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Here's what you need to know before you consider taking on the task of creating a wildflower meadow or wildflower patch in your garden.
Most of us first though we could just leave a patch of grass to grow longer in the garden and the wildflowers would appear over time. We also thought that we wouldn't have to do anything, throw some wildflowers down and nature would do the rest for us, and create a beautiful meadow with very little work on our part.
If only it was that easy, it's going to take a bit of planning and a bit of maintenance on your part. But your efforts will be rewarded when you see all the wildlife enjoying all your hard work.
A wild flower meadow if left alone will quickly return to scrub as the more competitive species take over. It's going to need cutting and mowing in its first year to control annual weeds and prevent grasses dominating. From the second year on, you'll only have to mow your wildflower meadow once a year; after the flowers have dried and dropped their seeds.
Once cut you will need to remove all cuttings to decrease the fertility of the soil.
Wildflower mixtures should contain fine, non-aggressive grasses that won't smother the wildflowers.
Heavy, clay-rich or fertile soils will encourage grass growth, so meadows are most successful on lighter, drier, free-draining soils.
The area you have chosen to plant your wildflower meadow in will need to be clear of all weeds before you can sow. Either let the first weeds mature and pull them out before they go to seed or treat the area with chemicals that will destroy them all.
In the first year you will need to spot treat or remove perennial weeds. Annual weed varieties will disappear after the first season.
Being persistent will pay off. Wildflower meadows, once established, should be permanent, and will improve and evolve with age.
Wildflowers do not like fertile soils, and do better in poor soil that is light and free draining. Removing grass, weeds and the topsoil will expose less fertile subsoil which will be fine for wildflowers.
Wildflower seeds are sown from March to May or in late August to October. If you want a longer flowering season sow the seeds through out March to May instead of sowing everything in one day.
The sowing rate is 2 - 2.5 grams per square metre or 8 - 10 kg per acre depending on the mixture. If you put more than this down the stronger species (grasses) will start to dominate and you will see fewer wild flower species.
First off get those weeds under control. Problem weeds are docks, thistles and nettles as they are hard to remove once your meadow area is sown. As mentioned above weed control can be done in one of three ways:
Once those weeds have been taken care of, rake the soil until it is fine and loose. Either scatter the seeds with your hand, or use a spinner. Then rake the area again, or cover seeds with 1cm of soil. Give the area a good watering, if the weather is particularly dry, you may want to water several times to keep the area dampish, but not too wet because the seeds or young shoots will end up rotting.
If your little meadow starts to look a bit thin, then it is possible to throw some more wildflower seeds down, but first you will have cut everything back then rake the soil again to break it up into a finer granule. This will enable the seeds to reach the soil.
As with anything gardening, it's hard work to start with, but the bonus of having a wildflower patch or meadow is, it only has to be maintained once a year, if you have the space why not give nature a banquet in your area.
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