A wildflower meadow, on the other hand, needs no fertilizing, little or no supplemental water and just a once-a-year mowing. Planting a meadow lawn is a lot of hard work initially, but once established, it requires very little upkeep. Alternatively get our Bee Saver Kit which includes some wildflower seeds to get you started. Ticks are at risk of drying out in daylight and need sufficient moisture for survival. Replacing some or all of your lawn with a wildflower meadow is a great alternative. For the best experience on our site, be sure to turn on Javascript in your browser. Remember when fireflies were flickering and lighting up the the night sky in the thousands, sometime around midsummer? Here is where your wildflower planting efforts really start to take off. Plant your wildflower lawn as the seeds would naturally fall in a meadow. Unlike traditional grass lawns, wildflowers support pollinators, and only need to be mowed once per season. Native flowers bring in a greater variety of pollinators that will help overall native pollinator populations as well as pollinate both your flower and vegetable gardens. Adopt a two-cut approach to your lawn, mowing once in autumn and then again in spring, removing all of the cut grass. Be sure to let annuals flower and produce seeds before mowing at the highest setting, or scything, for the first time. Planting a wildflower lawn is a win-win situation! Grasses are important in every meadow because they ultimately provide protection and support for tall flowers, just as they help to prevent soil erosion with their deep, dense roots. Planting a Wildflower Meadow in your Yard Owen Wormser presents the landscaping design idea for a sustainable future: Planting wildflowers and perennial native grasses to create a beautiful, low maintenance meadow instead of a lawn. You can choose colour-themed wildflower seed mixes, or mixes designed for wildlife. In wildflower meadows on acid soil in Wales and Scotland you’ll find harebell, tormentil and devil’s-bit scabious, among others. Whatever your tool, be sure to be rid of all grasses and weeds. Surpass 30 species and your new lawn is just about as diverse as it can get. You'll soon have a colorful meadow with plenty of blooms for bouquets — and you can’t do that with lawn grass! The tool that is on my wish list though, is one of those long handled hedge trimmers. Get to know every plant in your meadow by visiting it regularly and learning how to identify a myriad of its inhabitants. Wildflowers . Instead of mowing your lawn every week, sweating to achieve pristine green golf-course style grass, you could be relaxing in the sun with your feet up, amongst a colourful scented haven of flowers and beautiful pollinating insects. These are the 6 steps to follow: 1. Plant your wildflower lawn as the seeds would naturally fall in a meadow. Meadow lawns require less water and can be planted just about any place you'd put a groundcover. Then join our newsletter while you’re at it! Planting plugs of the semi-parasitic yellow rattle … However Amanda and Julian did do some meadow planting over the years: ‘We added some wildflower seeds from Emorsgate Seeds, and watched it all grow up.’ Emorsgate Seeds sell a variety of different meadow seeds for various soil types. You can greatly reduce your lawn this way. This method could however, take a while, but if you are lucky enough to have a wildflower meadow fairly near to you, wind and birds seed distribution will speed the transformation up. For others, summer will be it. A good resource to get started with foraging wild plants: Edible Wild Plants: A North American Field Guide to Over 200 Natural Foods by Thomas Ellas and Peter Dykeman. Maintaining a meadow. Find mixtures for your region, or for special uses such as dry areas, partial shade, attracting animals, low growing, and more. Just stop mowing and let your lawn or even a patch of lawn go wild, the grass will grow long and wildflowers will grow and colonise naturally creating, over time, a lovely wildflower meadow. One natural alternative is a low-maintenance natural meadow. Wildflowers will thrive with 6+ hours of sunlight per day. Run a quick search for images of a traditional lawn and green is what you will find. What is a childhood without playing outside, rolling around on the lawn? Not only are they bad news for insects, they are terrible for pets and children too. For the best experience on our site, be sure to turn on Javascript in your browser. If we are to provide a safe place for all wildlife, we must rethink the “modern” lawn. And neither can you toss wildflower seeds on top of grass lawn and think you’ll be swimming in flowers. Learn about varieties which help to replenish nutrients to your soil. Weeding by hand may be necessary if undesired annuals are still popping up. In 6 steps Monty Don shows just how easy it is to sow Wildflowers in to existing grass, mimicking a true wildflower meadow. Everyone is allowed to have an opinion. Seeds Need Soil Contact to Germinate. "I've heard so many stories of home gardeners who've given up trying to grow wildflowers because their "meadows in a can" seeds failed to grow," says Mike Lizotte, wildflower specialist at American Meadows. Over 75 choices that will bloom in the second year and for years to come. Secondly, plant in fall for the best results. Replacing some or all of your lawn with a wildflower meadow is a great alternative. If you remove all that is there, you are likely to end up with a yard of weeds, which is absolutely nothing like a swaying meadow full of grasses and flowers. ), that are continuously fertilized and sprayed with insecticides, pesticides and other agro-chemicals questionable in origin. Once you determine the minimum amount of lawn that you need, then you can start to consider how to convert the remaining lawn into a wildlife-friendly environment. Published: 25 Mar 2018 | 2 min ute read. Click here to view our General Gardening Guides. Work with, not against nature, and we all benefit. It does, however, take some planning and preparation. Here is how to identify the top 5 lawn grass species. An annual meadow will give you a one-off display in summer, while a perennial meadow will provide colour from year to year. And lawns aren't very friendly to the environment, either. The only work involved will be laying seed, and mowing once a year. They also consist of grasses (50-80% grass cover in a wildflower meadow), but not the most common lawn grasses below: Not sure what type of grass that is currently growing in your lawn? Then pick up a reference book to find out just what plants you are looking at. Perennials are slower to germinate and often slower to get going as they put much of their energy in root growth their first year. You might want to turn some of your lawn, or an old flower border into your new wildflower meadow. Refrain from spraying chemicals on the land, in the hopes that now you won’t hurt anything downstream, anymore – there is always something, someone, some bird, insect, fox, owl, mouse, frog or fish downstream. Cheryl Magyar is a sustainable life designer and environmental freelance writer with more than twenty years experience of living a simple life close to nature. Wildflower lawns or areas of flowering lawn weeds can be charming and easy-maintenance once established. Sign Up For Our Best DealsAnd get $5 off your first qualifying order. Here’s how to grow wildflowers in your lawn. They make a great lawn alternative in areas like front gardens. Avoid areas where water puddles after a rain. Boldly embrace biodiversity instead by turning that sterile lawn of yours into a mini-meadow or wildflower lawn of diverse proportions! Follow on Instagram and sign up for their newsletter for more inspirations on living a sustainable life. Lawn Seed. Whether you're planting five acres or five square feet, the better you prepare the area, the better your results will be. Planting in full sun is a must! Broadcast sow the seed, mix in to sand if that makes it easier 5. At present, that childhood joy is but a regional occurrence. For large areas, consider renting a lawn roller (a large drum you fill with water and roll back and forth). You wildflower meadow instead of lawn ’ t want on your land non-native, invasive species that with... 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