Wildflower Meadow

Blue Rock Station,
1190 Virginia Ridge Rd.
Philo Ohio 43771 USA
+1-740-674-4300 (phone)
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Creating a Wildflower Meadow

The best planned garden just can’t compete with an Old meadow. Take your picnic basket out into the middle of a field of wild flowers and commune with the bugs and the bees. But if one is not handy, you may have to create your own.

Converting an existing grassy area into a meadow

If you want to turn a grassy area into a wildlife meadow you need to know what is already growing there. Let it grow during the summer to see what turns up. The results can be spectacular. You will often find that only a few flowers appear, such as buttercups or daises. So you may have to introduce some yourself. This can be through 'over-seeding', but is best done by planting wildflowers.

Over-seeding

Scattering wildflower seed over your grassy area will not be successful. You will have to make gaps to give the seeds a chance to grow. The best way to do this is to remove whole squares of turf and topsoil (about 1 square foot) and seed with one or two carefully chosen types of wildflower in the autumn.

Planting pot grown wildflowers

Wildflowers can be introduced into grassy areas as pot grown plants. Local stock can often be bought from nurseries or grown from seed. Plant them in groups into the turf. Plant in autumn to allow the roots to become established before competition from other plants build up in the spring. To help reduce this, spread mulch around your new plantings or replace the turf upside down. Ironic as it seems, you must manage this “natural” area.

Creating a wildflower meadow from scratch

Preparing the ground

This is the ideal way of creating a wildflower meadow. Good ground preparation is essential. The secret is a low fertility soil. A fertile soil will just cause vigorous growth of a few grasses and 'weeds'. You can reduce fertility by stripping off the top 1-2 inches or so of topsoil. Then lightly rake and roll the soil to produce a seed bed.

Sowing the seed

The best time to sow your wildflower seed is in early autumn. You can sow in April, but many seeds need the cold winter months to break their in-built dormancy. They will therefore not germinate in their first year from a spring sowing.

For best results -

(1) Order specific quantities of the different types of seeds you have chosen. Sow them in patches into an area that has been lightly seeded with a natural grass mix.

(2) The sowing rate should be very low to avoid overcrowding. 0.5g of wildflower seed and 1.0 - 1.5g of grass mix per square meter is best.

(3) To get an even spread of seed, mix it with sand or sawdust.

(4) Immediately after sowing, rake the surface lightly and firm it all up with a small roller.

Aftercare

Take care to look after your new meadow.

(1) When the seeds have germinated and the grasses reached a height of about 5 inches, the meadow should be cut. This will knock back unwanted 'weeds' such as groundsel and chickweed. Any thistles and docks should be pulled up.

(2) During the first year try to cut your meadow every 6-8 weeks. Always remove the cuttings to prevent a build up of dead plant material. This will help the meadow plants to become established.

(3) In following years, you only need to mow about twice a year.

- Ideas in this brochure “recycled” from Suffolk (UK) Wildlife Trust