Mini wildflower meadow border possibility

Lucee

Hi, received great advice before, I’m a beginner but very keen. 

I’m removing the 2 plants in the front border and the gravel and thinking of potentially 3 shrubs. However I’m also wondering if a wildflower meadow type border would work down the side I’ve marked? Also there’s quite abit more length that is chopped from the photo. I’ve done some reading around how to go about creating one but is a front garden border an ok place? And once it dies back, can I plant things such as poppys/daffodils for the spring or would that not work? Thank you, apologies if the questions are ridiculous 🙈

pansyface

There are two types of meadow plants, annuals and perennials. 

The annuals, like wild red poppies, need their seed to be sown into open soil each year. They aren’t keen on growing in grass. The perennials, like cowslips and snake’s head fritillaries, just keep popping up in the grass every spring and die down in the autumn.

So you have a choice. You can dig over the strip each year and sow annual seeds each time or you can just leave the grass to grow and the perennial flowers to grow through it and cut it all back, leaving the seedheads to dry out and empty into the grass, each autumn.

Perennials are obviously easier but not as brilliantly coloured.

The downside of both types is that they can look hellishly messy when not in flower. Neighbours might just think that you’ve left the garden to go weedy, which in a sense you have.

Another problem might be that people might see what they take to be weeds and use your wildflower garden as a shortcut to trample over.

Uff

Lucee no gardening questions are ridiculous, it's how we learn about our hobby and I've no doubt we all asked questions. I still do. 

Fire

 There are quite a number of detailed ideas in the recent enquiry below re wild flowers, over wintering, maintenance etc.

https://forum.gardenersworld.com/discussion/1063529/front-garden-got-rid-of-the-lawn-now-what-do-i-do/p1

One option might be to lay a Meadow Mat, which can work to lay over a fairly small area. I've seen it used in a very similar edging situation. If you are interested in that kind of option, I would go for a zero grass wild flower mix. As grasses can take over, esp if right next to a lawn.

https://www.turfonline.co.uk/product-category/wildflower-turf/

You could use some kind of edging to mark out the border, if you are worried about people walking across it. There are loads of options for that.

---

As it mentions in the above GW thread, over winter a purely "wild flower" area can look pretty tatty or empty. If it's right in front of your house, that might be a problem. Or not. A mix of wild flowers like poppies, evergreens, spring flowers and bulbs, might give more of a year round display, with edging to keep the grass out the border. 

Fire

Edited to add more thoughts above.

Lucee

Thanks so much for all your input, it’s made me think I might prefer a slightly more structured look for the front. As I’ve mentioned I’m taking the 2 plants out at the front and removing the gravel, I’d like to keep them if i can and put them in large pots on the patio, but is digging them up and keeping them alive in the process something I as a beginner can do? My mil wants to do it but I think id like to try…🤨

Fairygirl

There's nothing to stop you having some wildflowers, but it wouldn't be a great idea to have them along the edges where they're bordering access areas. You could simply have an area in the middle of the grass instead. 
The cordylines would certainly look a bit odd with those, and there's no reason why you can't move them. Just water well first, then get as big a rootball dug out as you can, and make sure the pots are big enough to accommodate that. A mix of soil and grit would be ideal for them. They need good drainage, so if they're going on a hard surface, use some pot feet or little blocks of wood to raise them and allow excess water to drain.
Don't allow them to get fried though - give them a little shade while they adjust to their new conditions.
You might find it easier to gather up and tie the fronds with some string [into a column] to make handling them less tricky   
If you're removing the gravel, are you planting up those sections instead, or returning them to grass?

Lucee

thank you those tips are so helpful! I’d never thought of tying them! Yes I’m hoping to put some lovely plants in, I know the border isn’t huge but the last couple of years I’ve been so envious of other beautifully coloured borders nearby, so I’d really like to try!