Take a break from merely trimming your garden, and transform it into a mini wildflower meadow; or then mix-and-match natural landscapes alongside more formal schemes by including a wildflower feature.
Wildflower meadows not only look beautiful but are also great for attracting a wide range of wildlife to your garden too. The mixture of brightly-coloured flowers is a heaven for bees and butterflies while other insects and small mammals will love the shade and cover provided by tall grasses. This makes a wildflower feature ecologically friendly and, as an added bonus for you, a wildflower garden is low maintenance and a perfect solution for lawns that are low in fertility.
How to get started
Transforming a lawn into a wildflower meadow is relatively straightforward but does take time and patience. It takes a while to establish a wonderful balance of grasses and wildflowers but, for many gardeners, seeing the meadow change and improve each year is part of the joy. A lawn that gets plenty of sun is usually best. The first step is to stop feeding your lawn and to stop using weed killer. In addition, trim the lawn regularly to keep the grass very short. The idea is to weaken the existing grass so that your wild seeds have a better chance of thriving.
Next, choose the wildflowers to introduce. You can order plug plants from wildflower suppliers that are simply planted into an established lawn. Make holes around 15cm deep and 5cm in diameter and place a small amount of compost in the bottom of each hole before placing the plants. Alternatively, experiment with wildflower seeds. To create a natural look, place plants in small groups of the same species. Choose plants that flower at different times so that you can enjoy a riot of colour from late spring right through to late summer.
There’s no need to water your wildflower meadow, unless conditions are very dry; just sit back and wait for it to blossom. In late summer, once the plants have all flowered, you should mow the meadow. This will encourage the plants to establish strong roots. If you struggle with long grass, you may need to use a grass trimmer first.
Small is beautiful
For quicker results, use wildflower turf from specialist gardening suppliers, which is already low in nutrients and contains a mix of grasses and wildflowers.
If you don’t have the space for a wildflower meadow or are reluctant to lose a neat and tidy lawn, you can still enjoy wildflowers by growing them in a border or large pots. Just remember that wildflowers don’t like nutrient-rich compost, so choose compost that is suitable.