Wildflower ground preparation

Ixlandia

Hi all, I’m sure there has been some discussion on preparing the ground for wildflowers so I’d love some advice. I’m trying to devise a method for doing this, I have a patch of previously mowed lawn of about 40 meters squared and had started to scarify this area yesterday morning. It is very hard work !

I could go the easy way and treat it with round up but I really don’t want to go down this route, do I just keep scarifying, although I know eventually the grass will come back. I’m trying to get this area as bare as possible to start.

I have collected a lot of seed of yellow rattle, various scaboius, knapweed, vetch and meadowsweet.

I know the grass has to be tackled first, any ideas?

Thanks,
Ix

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RHS advice

Converting a lawn to a meadow
Lawns can be converted into wildflower meadows, but it can take a number of years for the balance between grass and wildflowers to be established.
Stop feeding and weedkilling the turf
In the first year, continue mowing weekly to weaken the grass
Some wild species will establish and thrive
Raise others from seed, introducing them as one- to two-year-old pot-grown plants planted into holes in the turf
Many wildflower suppliers offer plug plants that are ideal for planting into an established lawn. For a natural look, plant in small groups of the same plant

Problems
Grasses can be very vigorous and may out-compete wild flowers. To reduce the vigour of established grassland, introduce semi-parasitic plants. Suitable plants include Rhinanthusspecies (rattle), Euphrasia species (eyebright) and Pedicularis palustris and P. sylvatica (lousewort). The most useful is Rhinanthus minor (yellow rattle). In late summer or autumn seed is broadcast onto grass that has been cut short. It is an annual and can be eliminated from grassland in one year if prevented from seeding by cutting.

Ixlandia

Thanks Srameen !

taxusbaccata

Keep cutting the emerging dominating grass and remove cuttings. Reducing soil fertility is the aim to hit that grass. Raise up the lawnmower if the wildflowers are emerging. Another option would be to skim off some top soil - a 1cm depth would be ideal for wildlflowers. A little grass is good as the flowers are only there for about 6 months of the year - it looks quite apocalyptic if there is no grass for the other 6 months.

looksee

I personally prefer to see the more natural look of scattered flowers in grass rather than solid flowers, which look a bit over the top. And while it is fine for roadside verges and roundabouts I prefer to see actual wildflowers rather than the random annuals that get included in some of the 'wildflower' mixes.

Also one of the wildflower firms I contacted it turned out in their (fairly) small print that the seeds were from UK sources, which would be in some cases rather different from local ones.

This firm, http://wildflowers.ie/ doesn't have the fanciest website and requires you to give a lot of information about your site, but there is loads of advice on the site and they will recommend what kind of mixture will suit your site and requirements best. I haven't got seed yet but I got a quote and was impressed by the detail they went into.

staples7

Im actually thinking about doing something similar. I have a relatively new law, about 3 years old. I left a circular patch (Maybe 15mx15m) go wild and cut pretty tightly around this. As that corner of my acre was wettish its mainly tall grass and rushes. Few thistles yellow wildflowers etc. It was more of an experiment and the grass is just falling on top of itself when it gets to very wet weather. None of the rest of the lawn has rushes as I mulch & fertilise and they have disappeared over the last 3 years as PH improved. I think early spring ill trim my wild area right down and rotavate it followed by wildflower seeds. May take a few years to get it right.

baaba maal

looksee wrote: »

I personally prefer to see the more natural look of scattered flowers in grass rather than solid flowers, which look a bit over the top. And while it is fine for roadside verges and roundabouts I prefer to see actual wildflowers rather than the random annuals that get included in some of the 'wildflower' mixes.

Also one of the wildflower firms I contacted it turned out in their (fairly) small print that the seeds were from UK sources, which would be in some cases rather different from local ones.

This firm, http://wildflowers.ie/ doesn't have the fanciest website and requires you to give a lot of information about your site, but there is loads of advice on the site and they will recommend what kind of mixture will suit your site and requirements best. I haven't got seed yet but I got a quote and was impressed by the detail they went into.

This.

I like to call my patch a "species-rich grassland" rather than a wildflower meadow- this lowers the expectations of people used to that image of recently established wildflower patches with spectacular annuals (that vanish in year two) while also acknowledging that grasses will inevitably become part of the mix over time. I have added (by scattering seed gathered for free onto small scarified patches) meadowsweet, fleabane, the two big willowherbs, three types of vetch, greater birdfoot trefoil and oxeye daisy. In the last two years I have had one or two orchids appear of their own volition as well.

My feeling is that for a small area stripping back the sod and starting with the subsoil is the way to go. for anything bigger, I'd go with the OP on scarifying. That website does also sell plugs, so maybe adding a few perennial plugs will allow the area to look better from the first year.

lordgoat

looksee wrote: »

I personally prefer to see the more natural look of scattered flowers in grass rather than solid flowers, which look a bit over the top. And while it is fine for roadside verges and roundabouts I prefer to see actual wildflowers rather than the random annuals that get included in some of the 'wildflower' mixes.

Also one of the wildflower firms I contacted it turned out in their (fairly) small print that the seeds were from UK sources, which would be in some cases rather different from local ones.

This firm, http://wildflowers.ie/ doesn't have the fanciest website and requires you to give a lot of information about your site, but there is loads of advice on the site and they will recommend what kind of mixture will suit your site and requirements best. I haven't got seed yet but I got a quote and was impressed by the detail they went into.

Drop Sandro an email and one of the staff will respond. Amazing detail and knowledge. The other thing to remember is, it take a few years to get it right/established. Mine looks fairly awful at the moment but I'll cut it all back over the weekend. Rake the thatch and resow again now.