Making a small meadow/butterfly garden
I have an area of garden that I want to turn into a small meadow/bee and butterfly friendly space and I’m looking for suggestions for suitable plants.
The area is 5.5M by 3.5M with a 2M wall on the east side, similar height hedges on the south and west sides and open to the north so doesn’t get much direct sun but is light, it’s also partly sheltered from rain but drains slowly. Along one side is a log pile to encourage the stag beetles to continue breeding and nearby is a small stand of nettles for various butterflies.
It’s currently bare ground, covered with about 20cm of earth excavated from foundations for my workshop but it’s likely to be fairly ‘rich’ as previous owners had bonfires there.
What would give a fast result? Which seeds or plug plants? How much/many would I need to give good coverage? We have cats so need to consider plant toxicity as well.
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You are limited by lack of sun, but bee balm does well in shade. Autumn Bride Heuchera is supposed to do well in dry shade, and blooms late in the year when other flowers are long gone.