create meadow?
nick nicolas
Posts: 23
I am in S.Bucks with have a spare bit of a plot 30x40m surrounded by 6ft panels with plenty of space at the bottom for small animals to pass through.
I cleared the old bramble & nettles & am digging out the thick grass, that accumulated for years; would like to turn it to a bit of a meadow for wild insects, eventually will have Batlea, nettles, bramble & all but, must seed some wild flowers.
Can anybody please guide me how to go about it, or am I dreaming?
Unfortunately there is no water or electric, except some containers to trap rain water
I am octogenerian OAP and cannot afford grandioze plans. How can I get some cheap wild meadow seeds please? ....thanx ....nick
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Go for a walk every week between now and the end of september. Try river banks and country walks. I found that seeds just fall into a paper bag I kept handy. You're not allowed to dig anything up without the landowners permission.
Do you have a green house or cold frame to be able to grow your own plug plants?
it's a good time of year to wander in the countryside with a paper bag Nick.
Make sure all those brambles and nettles are really gone before you sow though. They can be very persistant.
Are you thinking of a hay meadow, (flowers in grass), or a cornfield type mix, no grass
In the sticks near Peterborough
Thanx both,
so no nettles, but the whole plot is criss crossed 2-3 inches underground with their rootes. Will keep weeding them in the bud, same the brambles.
I thought though that they are good for insects.
will go walking with a bag. ................nick
Th
nettles are food for some of the caterpillars Nick but a patch is enough. You don't want them everywhere. Same with brambles. If you're going to have brambles make sure thasy have good fruit (to your taste) otherwise get rid and acquire one you do like.
They tip roo, so if you find a good one whilst walking pull up one of those tips that has rooted down and bring it home. I think maybe you're going to need a little trolley for the bags, the brambles, the thick gloves, a pair of secateurs, a trowel.......
Most of the native shrubs around my garden came from growing hedgerow berries, spindle, buckthorn, wild privet, guelder rose are some of them
In the sticks near Peterborough
Thanks again, will do,
In the hedges near us there is a nettle with small leaves & small flowers. Any good?
nick
Nick
Not sure I should really be giving advice on this - as I have been trying to create a flower meadow (with not much success
) for the last 5 years. However, the one thing I have learnt during my efforts is the importance of yellow rattle - its a plant that's parasitic on grass so keeps the grass down and gives the flowers a chance to grow. In the patches where I have got YR going I am having much more success.
I bought my YR seed last autumn and sowed in patches straight into the ground. It needs to get good and cold before it germinates, so needs a winter exposure.
Good luck with it
Nick, these are a couple of links to forum discussions on growing wildflowers and creating meadows. They may be useful
http://www.gardenersworld.com/forum/talkback/growing-wildflowers-for-bees-and-butterflies/89364.html
http://www.gardenersworld.com/forum/wildlife-gardening/creating-a-wildflower-garden/75234.html
In the sticks near Peterborough
Thank you all again, just cleared a fifth of the plot from grass to try first.
I am levelling it and waite to see what weeds will start to grow.
The uprouted clamps of grass/routs were shaken clear of earth & spread to dry. Can I throw them in my large compost plastic barrel, or will they start growing again in there?
I printed a sheet of fotos of all the wild flowers you mentioned & we try to spot them as we go along the road & passages. My wife found some others stringy buttercups e.t.c ............nick
Hi again,
The plot cleared of the thick grass & seeded last year is full of growth but, only the Borage flowered & dominated the plot. No poppies or Y.Rattle yet.
My attempt to show fotos failed here, how do you do it? The insert foto icon above fails.