Over the last 15-or so years there’s been a major shift in gardening tastes, with the emphasis moving ever more towards natural, ecological and wilder-looking gardens, and for many the ultimate goal is for a least a patch of their plot to emulate a real floral habitat.

Along with the ever popular woodland garden, undoubtedly the number 1 environment that most gardeners would like to invite back home is the wildflower garden. The appeal of swathes of colourful flowers growing harmoniously in a meadow, or at least a mini-meadow, is pretty powerful and evocative, and for many sums up what they like most about the British countryside.

So far so good, but it’s crucial to realise that a wildflower garden is not simply a piece of land that’s been left to it’s own devices. If you were to try that out in your own garden you would quickly find the whole thing running riot, enveloped in thick, choking weeds and scrubby interlopers whose wind-borne seeds would waste no time in taking root.

The simple reason for this is fertility. Gardens, particularly those that have been tilled for generations, are, relatively speaking, extremely fertile bits of land that can play host to a vast array of plants. Wildflower meadows, by contrast, are notoriously impoverished of nutrients. The flowers that we all admire succeed there because they are pioneers that have evolved to exploit niches that would cause any self-respecting shrub to curl up and wither.

What all this means is that to successfully re-create that wildflower meadow in your garden is going to require some planning, work and ongoing maintenance.

Wildflower gardens can be as small as a dedicated bed or as large as a full-blown meadow, so firstly decide on the boundaries of the area that you will be working with, and also consider how it will work in relation to it’s surroundings – i.e. the rest of the garden and the hard landscaping/buildings etc. You will need a site that is, to all intents and purposes, in full sun, ideally with a southerly aspect.

Then, every vestige of whatever is currently growing in this defined area has to be completely removed, and that means the seeds in the soil too. In practice this is best achieved by whipping out the first two to three inches of topsoil. This is also the area of maximum fertility in the soil, so you’ll also be dramatically reducing the quality of the soil – which, of course is exactly what’s called for.

Alternatively consider removing an old piece of lawn. Areas with old turf can make ideal wildflower beds, since the soil beneath the grass won’t have been cultivated and will therefore be pretty impoverished. Either way once you’ve got back to the bare soil you then want to gently turn over the very surface, really just the top inch or two, and no deeper, just enough to give your incoming wildflowers something to get their new roots into.

Although it’s not essential, if you have the time and patience a good option at this point is to cover the entire area with plastic sheeting for a period of 3 months or so, which will effectively cleanse many (though not all) of the weed seeds that your new cultivation will have brought to the surface.

Your preparation efforts should be geared towards a spring planting, so that your new arrivals can get an immediate start into growth. As for what to plant, it’s absolutely crucial that you consider your soil type and moisture levels. Lots of the country’s finest wildflower meadows occur on dry chalk grasslands, which is fine if you happen to garden on similar soil, but don’t expect the same plants to survive if you have a damp, acid soil site. Try to take inspiration from the natural habitats around you, and consider the range of plants that are likely to succeed where you are.

When it comes to the planting itself you can buy wildflower seed mixes and broadcast them over the whole area. The seed tends to extremely small, almost dust-like, and it can be useful to mix it with fine sand to ensure you get a good even coverage. Rake the soil over very gently after sowing, and keep it all watered if you’re planting in a dry spell. You can also buy small plug-type plants – although this is obviously impractical on a larger scale – and it’s often best to combine both approaches to get a good diversity of plants as well as a quick establishment.

If you are planting a large area then you’ll also want to incorporate low growing creeping grasses such as Fescues. These will help to cover the area quickly and prevent the establishment of couch grass and other nasties.

Once everything is up and growing then keep an eye out for invading weeds – nettles, docks, and other broad-leafed weeds can arrive, but if your soil preparation was good then they won’t survive long. Also, make very sure that no fertilizer/compost run-off reaches your new wildflowers, or you’ll likely be back to square one.

When the wildflower garden is fully established then long-term maintenance consists mainly of mowing (at the very highest possible setting – or better yet strim or grab a scythe) in mid to late autumn, by which time the perennials will have started dying down and the seed heads from the annuals will be ready to return back to the soil.

If you’re lucky enough to have a large area to dedicate to a wildflower garden then think about leaving mown paths that will allow you to get right out into the midst of the action. Surrounded by the hum of bees and hoverflies, what could be better on a warm summers evening.

Tags: Bee Attracting Plants, Butterflies, Flowers, Garden, Garden Supplies, Gardening, Native Plants, Seeds, Wild Flowers

This entry was posted on Monday, February 8th, 2010 at 9:00 am and is filed under Tim's Blog. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.