link! Thank you.
You need to clear and prepare soil like setting seed for any other plants. That sort don't grow in grass.
Sow and enjoy, let them seed, cut them back and rake a bit and it looks fine in winter. They'll reseed and the perennial will regrow the next year.
In the sticks near Peterborough
I sowed a 3 foot by 3 foot area at home with a packet of seeds provided from mysmall local GC nad the area contains some rubble and chippings and the seeds are germinating after 10 days
I think they must have collected the seeds from their existing stock as it was not from a recognised seller