Wildflowers encourage insects and wildlife in the garden

Why introduce wildflowers into your garden?

In recent years, public interest in wildflower gardens and meadows has steadily grown and is now at an all time peak.

Leaving a small piece of your garden as a wildflower area is a great way of encouraging a wide diversity of birds, butterflies, bees and other insects and garden wildlife.

The great thing about creating a wildflower area is that you don’t require much space, it’s low maintenance, relatively cheap and the end results can look amazing.

Wild flower areas are cut infrequently, no fertiliser is required, as they perform better on nutrient deficient soils, due to a lack of competition from coarse grasses. Very little, if any irrigation is required as wild flowers are very drought hardy and in most cases perform better during drier summers.

That said, plenty of experts in the media would have you believe that raking some wildflowers seeds through and existing piece of grassland is all that’s required. The reality is all too different as it can take considerably more work to establish a successful wild flower patch or meadow.

Choosing a suitable area

Cornfield Mixture — Poppies and cornflowers are a popular choice in a corn filed mixture.

An ideal site for the successful establishment of wild flowers would be an area that is relatively low in nutrients. If the soil is very fertile then the success of the flowers may be disappointing, due to competition from competing grasses.

Obvious signs of fertility are strong grass or plant growth. If nettles and docks are present then there is a good chance the soil is fertile. If this is the case, then you may want to consider removing the top soil to reduce the fertility.

If you don’t want to go to this trouble, it may be best to a wildflower seed mix based around cornfield annuals, which will give the best results on fertile soils. A cornfield annuals mixture may include poppies, corn-cockle, primrose, cornflowers and mayweed.

Ideally choose an area in the garden that receives sunlight, but has always produced week grass or plant growth. This could be an ideal site for creating a wild flower patch or meadow. Avoid areas of the garden that are shaded, as results will be poor.

Options & preparation for wildflower establishment

Seeding: If you decide (as most do) to go down the seeding route, then it is even more important that you choose an area lacking in fertility, (low in nutrition) to ensure a good success rate. Spring and autumn are the preferred times for sowing wildflowers. However if the soil is very heavy (clay), then it is better to sow during the spring time.

Try and remove all of the vegetation prior to broadcasting the wild flower seed mix. If the area is relatively small the vegetation can be removed by hand digging and weeding.

Alternatively spray with a glyphosate based total weed killer, like Round Up. Once the grass and vegetation has died, lightly cultivate the area, keeping it quite shallow, so as to not bring up any weed seeds.

Wildflowers Insects — Wildflowers attract all types of wildlife and insects, including bees and butterflies.

Rake any dead and excess vegetation off the area, and rake the area level. It is now ready for broadcasting the seed. This can be done by hand or with a spreader.

Which ever method you use, many experts recommend doing at least two passes in opposite directions to get an even application.

Some people mix the seed with sharp sand, to bulk it up and act as a carrier. This can make the application easier, as the application rate of the seed is quite low. This also helps with an even application.

Once this is done, lightly rake the surface over, before giving it a light roll. This helps the seed come into contact with the soil. If you don’t have a roller, use something similar, you can even lightly tread it in, as we just need to firm the surface and ensure good contact with seed and soil. If the soil is dry, you can give it some water, but avoid over watering, as it doesn’t need saturating.

Plugging: Another method of establishing wild flowers is by setting small plugs of wild flowers into the soil.

Again, they will perform better on nutrient deficient sites. Simply make small holes with a trowel, push and firm the plug into the soil.

They can be watered after planting, if necessary. Some leaf-mould can be added around each plant to prevent competition from weeds and coarse grasses.

Autumn is usually the optimum time for planting wildflower plugs, as the ground is still relatively warm following the summer months. This helps them root and establish before the following spring.

You can check out the video above for some useful tips on planting wildflower plugs.

Turfing: The final method of introducing wildflowers into your garden is by pre-grown turf. Although more costly than the other methods it will almost always give reliable results.

The already established mixture should contain the appropriate quantities to provide an even distribution of species of wildflowers. There should no existing coarse grasses or weed seeds and only premium wildflower seeds should be used eliminating any competition during establishment.

The end result is an instant wildflower meadow, with the maintenance program the same as an established seeded site.

Sowing the wild flower mixtures

For anything other than very large areas hand seeding is the preferred method. Follow the sowing rates on the manufactures packet or box. As the sowing rate will most likely very low, it makes the seed difficult to apply evenly.

To help with this problem the seed can be mixed with some sand to help with the handling and application. Another tip to help apply the seed evenly is to sow at half rate in one direction, then sow again at half rate at 90 degrees to the previous pass.

The seed can be then lightly raked in. A light roll may also prove beneficial if possible. It should then be irrigated thoroughly and it should then look after itself. However, if the soil becomes dry keep it watered, Aim to keep the soil moist, but avoid over watering.

Perennial Wild Flowers Aftercare

Autumn Sown Mixture

First year

March Cut at approx 50mm if sufficient growth removing clippings
May Cut again at 50mm removing clippings
September / October Cut at 50mm and remove all clippings

Subsequent years

March / April Cut at 50mm and remove clippings
October Cut at 50mm after flowering has finished. Remove the clippings

Spring Sown Mixture.

4 – 6 weeks after sowing Cut at 50mm and remove clippings
May Cut at 50mm if sufficient growth removing the clippings.

Subsequent years

March / April Cut at 50mm and remove clippings
October Cut at 50mm after flowering has finished. Remove the clippings

Annual & Perennial Wild Flowers Mixture

Autumn Sown mixtures

March / April Cut at 50mm if sufficient growth, remove clippings.
October Cut at 50mm and remove the clippings.

Subsequent years

March / April Cut at 50mm and remove clippings
October Cut at 50mm after flowering has finished. Remove the clippings

Spring Sown Mixtures

August to October Cut at 50mm following flowering (spring sown mixtures
usually flower later in the year).

Subsequent years

March / April Cut at 50mm and remove clippings.
October Cut at 50mm following flowering and remove clippings

NB. A pure cornfield annual mixture will not last for more than a year. Reseeding must be repeated yearly to give an annual display of flowers. However, after a few years a seed bank will build up in the soil, allowing the wildflowers to regenerate in the following years. All it takes is for the soil to be disturbed in the spring time to activate the seeds.