GO WILD FOR THE JUBILEEAND

You can create a wildflower patch like the stunning new display for the Queen at the Tower of London

Rewilding has become a trendy concept of late, but gardens are, and always will be, entirely unnatural and un-wild. They are the place where man and nature meet to create a space where both can live in harmony with each other.

Now, I am all for encouraging as much wildlife in a garden as possible – and that means having a pond, long grass, stands of weeds such as nettles, plenty of cover and lots of flowers for pollinating insects. To really appreciate our gardens we have to open the door to the natural world and embrace it, and one of the best ways to do this is to make a wildflower meadow.

Indeed, the Platinum Jubilee celebrations are embracing this idea, with the Tower of London’s moat opening to the public from

1 June after being sown with 20 million seeds to become alive with wildflowers (for tickets see hrp.org.uk).

I have attempted something similar, albeit on a far smaller scale, in my orchard. For a quarter of a century we let the grass grow long until July, when we mowed it short and kept it that way for the rest of the summer. But the grass got richer and richer and the weeds – mainly docks and hogweed – increased. So three years ago we began the process (and it takes a few years) of converting it to a flowering meadow. I hesitate to call it a wildflower meadow because we have added lots of very un-wild bulbs such as tulips, daffodils, camassias, alliums and crocuses, but this is my point about so-called ‘rewilding’. In a garden you take the best of the natural world and tweak and manage it. But the principles remain the same, whatever flowers you grow in grass.

The first is to impoverish the grass, and the best way to do this is by sowing yellow rattle, Rhinanthus minor, the ‘meadow maker’. It is an annual with a pretty flower composed of pale yellow bells of petals hanging off a central stem. These then become translucent seedheads, and as the seeds within mature they dry and rattle in the wind – hence the name. But the most important thing about yellow rattle is that it is semi-parasitic on grass, greatly restricting its growth.

The second essential thing is to treat the area in question like a hay meadow. That means not cutting the grass at all between April and July to allow time for the flower seeds to ripen. Then, when you do cut it, the grass must be trimmed as short as possible and all the trimmings gathered up, not left on the ground to feed the lawn as they rot. Thereafter it can be kept mown short right up until February, if the weather allows.

I sowed a wildflower mix in my orchard in August. When you sow wildflower seed – late summer is

best, but it can be done in spring – it is vital to have as much bare soil as possible, as the seed will not germinate unless it is in direct contact with the soil. So, after cutting the grass very short, scarify and rake out all thatch moss before sowing.

Last autumn we put in all the tulips we’d grown in pots, and this spring they dazzled like jewels. The wildflower orchard has become a dancing mixture of grass and flowers. Wild? No, it’s too managed for that. But it captures the spirit of a natural freedom of growth and is great for wildlife – and humans.

A Beefeater at the Tower of London, where the flowerfilled moat is set to dazzle visitors (inset left)