Spring wildflower meadow
Discussion
Most proper gardeners and farmers have come to realise digging over ground and ploughing fields is worse than a complete waste of time and money.
I suspect it started off in Farm world and gardeners took it on board too, but not sure.
If you watched Clarksons farm he never got a plough out even though it would have made for a good comedy feature.
I suspect it started off in Farm world and gardeners took it on board too, but not sure.
If you watched Clarksons farm he never got a plough out even though it would have made for a good comedy feature.
Okay grass basically t
tted (strimmed, mown, raked), I'll either hose it down a bit or wait for a damp morning, sprinkle on some seed mix I got from Meadow Mania and then tread them into the ground. They only need to be about 1mm deep in the soil as they need sun, so hopefully we'll get something back from that. The grass never grows particularly long at the front of the house, if there's even any left, and the soil is fast draining so hopefully the plants will outrun the grass a bit in the spring.
If we get nothing at least I got some exercise out of it.
tted (strimmed, mown, raked), I'll either hose it down a bit or wait for a damp morning, sprinkle on some seed mix I got from Meadow Mania and then tread them into the ground. They only need to be about 1mm deep in the soil as they need sun, so hopefully we'll get something back from that. The grass never grows particularly long at the front of the house, if there's even any left, and the soil is fast draining so hopefully the plants will outrun the grass a bit in the spring.If we get nothing at least I got some exercise out of it.
ScotHill said:
Okay grass basically ttted (strimmed, mown, raked), I'll either hose it down a bit or wait for a damp morning, sprinkle on some seed mix I got from Meadow Mania and then tread them into the ground. They only need to be about 1mm deep in the soil as they need sun, so hopefully we'll get something back from that. The grass never grows particularly long at the front of the house, if there's even any left, and the soil is fast draining so hopefully the plants will outrun the grass a bit in the spring.
If we get nothing at least I got some exercise out of it.
keep us postedtted (strimmed, mown, raked), I'll either hose it down a bit or wait for a damp morning, sprinkle on some seed mix I got from Meadow Mania and then tread them into the ground. They only need to be about 1mm deep in the soil as they need sun, so hopefully we'll get something back from that. The grass never grows particularly long at the front of the house, if there's even any left, and the soil is fast draining so hopefully the plants will outrun the grass a bit in the spring.If we get nothing at least I got some exercise out of it.
ScotHill said:
Okay grass basically ttted (strimmed, mown, raked), I'll either hose it down a bit or wait for a damp morning, sprinkle on some seed mix I got from Meadow Mania and then tread them into the ground. They only need to be about 1mm deep in the soil as they need sun, so hopefully we'll get something back from that. The grass never grows particularly long at the front of the house, if there's even any left, and the soil is fast draining so hopefully the plants will outrun the grass a bit in the spring.
If we get nothing at least I got some exercise out of it.
You might get very lucky but I suspect you've done nowhere near enough to prevent the grass from just growing straight back and completely suppressing the growth of any wildflower seeds.tted (strimmed, mown, raked), I'll either hose it down a bit or wait for a damp morning, sprinkle on some seed mix I got from Meadow Mania and then tread them into the ground. They only need to be about 1mm deep in the soil as they need sun, so hopefully we'll get something back from that. The grass never grows particularly long at the front of the house, if there's even any left, and the soil is fast draining so hopefully the plants will outrun the grass a bit in the spring.If we get nothing at least I got some exercise out of it.
From all the reading and video watching I did prior to my attempt at a wildflower border it's imperative that every trace of grass is removed, even the roots, and you need completely bare soil as a bed for sewing the wildflower seeds.
Even just leaving a layer of dead thatch will prevent the wildflower seeds from making firm contact with soil and successfully germinating
I spent a year removing all the grass from my area, literally ripping it up by hand roots and all and got it right back to bare soil, my wildflowers did well for their first growing season but i already suspect I'm going to have mostly grass again this year by the looks of it.
Mr Pointy said:
ScotHill said:
We have a patch of grass at the front of the house and quite like the idea of sowing a stack of seeds and just letting the grass and flowers fight it out for a couple of months once it warms up
The grass will winLast year / Summer, I started doing some serious gardening on a neglected area outside my house...it was referred to by the locals as ‘the jungle’.
A few weeks ago, I bought a box of Wildflower seeds from Asda...
(They also do border seeds too).
Wilco’s sell boxes... £2.50 / 50 sq metres...so about the same price.
I have done a trial ‘sprinkle’... nothing yet, maybe a bit too early.
