There are a variety of wildflower seeds on offer; we’d always encourage only selecting native and local provenance where possible.
Ground
preparation
-
Choose
a sunny spot that is relatively
free-draining
-
Wildflowers
get easily out-competed by ‘garden’ grasses and perennial weeds so it is
important that the area you wish to sow is cleared
of existing vegetation
-
You
may wish to use a turf cutter and/or rotavator to prepare the soil; you need at
least 50% of bare ground available for good establishment.
Seed
selection and sowing
-
Ensure
you select a wildflower seed mix that is suited to your soil profile; clay,
loamy, chalk etc.
-
For
an instant showy display,
Cornfield Annuals are a good choice.
They’re an annual seed meaning they flower in the first year and will need the
soil to be turned over at the end of the season to encourage flowering again
the following year. Cornfield Annual mixes include Cornflower, Corncockle, Corn
Marigold and Poppy.
-
For
a longer lasting
perennial wildflower meadow, seed
mixes will vary based on your soil profile but may include Knapweed, Yarrow,
Musk Mallow, Wild Carrot, Field Scabious, Devils Bit Scabious, Yellow Rattle
etc. A native wildflower meadow mix will likely contain up to 80% native fine grasses
including Crested Dogs Tail, Common Bent and Red Fescue etc. These mixes take
longer to establish (up to 3 years) but provide the more natural meadow
habitats now missing from our landscape.
Ø
Seed
mixes can be hand sown and the sowing rate is usually between 2-4g/m2. It is a
good idea to add sand to your seed mix to bulk it up and make even distribution
easier. Sowing is best done in Autumn (September-October) but can be done in
Spring (March-April). Although the seedlings germinate in early spring, they
usually require vernalisation, a period of cold weather which breaks their
dormancy[2].
 |
| Example of a Cornfield Annual seed mix (Chelsie Fuge, Roundway Orchard, 2019) |
-
The
most important factor for maintaining your meadow is to take ‘hay cuts’ after the flowering period each summer
(June-August). A hay cut refers to the grasses and flowers being cut at their
base, rather than being mulched up as with a normal lawn mower. Always leave
the cuttings for a few days to dry out and drop seed before removing the
cuttings from the site.
Ø
A
few things to remember:
§
Do
not leave cuttings to mulch down as this will add unwanted nutrients to the
soil, favouring competitive weeds/grasses
§
Timing
of your hay cut should be flexible around the weather and if possible, varied
year to year to allow some of the later flowering species to set seed time to
time.
§
Keep
the meadow low from your hay cut until the following February so competition is
low come the new growing season. This may mean taking a few extra cuts from the
area of bringing in some grazing animals; with grazers, be sure to remove them
before damage occurs (wet weather/depth of winter) and before end of February
so new growth can establish.
§
Cornfield
Annual meadows like to have the soil disturbed to encourage re-seeding whereas
perennial meadows should be undisturbed aside from the hay cuts and possible
scheduled grazing.
.jpg) |
| Example
of a diverse perennial meadow (Stephen Davis, Morgan’s Hill, 2020) |
Helping wildlife and the environment
A wildflower meadow, even when cut for hay once a year, can capture and store 3 tonnes of carbon, or 11 tonnes of CO2 per hectare annually![3] Wildflower meadows also support a wide range of invertebrates including butterflies, like the Small Tortoiseshell, the day-flying Burnet Moth and Marbled White to name a few. You may also see Bumblebees, Dragonflies, Damselflies, and songbirds like the Chiffchaff or Wren and reptiles like the Grass Snake.
To
find out more about wildlife in Wiltshire and how you can get involved, check
out
Wiltshire Wildlife Trust.
Article written
by Chelsie Fuge, Project Manager at Wiltshire Wildlife Trust.
[1] http://www.magnificentmeadows.org.uk/conserve-restore/importance-of-meadows
[2] http://www.magnificentmeadows.org.uk/assets/pdfs/Using_yellow_rattle_in_restoration.pdf
