Anyone here established their own wildflower meadow?

Hi everyone, I'm just wondering if anyone has experience of planting their own wildflowers? There is a perfect spot for a meadow next to my parents house & I think it would look beautiful with colourful wildflowers, lots of buttercups grow in it naturally. Our entire family comes home from all over the world in the summer & I think it would be fantastic to turn this slightly overgrown area into something beautiful, yet still natural & in keeping with the surroundings, there is a forest next to the land. There is one major problem however, the land is grazed by a few cattle in the autumn, would this make it difficult/impossible for wildflowers to establish properly? I got a small amount of seeds last year but unfortunately I've been too busy to start anything properly, now that I've become a bit of a gardening addict however, I would love to get something started. Any advice is very welcome.

 

Hello! I'm a new member here.Noticed you have an interest in WFMeadows.Have just put aside a small area in my lawn to do just that.Would appreciate any advice!

 

I've recently helped with maintenance work and extra planting of a wildflower meadow on a stretch of local river. An important aspect to consider is that you'll need to cut it all back and remove the cuttings to reduce soil fertility however the grazing cattle might do that for you?

 

I have never tried a Wildlife Meadow before
Bought some annual wildflower seeds in a flower shop to add colour to a corner of my garden
They worked a treat and attracted all types of insects and butterflies
BG

 

Over a number of years and with patience, I've managed to create a small wildflower 'meadow' area from what was originally just an area of bland looking mown grass around a couple of large apple trees in our back garden.

The first stage was to simply stop cutting the grass regularly. It's surprising what will appear even by just letting the grass grow long. I now cut the grass just twice per year, in late July and again around the end of October.

This gives any wildflowers present a chance to seed themselves before the first cut and also means that any spring flowering bulbs or flowers are not swamped by long grass early in the season.

My job a few years ago involved grounds maintenance around a number of schools. One particular small village school had a beautiful bluebell area under a large, ancient apple tree. When this school was closed I managed to rescue a good sackful of bluebell bulbs from the empty site prior to its 'redevelopment' which of course involved the apple tree and bluebell patch disappearing under concrete.
These I planted in amongst the grass under one of my apple trees and they've thrived there ever since.

Shortly after that I 'rescued' a few tatty looking wildflower plants in plug trays which were sitting forgotten in a corner at work, having been left over from a landscaping scheme and which were about to be thrown away.

There were a handful of Cowslips, Ox-eye Daisies and Bedstraw and that was about it, but I took them home and planted a clump of each in the grass.
Several years later they have now colonised the area and are all doing fine!

Other wildflower species have appeared by themselves, such as Celandine, Buttercup, Vetch, Daisy, Clover and of course Dandelion.
I've also got Knapweed growing in there, which came from seeds collected from my favourite churchyard and simply scattered around in the grass.

The whole area has not cost me a penny and looks better with every passing year.

This is how it looks at the moment, photos taken this morning.

 

That looks absolutley lovely Trunky

 

After a hot and hectic day at work, I wandered out into the garden this evening and headed for the cool shade of the old apple tree in the wildflower patch.
In amongst the lush green grass growth, several wild flowers were adding a dash of colour here and there.
Join me for a quick tour.



Plenty of Vetch in flower at the moment



A closer look



Buttercup



The Garlic Mustard has a visitor



Plantain

 

Lovely Trunky,

Careful, Harry123 will be after that Ladybird.

 

Perfect Trunky....what a lovely place to sit

 

It is Lolimac, I only went out there to cool down and chill for a bit, but as I looked around me, I just couldn't resist going back indoors for the camera.
It's right next to the chicken run, I think the girls were a bit disappointed as it usually means tit bits or a few tasty weeds when they see me around.

 

Looks lovely. I don't know too much about cows but I have a feeling there's an issue if they eat clover or some plants. You may want to check with the cows owner for some advice. Wild flower meadows look wonderful though. Go for it if you can.

 

June, and the Ox-eye daisies are flowering in the dappled shade of the old apple tree.



Nearby, the frothy white flowers of Bedstraw stand out in the long grass.

 

Just beautifull Trunky.....it's making me go all peculiar