Control spread of yellow rattle?
Hi everyone
We've converted an old tennis court into a wildflower meadow. Or rather, we've made a start. The naturalised spring bulbs look lovely, but now I want to suppress the grass a little to help boost the wildflowers later in the season. So this autumn I want to put in some yellow rattle. But hubby is worried it'll spread into areas of lawn nearby where it would not be so welcome. Does anyone have any experience of this? How spready is it?
Thanks!
We've converted an old tennis court into a wildflower meadow. Or rather, we've made a start. The naturalised spring bulbs look lovely, but now I want to suppress the grass a little to help boost the wildflowers later in the season. So this autumn I want to put in some yellow rattle. But hubby is worried it'll spread into areas of lawn nearby where it would not be so welcome. Does anyone have any experience of this? How spready is it?
Thanks!
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I expect someone else will have a more definite answer for you though @Adstid
Although I would have thought that yellow rattle in a lawn would not be such a bad idea. Fewer excursions with the lawn mower and more time to sit and enjoy this wonderfully wet and luscious “summer”.🙂
Obviously, for a wildlife area, you wouldn't be mowing till later in the year, so you could add all sorts of others - snake head fritillaries always look good in that setting. Daffs and snowdrops are reliable and don't usually mind no food, so are ideal among wildflowers.
It really depends on the look you want though.
Apart from the fritillaries, I'd keep those sorts of bulbs a bit separate from the wildflower bit I think. If you can get some spotted orchids, they would be excellent too. I think a few people supply them.
Enjoy your meadow - its one of my favourite parts of our garden for butterfly, grasshopper and beetle watching 🤓
Hope you find a source for them. I'm sure I saw a supplier when I was looking for something else recently.