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What you need to do now to prepare for a fantastic wildflower meadow next year

Bring soil fertility down so grasses become less dominant, enabling the wildflowers to thrive - Friedrich Strauss
Bring soil fertility down so grasses become less dominant, enabling the wildflowers to thrive - Friedrich Strauss

Creating a wildflower meadow can be a tricky business. The key is to bring the soil fertility down so grasses become less dominant, enabling the wildflowers to thrive.

I suggest starting with an area of lawn that is in full sun and has been mown for a number of years. Regular mowing will encourage finer grasses, which tend to grow far more delicately. Rough areas of lawn, or those that have not been mown regularly, often take a lot longer to create a desirable meadow, as the vigorous grasses are tall and tend to flop in the summer.

A good population of the semi-parasitic Rhinanthus minor, or yellow rattle, will be of great benefit and will form a strong foundation to build your meadow upon. Yellow rattle is known as the “meadow maker” because of its ability to weaken vigorous grasses and allow other wildflowers to flourish – it does this by feeding off the nutrients stronger grasses need. It can be sown into tightly mown grass in the autumn. Mix your yellow rattle seed with a little sand and compost to aid germination.

Once the yellow rattle is under way, consider the other types of wildflowers you would like to grow. The website meadowmania.co.uk is a great resource to work out which will suit your soil, and sells seeds and plugs. Some will be happier in heavy soils, some in light and some favour chalk. It is worth doing a little research, otherwise you may end up with a disappointing show of flowers and waste precious pennies.

Starting with an area of lawn that is in full sun and has been mown for a number of years is a good idea - kodachrome25
Starting with an area of lawn that is in full sun and has been mown for a number of years is a good idea - kodachrome25

Colder temperatures and heavy rainfall are less than ideal when it comes to germinating seed (although some wildflower seeds need some frost to break dormancy) so if you are planning to start at this time of year my advice would be to invest in wildflower plugs. Aim for around seven plugs per square metre of lawn. A good mixture of species that are suitable for your garden would be ideal, as some are bound to be more at home than others. Play the odds and don’t put all your eggs in one wildflower basket.

Having mown the lawn tight to the ground, clear any moss and thatch from the site where the wildflower plugs are destined, to give them the best possible start. Soak the plugs in a tray of water to saturate the compost and plant slightly deeper than the surface of the plug, which should help to prevent birds pulling the plugs out of the ground.

It is very likely that winter’s regular rainfall will keep the plugs moist until they establish roots, but intervene if no rain is forecast as one of the biggest killers of plant plugs is dry conditions. Then mow the meadow with the blades high to keep the grass in check until the wildflowers establish.