wildflower

Jjjjjjjjbarry

Hi,

I have a large area that I let go wild and then let a nearby farmer cut and bale and take away once per year. It's just too much to mow.

I was thinking it would be nicer to turn it into a sort of wildflower meadow and leave it wild permanently? Once cut and baled, the ground level goes brown for a week or two before greening and starting to grow again. I don't suppose sprinkling wildflower seeds over the area straight away would allow them to integrate and start growing with the grass? It's not a very thick coverage and there's lot of exposed earth when cut.

wildwillow

A wild flower meadow has to be cut or it becomes a thatch of dead and dying grass, weeds and flowers. So sprinkle seeds all you like, provided they are native Irish and not a box from Aldi etc., and continue to let the farmer cut it.

The poorer the ground, the better the fowers usually.

Annual flowers will self seed and should reappear every year.

The Continental Op

The thing here is timing. If you can leave it as late as possible before the field is cut and baled the more wild flowers will be able to seed.

Ideally a meadow is cut and bailed in August not the end of June. The farmer won't like that but its free and if he knows his business he'll also know there is a good market for "organic" hay. The next problem is it need to be cut, properly dried and baling with a small square baler to be worth a premium. Also NO fertiliser!

Now if you do create your wild flower meadow it needs cutting and baling once a year to remove all the top growth and prevent the fertility building up. Good soil fertility is the enemy of wild flowers.

So as you can see its all a balance. If you can find someone with horses that will bale it in August then you can probably make something of it.

Jjjjjjjjbarry

Thanks everyone. Would I better off spraying the grass area after it’s cut, before dispersing wildflower seeds?