Let's go wild
A wildflower meadow is not just beautiful, it’s beneficial for those vital pollinators too
This year has been an introduction for many to gardening. Times have been hard and during periods like this we begin to appreciate simple things and understand why it’s important we look after the planet.
With an astonishing lack of leadership on climate change coming from America it’s up to us small folk to do our part. So, combining this need to look after ourselves as well as caring for our planet, many of us are appreciating the work of pollinators. One great way to attract these important creatures is to turn a piece of your garden, even just a couple of square feet, into a wildflower meadow.
From late spring right through to now they can be beautiful to look at. There are many different types of meadows and virtually all of them do a lot of good. September is a good time of year to undertake this project – some perennial seeds need a cold spell over winter to activate them and hardy annuals sown now will have a head start on spring-sown annuals.
So what do you need to do? Prepare your soil first and remove anything you don’t want, for example, vigorous weeds like bindweed which will choke everything else. If you’re converting a lawn, you can either remove the top layer of turf but if that’s too big a job, your aim is to make the grass less vigorous to give your wildflowers a chance. So no more feeding it and sow yellow rattle this autumn. This is a semiparasitic plant which will weaken the domination of your grass.
If you’re converting a border, it may be too fertile from all that good gardening work you have been doing over the years, mulching and feeding. If this is the case you could plant some annual seeds that enjoy richer soil, such as corncockles and cornflowers.
Wildflower seed suppliers have lots of different mixes and these will include grasses, perennials and annual native flowers. Your choice will depend on soil type and situation as well.
Next rake and shake – rake the soil to a fine tilth and then shake or scatter seed evenly across the plot. Where seed is very fine, you can mix with silver sand which makes it easier to distribute more evenly.
Gently firm in by walking over the soil as you go and water in if no rain is forecast. Then leave nature to take its course. If you do see any obvious weeds that you don’t want emerging, pull these out. Another option is to plant plugs of wildflowers in the spring and these can be inserted into your lawn or borders. These are available to buy in springtime, or alternatively you could plant up trays of wildflowers now and leave in the cold frame for the winter. Good options include ragged-robin, oxeye daisy, scabious, cowslip and red campion.
Meadows will take time to establish and become more diverse over the years with good management.
You don’t just leave them to their own devices – they need to be cut down at the end of the season with a scythe or strimmer but leave it as late as possible. This allows seed to ripen and land on the ground to germinate.
Leave the clippings to dry out for maximum seed ripening and then put them on the compost heap – don’t leave clippings in situ as these will act as a fertiliser as they rot down.
So whether you are new to gardening or reinventing your plot in the light of environmental concerns, consider the possibilities a meadow could bring to your plot. Good luck!