Wildflower turf just the bees’ knees
A couple of years ago, Deirdre Stewart of Upper Moutere was looking for a change of pace. Suffering from fibromyalgia, she found her 40-year nursing career drawing to a close, but she still had a lot she wanted to achieve.
Stewart’s mum had been a floral artist, and she had grown up helping Mum make wedding bouquets – “every bloody weekend it seemed like” – so something with flowers seemed like a good idea. She also lived in the countryside, and had two empty paddocks on her property.
“I was just so tired. I just wanted to do something here, for myself. I thought, ‘I don't want to move. I've got to be out in the country. I need to use these paddocks’.”
The idea for Bees Needs, a wildflower turf business with a focus on sustainability and supporting wildlife diversity, was born.
Stewart reached out to wildflower growers in the UK for advice. But it wasn’t until she left work that she was able to start seriously researching wildflower horticulture.
“I played around with different sorts of soils and packet seeds – nothing really happened. I thought I have to create the conditions that they like, because they hate grass, they hate weeds, they hate good soil.”
The breakthrough came when she gave up on locally sourced seeds and started importing them from the US.
“Within 10 days those seeds had germinated. I just couldn't believe it.”
With the right seed/soil combinations sorted, she was able to apply for a grant from the Ministry of Social Development, who were “really excited” about what she wanted to do, to start developing her business plan. Business has been blooming ever since.
Stewart grows four mixes of environmentally friendly wildflowers, designed to work in a variety of garden situations, including shady areas.
Among the flowers are all the bee, bird and butterfly favourites, such as cosmos, calendula, several varieties of poppy and cornflowers, as well as zinnias and a variety of daisies, to name just a few of the plants in her turf.
“A lot of [the flowers] have died down now, but when they're in full swing at the beginning of December it is just amazing. I can stand on the end of my deck and hear those bees,” she says. “It's all about the bees, about the wildlife, because they're starving.”
All the turf is grown to order on Stewart’s property. When the seedlings are about four to six weeks, the turf is cut, and rolled up for transportation. Stewart and her employee will lay the turf at the client site, in the same way lawn turf is transplanted.
While the biggest clients so far have been landscapers, her aim is to support the environment around commercial horticulture, and “beautify our parks and reserves, and hospital areas to aid in recovery and peace of mind”.
The turf is low maintenance and self-seeding – with a little tending, the meadows will come back year after year – but you will need to do some preparation of the area to encourage the turf to bed in.
“I always go and have a look where they want to put it, because there are different mixes for different areas of your property – might be shade or sun or they want it on a hillside.”
Once the area is chosen, Stewart will have you spray any grass in the area, “because they won't compete with weeds and grass”.
“You have to make it really barren.” Once the wildflowers “get a little bit of height on them”, the root system forms a network underneath it. “That's the stage that you want to be rolling them”.
One square metre of Bees Needs turf costs about $95.
As well as selling turf, Stewart is about to start hosting workshops at the Golden Hills Country Garden Store in Nelson, for home gardeners who want to bring the wildlife back to their gardens.