Spring wildflower meadow

[Silvanus]

mcelliott said:

Silvanus said:

ScotHill said:

Silvanus said:

What would you consider a weed in a wild ower meadow?

Grapes, by the sounds of it.

Ha good spot, we couldn’t bring ourselves to dig that one out, it was one of about four which were about 50yrs old, It might survive our mild winters, as regards what iS a weed in a meadow patch well that’s any plant that shouldn’t be there so in this case mainly the tough couch type grasses that dominate everything, I’m confident that with the correct conditions ie warm weather and correct soil temp we can get a rapid germination of the seeds, there’s around five or six hundred quids worth of seeds in those bags so failure in not an option!

Would love to see how it looks when it starts to come up

[LooneyTunes]

mcelliott said:

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.

You can also get specialist bulking products that might be worth considering such as: https://www.dlf.co.uk/wildflowers/rehofix-mk1500-b... that might be less likely to clog?

[alfabeat]

We have some steep banks, we are wondering what to do with. We will be grass seeding the flat bits later this month. I don't fancy cutting those banked areas. Would wild flowers work on a steep bank do you think?

[Dylano]

alfabeat said:

We have some steep banks, we are wondering what to do with. We will be grass seeding the flat bits later this month. I don't fancy cutting those banked areas. Would wild flowers work on a steep bank do you think?

No reason why not, I'd use plenty of Yellowrattle to try and keep the grass from invading and outcompeting the wildflowers.

[alfabeat]

Dylano said:

No reason why not, I'd use plenty of Yellowrattle to try and keep the grass from invading and outcompeting the wildflowers.

Thank you!

[Snow and Rocks]

alfabeat said:

We have some steep banks, we are wondering what to do with. We will be grass seeding the flat bits later this month. I don't fancy cutting those banked areas. Would wild flowers work on a steep bank do you think?

Wildflowers aren't a terrible idea but remember they definitely aren't just a plant and forget option.

At the very least you'll need to strim or mow the bank a couple of times later in the year and remove all the cuttings once you've let any seeds fall to the ground.

The end results are still very soil dependent - if the fertility is even vaguely decent then it'll rapidly become an overgrown mess of rank grass.

[craig1912]

Blib said:

We laid 'wildflower turf' in part of the garden.

Supplied by the landscaper, it went nuts with flowers and continues to do so, several years later.

We did too. Strimmed once a year and grew on a steep slope.

https://wildflowerturf.co.uk/products/

[ScotHill]

So at least one of the thousands of seeds I threw down has germinated, the same shoot as in the pots where I sprinkled the remainder. I stamped down the ground afterwards and then there were a few days of showers so I’m hopeful that a fair few of them will have made contact with the soil and sprouted. The grass never grows particularly long or fast there they’ve got a decent chance of outrunning it I think. Update end of April.

[Milkyway]

I scattered my box from Asda in stages on the disowned council gardens next to my house.
Spent nearly a year tidying it up... even chopped down a few trees
( Freshly raked earth does tend to become a bit of a cats toilet though... not mine, as she’s an indoor cat).

First lot: Mid / End of February... No show, hit by a late frost.
Second: Mid March... one are has taken really well.
Third: Week later... hopeful.

I will scatter the remaking seeds end of March / First week of April & pray for a nice showing... unless they ARE Radishes.
( If all goes well... might invest in another box or the ‘border’ seeds for extra variety).

NB: Some of the locals have said that they will plant some spare bulbs if they have them.

Edited by Milkyway on Sunday 26th March 16:12

[mcelliott]

Small update, weather finally played ball and conditions were pretty much perfect this morning, 1200 sq metres sown, germination should take just over a week , hoping for something pretty spectacular in the coming months.

[ATG]

Just as Snow and Rocks has been saying, if you want to get to anything like a self-sustaining meadow you need to make the conditions favour the flowers over the grasses and that generally means reducing the fertility of the soil by mowing and removing the cut material. No fertilisers, compost or muck. You can push it further by planting yellow rattle which parasitizes grass. Look at the wild flowers that do well locally to get an idea of what will work for you. Verges often have good displays precisely because the soil is bks.

[mcelliott]

Well the meadow has finally established itself - a blaze of colour that's only just got going. Expect it to be at its peak in the next two months (we've sown other areas that are a few weeks behind). Ladened with all sorts of wildlife at the moment. Super pleased with our efforts.

[dbdb]

That's beautiful.

[Silvanus]

Looking great

[Evanivitch]

Well done!

[silentbrown]

Looking great

We've just got some large bits of the lawn left unmown over the peak of the summer. Nothing sown, just left to it's own devices so whatever was in the soil gets a chance to flower and seed.

This year I've seen...
Eyebright
Selfheal
Meadow buttercup
Black medick
Creeping buttercup (rather too much)
Germander Speedwell
Daisies, obv.
White clover
Linseed (escaped from bird feeder!)
Wild thyme(?)
Mouse-ear
- and a bunch of different grasses that I haven't learnt to identify.

All fairly low and unobtrusive, but it's nice to get down close and see the more than just "lawn".

[ScotHill]

Bully for you guys, we got fk all. :-D

As predicted, none of the seeds managed to germinate in the soil, or if they did the birds got them before they could grow. We've not mown the grass since and it's still barely grown so maybe it's just not a great place for growing stuff, cuts down on mowing generally though.

We had some other seeds in pots scattered about which have produced flowers so happy with that though.

[GiantEnemyCrab]

Anyone else had any sucess this year?

[Silvanus]

GiantEnemyCrab said:

Anyone else had any sucess this year?

So far not so good, not been a great year for the couple I work on. Also the big planted meadows I know have, although flowering, aren't as good this year

[ScotHill]

As widely predicted last year, the seeds we sowed directly onto the grass provided absolutely zip.

But this year I put some scaffolding boards together to make a raised bed over some otherwise stoney-weedy ground, and sowed wildflowers into that. No colour yet but it's pretty much a jungle in there for the snails: