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Yellow Rattle In Small Wild Flower Meadow With Ornamental grasses

qthisupqthisup Posts: 16
in Wildlife gardening
Hello
I have two small coastal wildflower beds that contain a wildflower mix in addition to some Leymus arenarius plants for height and structure. Some other grasses are taking over a bit and I wonder if I plant some Yellow Rattle seeds this Autumn (as i gather is the right time?), if the semi-parasitic Rattle with affect my ornamental Leymus grasses negatively?

Thanks 

Posts

  • LoxleyLoxley NottinghamPosts: 4,808
    Leymus runs like crazy, so reducing it's vigour is going to be a good thing! Personally I wouldn't use Leymus as it's pretty invasive.
  • qthisupqthisup Posts: 16
    okay thanks. The beds are contained, was just filling the area around the Leymus with some wildflowers. I'll plant some Rattle in that case. Thanks again
  • pinkskyinthecitypinkskyinthecity Nottinghamshire, England Posts: 97
    Hi, 
    I've tried numerous times to grow this from seed, but they never came up? Did yours germinate for you or did you buy plants? 
  • qthisupqthisup Posts: 16
    Hi. I understand they need a cold period in order to germinate so I’ll need to wait until spring to see. I did use seeds. 
  • pinkskyinthecitypinkskyinthecity Nottinghamshire, England Posts: 97
    qthisup said:
    Hi. I understand they need a cold period in order to germinate so I’ll need to wait until spring to see. I did use seeds. 
    I direct sown mine in the past two years (though, I can't remember whether it was done in spring rather than autumn.) I'll sow them now. Thanks, qthisup.
  • rachelQrtJHBjbrachelQrtJHBjb South BucksPosts: 809
    Yellow rattle seeds need to be sown fresh (autumn) and require a period of winter chilling (stratification) to initiate germination. If they fail to come up in spring you can buy plug plants. I'm just not sure the rattle will limit the growth of the Leymus.
  • pinkskyinthecitypinkskyinthecity Nottinghamshire, England Posts: 97
    rachelQrtJHBjb said:
    Yellow rattle seeds need to be sown fresh (autumn) and require a period of winter chilling (stratification) to initiate germination. If they fail to come up in spring you can buy plug plants. I'm just not sure the rattle will limit the growth of the Leymus.
    I bought seed so that didn't work out for me, then... Oh well.
  • rachelQrtJHBjbrachelQrtJHBjb South BucksPosts: 809
    If your seed was purchased from a reputable supplier it should have been collected this summer. They usually state that on their website. There has been limited supply this year due to growing conditions and some companies had little or none for sale. 
  • rachelQrtJHBjbrachelQrtJHBjb South BucksPosts: 809
    Just a thought @qthisup could you substitute the Leymus for Helictotrichon sempervirens? https://www.rhs.org.uk/plants/8555/Helictotrichon-sempervirens/Details
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