Prepare for wild flower patch

eeimcaw

Hi folks,
Have very little experience with gardening. Moved into house last year and have hill at back of house that was overgrown so I strimmed it and sprayed, still thick layer of grass that feels spongy to walk on. Now I'm looking on advice on how to get it ready so I can convert into a wildflower patch.

What should I do?

Would hiring a rotavator, removing what is turned by the rotavator and sow work.

Thanks in advance
Mick

my3cents

For wild flowers the best thing you can do is strip off all your top soil and throw it away (obviously use it somewhere else in the garden). Thats hard spade work but if you stack the sods and cover them in 12 months you'll have some wonderful soil to use around the garden.

In your case you might just have the right conditions but still worth removing any fertile soil on the grass areas. The rocky slopey bits look ideal.

The problem with most wild flower areas is that there is too much competition from species you don't want but those species thrive in good soils most of the wild flowers you want to grow thrive in poor soil because there is no competition - apart from some weeds that will grow anywhere.

If the grass really struggles to grow then you have a good chance of having the right conditions for wild flowers.

I suggest you check locally for what grows well and use local seed. For example if their are foxgloves growing anywhere nearby then next year as they finish flowering you cut some and shake the seed heads over your plot.

Don't rotovate, except in rare circumstances it won't help - iirc the Prince of Wales has headlands of fields renovated and left fallow and gets a great show of poppies every year by bringing up buried poppy seeds. In your case a mini digger might be be helpful to strip of any sods and topsoil.