Gardening - Sow a wildflower meadow

Those lucky enough to have plenty of space in your garden, or perhaps a field adjacent to it, might have wondered about creating a more natural area. After all, having a vast area of lawn to mow each week simply increases the work. A wildflower meadow will create an interesting dimension to your garden, and make gardening a more fulfilling experience.

There are a few key steps you need to follow in developing this aspect of your garden. Firstly remember is a long term gardening project, so be prepared to wait for results.

Finding the right area of your garden for a meadow

Contrary to what you may expect, your garden wildflower meadow will do better in low-fertile, perhaps wet soil, on a gradient. Why is this? So the grasses and flowers have fewer weeds to compete with.

If the soil is very fertile, huge numbers of nettles and thistles will appear and choke the wildflowers. If the slope is on a gradient, over time a good deal of the nutrients will have been washed out of the soil. It's therefore gardening logic applied in reverse! The wildflowers will cope in this environment.

Preparating the site

Firstly clear the site of anything that might choke your grasses and wildflowers; essentially weeds. This may sound odd given that you are aiming to create a natural area to the garden, but giving them a helping hand will improve the appearance and reduce on-going maintenance.

Cultivate a fine soil early in the year; spring, and allow a first growth of weeds to start appearing in the designated area. Then remove the weeds. You can use a biodegradable herbicide if necessary. A good going over with a hoe is probably better though. You're a gardener after all.

Garden and meadow seed sources

The first rule here is that if the seeds have been gathered locally they are probably better suited to your garden an d therefore your wildflower meadow.

Secondly make sure that the seeds you use don't include competitive grasses such as Bents, or Sweet Vernal Grass.

Aim for around 25% wildflower seed and 75% grasses. In terms of amount of seed, work on 8kilos per acre.

Sowing the seeds

As with all seeds; scatter and then firm them down into the soil gently. Try to keep the coverage as even as possible. Autumn is probably the best time to do this with results being seen the following spring and summer.

The next year

When your seeds start to appear as young plants you will need to take steps to control the growth. Some of the garden seeds you have sown will grow quicker than others. For this reason mow the area every so often to give the slow seeds a chance.

The following years

Essentially you will need to mow the wildflower meadow twice per year; July and late autumn. This will ensure the area is managed properly and that the grasses and flowers establish a balance.

Having enough land to create such a wild garden is a luxury. However, to make the most of it, a large area will be more appropriate. This will make maintenance, albeit infrequent, more demanding. Take a look at the gardening tools direct range of professional garden machinery to help you manage. Ride on mowers, brush cutters and cultivators may be of use.