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As I posted on the chatback thread I want to sow a wild flower garden or possibly just a wild flower bed as it will be about 16ft by 20ft walking about the countryside I note that the wild flowers are basicly geranium, ragged Robin, foxglove, cowparsly, napweed and one or two other common flowering plants now evedently these plants don't get eaten by rabbits and was wondering what other plants I could grow and they must be selfseeding, also as Snoop pointed out I should aim for a low fertility growing area and as I won't be doing any digging, would spreading all the cut foliage on top of cardboard make it too fertile for what I want to do
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it may be a struggle to reach the top, but once your over the hill your problems start.
Member of the Nutters Club but I think I am just there to make up the numbers
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Not sure really rary, my guess is it would make it too fertile.
We are creating areas in our field which are just left to grow.
The plants which will thrive for you depends on your soil type.
We have slightly acidic soil and have a lot of oxeye daisies and yarrow amongst lots of different types of grass.
Some plants like cornflowers and poppies only grow in disturbed soil too.
Are you intending to cut it back slightly from time to time (as if it is being lightly grazed).. apparently that opens up the possibility of even more plants thriving.
I should look into this more too so will follow this thread with great interest!
"Nicos, Queen of Gooooogle" and... GYO's own Miss Marple
Location....Normandy France -
Here's an iñteresting link rary...
https://www.rspb.org.uk/get-involved...dflowermeadow/
They suggest sowing mustard for the first year to reduce fertility."Nicos, Queen of Gooooogle" and... GYO's own Miss Marple
Location....Normandy FranceComment
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Another interesting link!
https://www.countryfile.com/wildlife...s-hay-meadows/"Nicos, Queen of Gooooogle" and... GYO's own Miss Marple
Location....Normandy FranceComment
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Ox eyed daisies are a nice plant, I grew from seed in my garden and they are spreading, thing is as with all plants, wild flowers have specific needs, just being low in fertility is not enough. Ragged Robin like wet ground for a start, some others like chalk. Yellow Rattle is often planted in meadows as it reduces the numbers of some grasses, thus making room for other plants, a grass field with buttercups and clover can be just as useful as a full blown Machir.Comment
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I have always thought of cutting down a cardboard box to about 6 inches and then filling with appropriate soil and the sow seeds on to it and placing it where I wanted in the hope that it would suppress the grass etc and allow the flowers to get a head startComment
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That’s an interesting idea. Reduce transplant disturbance but let’s them germinate and grow without competition to start with.Originally posted by Billy's lad View PostComment
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Have been thinking about planting a wildflower mix at the bottom of my garden. The soil is particularly poor down there with a mix of scrubby grass and around a big birch tree. From what I understand poor soul isn’t a problem however I was thinking I would probably need to spread a small layer of compost to give them something to germinate in as there is so little soul. what do you think ?Comment
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I had a fantastic wild flower field. Wild flowers were all that grew. Looked terrible of course in summer. One day, we had a visit from the forestry agent, who suggested we have the field ploughed to reduce fire risk.
Probably the worst act of environmental vandalism I've ever done, as it brought nutrients up from lower down and that was the end of the flowers (and all the bees and other pollinators that lived off them). The advice I had on asking about how to get back to the previous state of affairs was keep cutting the grass down and removing it and eventually the surface nutrients will deplete to the point that wild flowers would grow again. But this is for our specific situation. As Burnie says, what you want to grow will determine what conditions you provide.Comment
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Annual wildflowers will germinate just fine if the conditions suit without any help, I struggle with Corn Cockle in my garden, clearly the soil is not to their liking. Perennials can however be started just like herbaceous plants and then planted out when established in a pot.Comment
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Are you wanting just wild flowers, no grass? Or more of a meadow? have you looked at Scotia Seeds website? they have various mixes, and even if you're not planning on buying a fixed set mix, they list all the plants in each of their mixes, which will give you an idea of plants to grow.
For instance:
Bee, Bird & Butterfly Mix – Scotia SeedsLocation - Leicestershire - Chisit-land
Endless wonder.Comment
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I thought I would post some photos of the area I hope to use for the flowers the first 2 photos show how the ground looked and the third shows what the area I cut last week looks like I have covered a small area with weed membrane but there is a fair bit of growth below it I don't know if it's because light is getting through it or if light is getting in from the sides but I have a large square of membrane I will put down once I cover the ground with cardboardit may be a struggle to reach the top, but once your over the hill your problems start.
Member of the Nutters Club but I think I am just there to make up the numbersComment
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