Wildflower "Meadow"

Has anyone planted a wildflower meadow in their garden? We have a largish area I would like to turn into one but need some pointers. I have looked on the internet but a lot of it is telling me to plant on bare soil. That sounds like a lot of work and I was hoping to do something with the grass already there.

Would love to hear from people who have already done it and any pics?

Helen

I have a book about creating wildflower gardens. I've just flicked through it and everything is suggesting planting seeds in soil is the way to go. I've actually just learned something very interesting - some seeds have a hard outer shell which gets broken down by hard frosts and these plants will need to spend time outdoors during winter in order for them to germinate. Some, like poppies, require soil to be disturbed which is why you get many poppies growing on wasteland.

Since I have a bit of a passion for wildflowers, I planted quite a few at the caravan, will see if I have any pictures.

My son has all he did was throw the seeds anywhere at the bottom of his garden, its spectacular when they come out in bloom and he made a shallow marsh for wild life like frogs etc

I keep reading about planting in soil but I have enough gardening, and digging, to do without starting lifting the turf of the area I want to do I learnt that about some needing overwintering for them to germinate! Fascinating.

Would love to see some pictures, if you have any.

Now, that's what I would like to do Seems much easier. Did he throw them on soil? What was the ground like? When did he throw them.

I think I am going to have to lift some turf and either plant seeds or plugs into it, which will give me a bit of an area this year and maybe look at doing that each year and hopefully, getting a good cover.

Helen

He just threw them some have gone on soil some on the grass, just remember not to ''mow the meadow''

not sure time of year think it was spring time....it was a good 3 years ago I know that

Gardeners World BBC2 showed a huge wildflower meadow created in Somerset called 'the field of dreams'. It is on iPlayer if you want to have a look. It gives information on making one of your own.

I'm keen on doing this as we have some bare soil atm. It's best to get seeds without grass seed incorporated, but for a reasonable quantity (over1kg) it sure is pricey!

Thanks. We actually might have that on Sky+ as OH records it for the veg bit.

Cost is what is making me want to do it right. It isn't a cheap thing to do at all.

Helen

I noticed in the Mail on Saturday they were advertising a Wildflower Gro mat, 9'9" long, 1'6" wide sown with 60,000 wildflower seeds, you can get 2 for £24.99.

I'd quite like to get these but worry they would drown atm.

I tried scattering wild flower seeds onto existing grass, and even planting a few wildflower plugs, with no obvious success. I am now taking the slow approach, and letting nature do it for me. I cut down part of the wild patch in mid summer, and part of it in late autumn to allow different flowers to set seed. I leave the cuttings in situ so that the seeds drop out when they're ready (ignoring the advice to remove all cuttings as a potential source of nutrients) I do a bit of weeding, pulling out brambles and ragwort, for example.

Slowly I'm getting more flowers. It started off with lots of dandelions and thistles, but I'm getting Michaelmas daisies, vetch, clover, chicory, and even a couple of orchids now. I've been 'managing' it like this for five years now.

It helps that my wild patch is surrounded by old meadow and woodland edge, so there's a good natural seed bank out there.