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damp allotment

lollilillollilil Posts: 6
in Problem solving

hi 

can anyone help 

i have taken over my mums allotment the last third of this allotment has a riverbed running below the surface so it is really boggy in some places water comes to the surface after heavy rain .

i would like this to be a wildflower meadow attracting more wild life 

we already have a wild pond with frogs and under the poly house we have slow worms.

this  wild flower meadow  style area needs to look after itself without taking over but creating enough cover so the creatures are safe

we already have some grasses and some huge iris type flowers.

on the site one man keeps bees so we would like to attract them, we have 3 apple trees but we would like more bees,

i know I'm being greedy but i would like to share the allotment with the wild life and attract as much as possible

thanks 

Posts

  • pansyfacepansyface Posts: 21,901

    Mints will run riot (literally) in damp soil and insects love their flowers. Musk flowers are popular too, but musk is also one to keep on a lead.

    Apophthegm -  a big word for a small thought.
    If you live in Derbyshire, as I do.
  • BobTheGardenerBobTheGardener Posts: 11,391

    There are an enormous number of plants which like boggy conditions and also attract pollinators, so I suggest you look at those rather than trying prairie types which like dry soil.  Have a look here for some inspiration:

    http://www.wildflowershop.co.uk/WF%20Plug%20Collecns/WF%20Bog%20Collecn%20Plugs.htm

     

    A trowel in the hand is worth a thousand lost under a bush.
  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 3,277
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  • Bee witchedBee witched Posts: 1,173

    Hi,

    You might consider Filipendula ulmaria, commonly known as meadowsweet, which loves a damp marshy site and will attract honeybees in large numbers collecting delicate lime-green loads of pollen.

    Caltha palustris - marsh marigold - also likes its feet wet and will provide welcome early season pollen and nectar for bees .... and they often use the lower leaves as landing sites for collecting water.

     

     

    Gardener and beekeeper in beautiful Scottish Borders  

    A single bee creates just one twelfth of a teaspoon of honey in her lifetime
  • Rhod CromptonRhod Crompton Posts: 160

    snakeshead fritillary love damp meadows!

  • lollilillollilil Posts: 6

    wow thank you

    i have been scratching my head over this question for weeks

    you have been a great helpimage

  • treehugger80treehugger80 Posts: 1,923

    try googling 'water meadows' somewhere they'll be a list of species that grow well on really damp soil

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