Creating a wildflower meadow

Walking through central Bristol’s Bearpit is not usually a particularly aesthetically pleasing experience. But now a beautiful meadow has appeared next to the greying walls and rubbish lying around. It’s a pleasant splash of colour amongst the concrete jungle of Broadmead.

If you want to create your own meadow, you have got two options really.

You can either build the meadow around an existing stretch of grass, or create one from scratch. Before you start work, however, have a look around your local area. Wise gardeners will take a note of the plants which are thriving in the wild near their garden. Not only does this reduce the risk of plants failing because of unsuitable conditions, but it also means that you are building on locally established habitats for wildlife.

Much conventional gardening wisdom does not apply when creating a wildflower meadow. For instance, you mustn’t make any attempt to enrich the soil. Wildflowers have evolved over centuries in soils which at their best are quite hungry for nutrients. Save your compost for your flowerbeds. If you’re already working on very fertile soil, you can remove the top 10cm of soil to remove some of the nutrients, or it may be best to plant a cornfield mixture instead.

Working with an existing lawn
Leave the lawn unmown for a summer, and keep an eye on it as there may be existing wildflowers amongst the grass. Then, in the Autumn, clear some patches of turf and sow a wildflower seed mix (see below). Rake gently and water well. This is the cheapest way of introducing wild flowers to the grass, but a more reliable method is to buy wildflowers grown in plugs, and plant them. The Wildlife Trusts suggest turning over any turf you have removed and placing it as a mulch around the plants.

Creating a meadow from scratch
In Autumn, clear the ground and remove the first 7cm of topsoil. Break down any large lumps of soil, and rake until the soil is firm (not consolidated). Mix wild grass seed with wildflower seeds to a ratio of one and a half to one half, or as directed by the wildflower seed packet, and sow, raking in lightly. Water thoroughly.

Plants to include in your meadow
A lot of meadows, including the Bristol Bearpit meadow, use a variety of cultivars which are not native to this country. This is fine if you’re working in the city, but if your garden is in a rural area, it’s best to stick to native plants for a number of reasons. Planting natives will help sustain local fauna, and will also prevent any cross-pollination with native species nearby which could endanger native species. Plus you’re helping to replace lost natural meadows.

Good meadow flowers include: Ox-eye daisy (Leucanthemum vulgare), Cuckoo Flower (Cardamine pratensis), Poppy (Papaver rhoeas), Snake’s Head Fritillary (Fritillaria meleagris), Devil’s Bit Scabious (Succisa pratensis), Wild Daffodil (Narcissus pseudonarcissus), Meadow Cranesbill (Geranium pratense), Cowslip (Primula veris), and Red Campion (Silene dioica).

Buy your seed or plug plants from good quality, preferably local suppliers. It might be tempting as you walk through the countryside to collect seed from the wildflowers you pass, or even dig them up, but you will need the express permission of the landowner to do the former, and the latter is illegal. Besides, you won’t be contributing anything to the environment as collecting the seed could decimate the local population of a particular plant.

Maintaining the meadow
Your meadow requires the most attention in the first year following sowing. You should cut the meadow every time it reaches around 10-15cms in height, which should take around six to eight weeks. Compost the cuttings as leaving them on the meadow will increase the soil fertility.

In following years, mow the grass towards the end of March and again at the beginning of September.

If you’re suffering from too much grass and too few flowers, sowing Yellow Rattle (Rhinanthus minor) will help as it is semi-parasitic on grass.

Want to know more?
Visit these sites for more information.

RHS Gardening Advice: Wildflower Meadow Establishment
Really Wild Flowers