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Hay meadow

• Message 1. 

  Posted by trisha (U14964854) on Thursday, 18th August 2011

  I have a small patch of grass in front of the house -11 ft. 6ins. by 18 feet. It faces south, is bordered by a hawthorn hedge and a path. It's Hertfordshire clay and stone soil. Is it possible to turn it into a wildflower 'meadow' which will be good for wildlife? How would I go about this? Trisha

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• Message 2

  , in reply to message 1.

  Posted by garyhobson (U11055016) on Friday, 19th August 2011

  A wildflower meadow is not easy to establish because the type of grass that is most commonly used for garden lawns (rye grass) is very vigourous, and will suffocate most wildflowers. Wildflowers also prefer infertile soil.
  
  Trying to grow wildflowers in a flower bed (without grass) is more likely to be successful than trying to grow in grass.
  
  You could clear the grass from a third of the area, by skimming off the grass (just the top level, about an inch). Then plant some wildflowers in the bare soil. That way you would have a 'normal' flower bed, consisting of wildflowers.
  
  In the remaining area, you could try to plant wildflowers into your existing grass. If the area is small, then you could just about get away with this, because you could weed around each flower to keep the grass from stiffling it. Stronger flowers such as ox-eye daisies are much easier to grow in grass than
  delicate flowers such as field poppies.
  
  Either raise the wildflowers from seed, or buy small plants. Don't try to grow from seed unless you are familiar with growing flowers from seeds. You can buy various types of wildflower mixtures from most seed suppliers, such as T&M, and from garden centres. Or you can buy small plants from garden centres in the Spring. Or you can buy small plant plugs by mail order.
  
  It also depends how much effort/expense you want to go to. You could treat the area with weedkiller and then sow a mixture of flowers and meadow grasses. These mixtures are available from garden centres and via mail order. The most drastic option would be to remove the top 4 inches of soil, import new infertile soil, and then sow some meadow mixture.
  
  Having part (or all) of the area as a flower bed (without grass) would also show neighbours that your lawn has not simply grown long, but is intended to be like that.
  
  Another good option would be to go for a bed of billowing flowers intended to attract bees and other insects. Wildflowers are very good for this too.
  

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  Posted by Papa Nopsis (U14479902) on Monday, 22nd August 2011

  Medowmania (co.uk ) have hundreds of different species of meadow flowers and grasses for you to choose from.
  
  I had such a magnificent crop of poppies this year that i just let them grow and grow along with all the weeds. I have had more and bigger grasshoppers this year in this garden bigger than I have seen in 60 years!
  
  Yes you do not need good soil for meadow flowrs.; again meadowmania and Emorsgate seeds (search) give advice on their websites

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