Wildlife garden
Creating a wildflower meadow: sowing, mowing and patience
Create a wildflower meadow on poor, sunny soil: remove the nutrient-rich topsoil or reduce fertility by taking away the cuttings, sow a mix of native wild flowers such as ox-eye daisy, brown knapweed, field scabious and bird’s-foot trefoil in September–October or March–April, and mow once or twice a year.
What to do
- Choose a sunny spot and check how fertile the soil is: on an old lawn with lots of nettles or docks you will need to reduce fertility first.
- Reduce fertility by stripping the turf with the top 5–10 cm of soil, or by mowing twice a year and always removing the cuttings.
- Sow a mix of native, preferably local-provenance seed in September–October or March–April, thinly (1–2 grams per square metre) mixed with a little sand, then roll or press it in.
- Keep the soil moist until everything has germinated, and mow high a few times in the first year to keep fast-growing weeds in check.
- From the second year, mow once or twice a year: at the end of June or in July, and in September. Leave the hay for a few days so the seeds drop, then take it away.
- Leave an uncut strip each time as a refuge for insects.
Why it helps
- On rich soil, grasses win out over flowers. The poorer the soil, the more different flowers find a place.
- A flower-rich meadow feeds hundreds of insect species, which in turn feed birds, hedgehogs and bats.
Which plants?
- Oxeye daisy Leucanthemum vulgare herbaceous plant Native
- Brown knapweed Centaurea jacea perennial · flowers June–September Native
- Field scabious Knautia arvensis perennial · flowers June–September Native
- Yarrow Achillea millefolium herbaceous plant Native
- Wild carrot Daucus carota herbaceous plant Native
- Bird's-foot trefoil Lotus corniculatus perennial · flowers May–September Native
- Red clover Trifolium pratense herbaceous plant Native
- Meadow clary Salvia pratensis perennial · flowers May–July Native
- Lady’s bedstraw Galium verum perennial · flowers June–September Native
- Cowslip Primula veris perennial · flowers April–May Native
- Wild marjoram Origanum vulgare herbaceous plant Native
- Cornflower Centaurea cyanus herbaceous plant Native
- Common poppy Papaver rhoeas herbaceous plant Native
When?
March–October.
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Take up the challenge
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No Mow May (May)
Let your lawn grow and flower in May: daisies, clover and dandelions feed bees and butterflies.
Did you know? Poppy and cornflower are cornfield flowers: they only germinate on disturbed soil. In a permanent meadow they disappear after a year or two, and ox-eye daisy, knapweed and trefoil take over.