Planting wildflowers

I have about a quarter acre of really rough ground next to my house, it is all uneven rock that has years of grass growth all other it. Essentially it's rock covered in tufts of long grass that has fallen over itself for many years, and some briars.

What I would like to do is kill the grass by spraying or even burning if we had a really dry spring and have a wildflower meadow there.

Does anyone have any knowledge as to whether any of the following would work?

1. Spray the grass. Wait a few weeks and scatter the whole area with wild flower seeds.

2. Don't touch grass, scatter wildflower seeds which will grow where they can.

3. Burn the grass, scatter wildflower seeds immediately.

magicbastarder

how fertile is the soil? your main enemy if you want wildflowers is fertile soil, as if it's fertile, they won't be able to compete with perennial weeds such as dandelions (which are good for nature in themselves, but most people don't like them).

There wouldn't be much soil at all really, it's about 50 years of grass growing directly on rock so a very thin covering only that was built up from rotting leaves I'd say

recedite

A "wildflower meadow" contains grass, so its not just about nuking the grass and scattering some seeds instead. its more about grassland management.

And anyway, I'd consider dandelions to be wildflowers.
Realistically, its never going to look like the picture on the seed packet.

Good point. And I don't mind the grass really, I just want the flower seeds to have the opportunity to germinate. It's not an area where it is really possible to scarrify or turn over the soil which is why I'm thinking of killing the grass. And I'm surrounded by acres of grass farmland too so grass wouldn't be long finding its way back

recedite

Maybe burn or Roundup a small trial area, plant the seeds and see how it goes?
Burning leaves behind it fertile ash, as opposed to any toxic residue.
In a small area you can help them along, weeding out whatever you don't want to keep.
If the wildflowers thrive, they will spread out naturally into the wider area.
If not, the project is doomed (the most common outcome).
A traditional "wildflower meadow" results from controlled grazing and/or a certain kind of landscape terrain. Eg the Burren has both of these going on.
Your rocky landcape might help here, if you sow a good variety of seeds, it might suit some of them.

Thanks, good advice

lordgoat

Just cover the grass for 6 weeks in plastic or a tarp, the main reason to grow wildflowers are for pollinators but yet you would use a weedkiller that is bad for the environment and honey bees in particular?

Have a read of wildflowers.ie on how to prep the area, not the best advice being handed out in this thread tbh.

ytpe2r5bxkn0c1

And make sure to match the flower species to what the area suits. I have seen so many wild flower failures due to planting dry meadow species in woodland, woodland species in open damp areas etc.

lordgoat

lordgoat wrote: »

Just cover the grass for 6 weeks in plastic or a tarp, the main reason to grow wildflowers are for pollinators but yet you would use a weedkiller that is bad for the environment and honey bees in particular?

Have a read of wildflowers.ie on how to prep the area, not the best advice being handed out in this thread tbh.

I take your point but I'm planting for aesthetics. Have a medium size farm that includes woodland, bog, and pasture so this is one patch along with my lawn that I want for aesthetics, and fragrance and sound of the bees in the summer.

Couldn't get a tarp over this area. It's steep and incredibly uneven.

wench

If you're anywhere near Wicklow, Jimi Blake's gardens at Hunting Brook has a section he is converting to a wildflower meadow.
http://www.huntingbrook.com/portfolio/meadow/

From what I recall he has planted yellow rattle to weaken the grass and give the flower meadow a chance to establish itself
https://wildseed.co.uk/page/using-yellow-rattle-to-increase-species-diversity

lordgoat

Deleted User wrote: »

I take your point but I'm planting for aesthetics. Have a medium size farm that includes woodland, bog, and pasture so this is one patch along with my lawn that I want for aesthetics, and fragrance and sound of the bees in the summer.

Couldn't get a tarp over this area. It's steep and incredibly uneven.

TBH it'd better just leaving it be and plug planting yellow rattle as suggested. I assumed as you said it was a lawn that you could cover it, as I presume you use a lawn mower on it. You could rotavate that part either. Basically anything that's not pesticide. And if it's for aesthetics you do know it'll take a good 2-3 season minimum for a wild meadow to be fully mature.

Again plenty of alternatives out there again if you're looking for the sound of bees, don't actively choose something that isn't good for them.

macraignil

Deleted User wrote: »

I take your point but I'm planting for aesthetics. Have a medium size farm that includes woodland, bog, and pasture so this is one patch along with my lawn that I want for aesthetics, and fragrance and sound of the bees in the summer.

Couldn't get a tarp over this area. It's steep and incredibly uneven.

Growing from seed can be a bit hit and miss so if you want to be a bit more certain of getting some flowers going maybe some flowering shrubs might be an option as well. You mention the sound of bees being important so some pollinator friendly shrubs will naturally out-compete grass and some do fine in difficult conditions. Buddleia are very good for attracting pollinators in the summer and will grow in the roughest of ground. Nepeta is also great for attracting bees. Pheasant berry is also a very good shrub for attracting bees and does not have any difficulty growing on rough ground. Cotoneaster is another hardy shrub that seems to be humming with the sound of bees on a sunny summer day. This autumn video of my own garden which is on an uneven north facing slope also shows some other perennial plants that might be an option for attracting pollinators. Many of these shrubs are easy to propagate as well so if you get a few of them growing you can easily take cuttings or divide them to get more shrubs going elsewhere and some will even self-seed and so propagate them selves.

secman

There is a very fine line between sowing a wild flower field and feeding many birds, believe me, I've been there many a time

secman

secman wrote: »

There is a very fine line between sowing a wild flower field and feeding many birds, believe me, I've been there many a time

I can picture this :-)

recedite

wench wrote: »

If you're anywhere near Wicklow, Jimi Blake's gardens at Hunting Brook has a section he is converting to a wildflower meadow.
http://www.huntingbrook.com/portfolio/meadow/

From what I recall he has planted yellow rattle to weaken the grass and give the flower meadow a chance to establish itself
https://wildseed.co.uk/page/using-yellow-rattle-to-increase-species-diversity

• Yellow rattle will not thrive in all grassland. The most suitable sites for yellow rattle will be managed grassland of low to medium fertility that contains a balanced sward of finer grasses not dominated by coarse or vigorous grass (ryegrass, cocksfoot, tall oat-grass or couch). Grassland that is the result of sowing a meadow mixture will have suitable grasses, as will finer turf in gardens and meadows. Yellow rattle often fails to take in ryegrass leys and neglected, over-grown or tussocky grassland.

• Cut or graze the sward in the autumn, aim to keep the grass short (40-50mm). Graze or mow before and after seeding as needed.

across the site with exposed soil for yellow rattle seed to germinate in. This can be achieved by autumn/winter grazing with stock (their hooves open the sward), or mechanically by harrowing or raking, aiming to expose up to 50% bare soil.

The point I was making is that grass management is key. The "traditional" wildflower meadow resulted from farming practices that are long gone. The grass would be short in the early spring, then allowed to grow longer in early summer in preparation for haymaking. The various flowering plants grew and flowered during that period. Then afterwards it would be grazed short again. If you don't have livestock, you must somehow mimic that process, as an ongoing annual cycle. Its not just about planting seeds.

If you check the photos in the first link above, you can see the grassland is very obviously managed in some way.