Home made Wildflower garden

happydude742

A few years ago we planted trees in a former farm meadow with the aim of turning it into an orchard, and that ambition has evolved into a type of wildflower garden.

The trees have matured and look good but our problem is the grass.

Ultimately it is an old farm meadow with thick, leafy grass that seeds and falls over. We have previously mowed the entire thing, now reducing that to merely mowing pathways through it but the grass (or wildflower section) itself looks thick and unruly.

Does it need reseeding to achieve our aim of a more manageable look? As it stands, it looks like an overgrown meadow with some trees dotted about it.

Any tips greatly welcome.

magicbastarder

do you take away the grass cuttings? generally wildflower meadows do best in poor soils; in fertile soil the grass has the advantage and outcompetes the wildflowers, so if you're hoping for a wildflower meadow it's best to lift the grass cuttings to slowly deplete the soil fertility. mow once or twice a year, also.

GreeBo

Yeah, for that wild flower/grass/meadow look you need to remove all the clippings (grass + flowers)
Gotta starve them to succeed!

looksee

There's a wildflower called Yellow Rattle that you sow seeds of and it is parasitic on grass so gradually reduces the amount of it.

This crowd here sells it http://wildflowers.ie/ Don't be put off by the website, they know their stuff, and there is also a list of re-sellers.

happydude742

happydude742 wrote: »

Does it need reseeding to achieve our aim of a more manageable look? As it stands, it looks like an overgrown meadow with some trees dotted about it.

I think there are two schools of thought on re-seeding.

Some will advocate to just let the area grow and let the meadow develop naturally.

Others cultivate ‘wildflower meadows’.

Personally, I feel there are room for both.

I have areas that have just been left to their own devices and have proved brilliant in terms of biodiversity, but don’t look ‘glamorous’. They are essentially what others see as troublesome weeds. Sometimes ripping out these to make room for others can have a negative effect.

I’ve also re-seeded an area of lawn with wildflower seeds this year.
What I would say on the topic of re-seeding is to be careful of your source. ‘Wildflower meadows’ and doing our bit for the bees seems to be becoming more mainstream and popular these days which a lot of companies are coping on to. You will find plenty of boxes of wildflower seed mixes on the market. But how many are truly native? Free of pesticides that our pollinators really need? They are questions that I ask before buying.

I sourced my seeds from www.wildflowers.ie which I feel are reputable. They say they collect and sell certified truly native seeds. So if they are truly native seeds/wildflowers, I think it can only do good?

A balanced approach of both is what I’m going for.