Wild flowers for driveway?

Hi. Can anyone recommend any wildflower seeds (perennial and very low - or no - maintenance) .
I have a long strip that used to be a house driveway.
When I moved here recently the weeds had already taken over this area. I´m hoping that next year I can at least have a few flowers growing there too and maybe even some flowers stopping as many weeds pushing through.

The area will get the sun (well, when it´s out) for a few hours a day at least. Not blocked by anything like a house side etc. if that makes any difference at all.

Thanks.

 

If it is well drained and sunny, then have a look at planting a selection of Thymes. We used to have a strip like that up the middle of the Drive which was full of them.

 

I posted a video here a couple of years back showing some of the wildflowers that have done well on the drive way here. The strongest growing one seems to be the Centranthus ruber (red valerian) but I don't regard it as maintenance free as I still like to get more blooms out of it by deadheading to encourage new flowers and chop it down around now as the older shoots look a bit rough and dominate the driveway a bit too much. A more recent one that has done well is fleabane that I had in containers but is now sprouting up all over the driveway as I had seen it doing in some places in the nearest city. I bought the fleabane plants in the hope they would self seed about the place. The red valerian I got as seed but started in containers as they were to be planted out on a fairly inhospitable north facing slope and did not know they would be so good at self seeding.

Happy gardening!

 

Perenial and low growing, only two hours of sun.
I've got swathes of creeping jenny (Lysimachia) in a similar situation. Always bright and cheerful but it must have plenty of water.

 

Not a native wildflower but Mexican fleabane is perennial, establishing and seeding itself very readily in sunny, well-drained places and seems to prefer poor soil. It's pretty and not a pest - can be readily pulled out from the wrong places. I have it here in the garden, grown from seed, and have also seen it escaped and effectively naturalised down in Devon, growing out of the cracks in a stone bridge.

 

I try to cultivate weeds as they grow and flower better than what I plant, we do have a wild flower area at the back but at the front we use tubs so we can position them for best effect.

 

Why seeds, necessarily? Plugs can be quite affordable and can give you more control over what mix you want and even what insects you wish to attract, if any. Places like Naturescape are fairly inexpensive...

British Wildflowers | Seeds, Plants & Bulbs from Naturescape

+1 for thymes from me, good suggestion and I would also add marjoram (Origanum vulgare) for similarly light soils!

Simply doing this and just adding a few that take your fancy can often be the best approach for wildlife and gardeners IMO! Self-heal, White Clover, Cuckoo Flower and Fox-and-Cubs grow well here and are all loved by pollinators.

For a shadier spot and consistently moist soil I think this cultivar of our Common Bistort is hard to beat and provides good ground cover! I think around 3 hours of sun in reasonably moist soil should be perfect.

Persicaria bistorta 'Superba'

Nick

 

Perfect! I nicked some Mexican fleabane from a wall in a bus stop. It didn't like it much but stuck it in water for a few days then damp compost - and it's all taken. Very keen to see how it gets on next year now I've planted into the spaces between some paving...and some in a big pot. I love it!

 

I second the Mexican fleabane, it's so prolific. I find it amazing that people can charge £4 for one - we have hundreds

 

I've got some Mexican fleebane I put it in the hanging baskets and some has spread into some cracks in the tarmac, but hasn't spread all over, it's a very nice plant.

 

I'm thinking about using thyme on a bank. Can I just scatter the seeds on the soil or will they have to be germinated and grown on first?

 

Thanks John. I haven't got the room to grow them in trays - not having a greenhouse. I'll try sowing them direct.