Create Your Own Mini Wildflower Meadow
Have you ever walked through (an increasingly rare) meadow, alive with butterflies and bees, and wished you could transport it to your garden? Well – you can! You don’t need a field-sized landscape. You can create meadow areas in your garden by giving over your lawn or part of it to wildflowers or even some large pots. The result is very satisfying and a great way of further supporting biodiversity in your area.
Why Wildflowers Matter
Over 97% of traditional wildflower meadows in the UK have been lost since the 1930s. That’s a terrible statistic. This habitat loss has had a huge detrimental impact on the insects, birds and other wildlife that rely on meadows to survive. But, by creating a wildflower space, no matter how small, you are helping your local wildlife and enhancing your area’s biodiversity.
Choose the Correct Wildflowers
Seems obvious, right? But it’s not necessarily that easy. You need to check the seed contents, particularly if buying pre-packed – a lot of these mixes do contain wildflowers – but not necessarily UK species, they could be wildflowers from the US. It is vital to select a mix that has only native UK species. If you are not sure which species in the contents are native to the UK, do a bit of a Google search or contact us for advice! Also be wary of the term “native” in the product title – we have seen mixes claiming to be native. When we challenged one supplier on this they said it wasn’t misleading as the wildflowers were native to the country they originated from! Native implies UK so should only include UK species, in our opinion.
You also need to bear in mind if you want 100% wildflowers or wildflowers and meadow grasses – these are usually in the ratio of 20% wildflowers and 80% meadow grasses. It goes without saying that the 100% wildflower seed mixes are quite a bit more expensive.
Where Should I Sow Wildflowers?
Meadow wildflowers need full sun and poor soil of low-fertility. If the soil is too rich where you want to sow, then take off thelayer of topsoil. Do not sow in the wild by scattering the seeds whilst out in countryside – you may be introducing wildflowers that are not local to the area and you would be interfering with private land. You can also scrape out areas on your lawn and sow the seeds.
How to Sow Wildflowers
Spring and Autumn are the optimum times for sowing wildflowers in the UK.
Find your sunny spot. Remove all weeds and other growth from the area you wish to sow. Rake the soil to a fine tilth and sprinkle on the seeds. Gently press them into the soil and water as required. Pressing into the soil imitates the trampling of seeds by livestock in traditional meadows and allows light in.
If sowing into a lawn, you are wise to choose a mix that includes Yellow Rattle – this wildflower is semi-parasitic on grass and will help stop the surrounding grass taking over the wildflower patch.
Caring for Your Mini Wildflower Meadow
The obvious main thing to do is to water regularly as required. You may also have to cover with fleece if it seems the mice or slugs are eating the seeds or seedlings.
In the first year – regularly cut the area every time it gets to about 15 cm tall, to help the wildflowers get the better of any grass tryng to invade!
2nd year onwards – cut once a year in late summer, after flowering and seed has been set. Remove any clippings in order to reduce fertility – important!
Where to Buy Wildflower Seeds
You can buy wildflower seeds from us at Wildflower Favours – our seed packets contain 100% wildflowers, enough for about a 1 square metre patch. If you require more then please do ask us for a quote.
