What kind of soil should we use to start off a shaded wildflowers?
Rebekah Cunningham, by email
A ANNE SAYS Wildflowers bloom better on poorer soils where there is less competition from grasses and weeds. Your spot under a maple is like a woodland or hedge bank, with good drainage, light shade, enrichment from leafmould and it may be quite drought-prone.
Buy a shade tolerant wildflower seed mix, with British natives, like meadowsweet, hedge bedstraw, agrimony and knapweed. Trees don’t generally like more than a 5-8cm layer of added soil over their roots in one go, so avoid swamping the maple.
For sowing, use screened topsoil and perhaps mix in a quarter by bulk of fine green waste compost. Consider mixing in topsoil gleaned from other parts of the garden.