( Perhaps leave it a few weeks)
CAUTION: MAY CONTAIN RADISHES...
https://groceries.asda.com/product/flower-vegetabl...
A few weeks ago, I bought a box of Wildflower seeds from Asda...
(They also do border seeds too).
Wilco’s sell boxes... £2.50 / 50 sq metres...so about the same price.
I have done a trial ‘sprinkle’... nothing yet, maybe a bit too early.
( Perhaps leave it a few weeks)
CAUTION: MAY CONTAIN RADISHES...
https://groceries.asda.com/product/flower-vegetabl...
Edited by Milkyway on Monday 6th March 22:02
Boosted LS1 said:
How so? Lots of meadows are full of wild flowers.
Wildflowers generally exist naturally where the soil fertility is very low. Traditional hay meadows have a crop taken year after year which over many decades reduces the fertility to the point where the flowers can compete with the more rampant grass.Most garden soil is nice and fertile so the grass quickly swamps anything else. Our only successful experiment has involved rotavating a patch each year and sewing fresh seed.
Snow and Rocks said:
Boosted LS1 said:
How so? Lots of meadows are full of wild flowers.
Wildflowers generally exist naturally where the soil fertility is very low. Traditional hay meadows have a crop taken year after year which over many decades reduces the fertility to the point where the flowers can compete with the more rampant grass.Most garden soil is nice and fertile so the grass quickly swamps anything else. Our only successful experiment has involved rotavating a patch each year and sewing fresh seed.
Boosted LS1 said:
And water meadows which is what I was thinking of? I should have clarified that aspect. Fens can also be full of hay/grass and wild flowers.
I'm far from an expert (and also live in Aberdeenshire where wet meadows aren't really a thing!) but I suspect they will also feature either low fertility ground or that the near constant flooding will throw the balance in favour of the flowers. 
I'm currently prepping an area for a wildflower meadow, this was formerly an old Guernsey vinary site that we cleared, its about 1 and a half time the size of a football pitch, I tilled the lot with only a small tiller, about 20hrs of labour, the plan is to sow around a quarter with a mixture of wild grasses and flowers, the soil is not too bad and you don't have to go crazy on making it billiard smooth, wild flowers thrive in pretty s
t soil, any weeds or grasses will be removed by hand as we are not using pesticides. The seeds come in 1kg bags around 3 or 4 bags should be enough for a good covering and even germination, I will mix the seed with sand to make the application easier.mcelliott said:
I'm currently prepping an area for a wildflower meadow, this was formerly an old Guernsey vinary site that we cleared, its about 1 and a half time the size of a football pitch, I tilled the lot with only a small tiller, about 20hrs of labour, the plan is to sow around a quarter with a mixture of wild grasses and flowers, the soil is not too bad and you don't have to go crazy on making it billiard smooth, wild flowers thrive in pretty s
t soil, any weeds or grasses will be removed by hand as we are not using pesticides. The seeds come in 1kg bags around 3 or 4 bags should be enough for a good covering and even germination, I will mix the seed with sand to make the application easier.mcelliott said:
I'm currently prepping an area for a wildflower meadow, this was formerly an old Guernsey vinary site that we cleared, its about 1 and a half time the size of a football pitch, I tilled the lot with only a small tiller, about 20hrs of labour, the plan is to sow around a quarter with a mixture of wild grasses and flowers, the soil is not too bad and you don't have to go crazy on making it billiard smooth, wild flowers thrive in pretty s
t soil, any weeds or grasses will be removed by hand as we are not using pesticides. The seeds come in 1kg bags around 3 or 4 bags should be enough for a good covering and even germination, I will mix the seed with sand to make the application easier.I prodded a few wildflower seed balls into the verge at the front of the house recently.
I'm now slightly worried that I'll have an unkempt mess to deal with! I didn't prep the grass, simply put the balls into the soil and watered a bit (the laziest approach possible...)
Am I screwed? Will I be pulling them up for the forseeable? I'm starting to regret my choice after the post that said the neighbours wouldn't be chuffed if it was done at the front!
I'm now slightly worried that I'll have an unkempt mess to deal with! I didn't prep the grass, simply put the balls into the soil and watered a bit (the laziest approach possible...)
Am I screwed? Will I be pulling them up for the forseeable? I'm starting to regret my choice after the post that said the neighbours wouldn't be chuffed if it was done at the front!
Silvanus said:
ScotHill said:
Silvanus said:
What would you consider a weed in a wild ower meadow?
Grapes, by the sounds of it.
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