Year 3 Why I'm Getting Rid of My WILDFLOWER Meadow
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- Опубліковано 27 лип 2023
- I've spent quite a while trying to create a wildflower meadow in my garden. But it's not working. And I want something a bit more significant in the prime position in my garden.
I'll be using this book to guide my creation of the new meadow that I'll be replacing it with.
amzn.to/455SqZK
The transition from grass only lawn to a wildflower meadow can definitely be laborious and a bit hit or miss. I think lawns with self heal, clover, dandelion etc can create a similar effect to a meadow as most lawns already have them as ‘weeds’. Some of the more desirable meadow wildflowers can always be grown in pots and borders with less competiton.
I think incorporating native wildflowers is definitely to be encouraged though to get people involved and interested in our native wildflowers. Hopefully the emphasis on no mow may etc will shift in the future towards resortation of the original meadows so we can take back some of what was lost rather than the onus being on gardeners. I think the case for ponds in gardens for wildlife is a better one tbh
Yes, same journey for me and it's an indication of basic principles emerging from our experiences. In the beginning, I'm glad I tried to create a wild flower meadow to prove to myself I could do it and I learned a lot from the experience. But this year I let the grass grow long in patches of 3-4' in width, separated by a maintenance mower path. Yes it flops from mid July onwards after heavy rain, but then quickly recovers because of the high temperatures. In autumn I ruffle it with my hands to maintain its structure as the temperature slowly drops, then mowing it down at the end of October.
I laughed out loud when I saw your floppy meadow. I admire the thought though. The lovely meadows that you think about I guess there are those with lots of pretty flowers multi-coloured (like in the Alps for example), not just the mono yellow flowers you have in UK. Indeed you need a sizeable surface, definitely more than what you have and you need to mow it with a scythe at the right moment once a year, sometime a second time in autumn
I made my 'Meadow' from an area of high maintenance flower border. I re-located most of the perennials, just leaving the native or wild looking plants. I then just let it go, adding some potted wild flowers or transplanting 'Weeds'. I think one overlooked aspect in the video is the value of native grasses and plants as larval food plants; many insect species will not complete their life cycle on non-natives.
I cut every late autumn, (About 8 years now), remove most large tussock grasses, any brambles, tree seedlings etc. It's wonderful in summer, buzzing with insects and with colour from natives and non-natives. Slightly rough looking through winter but not bad.
Trying to achieve an Ideal straight from the off can demoralise most people before even starting. Like improving your diet, you can be overwhelmed by all the different advice eg keto, vegan, meat only or intermittent fasting. The best advice is just take that first step, eat a little less sugar than the day before, choose whole food when you can and you will soon achieve success.
In the garden, start by avoiding pesticides and synthetic chemicals, give wildlife an undisturbed home and take enjoyment of your green space.
100%. Improving a garden for wildlife is way easier than dieting though 😅
We have a clover/ daisy/ self heal lawn. Its fine. The bees and garden birds like it.
You lose and you learn! It’s been really great to follow you on this adventure. It’s pretty difficult to get into a place in which you dedicated so much time and effort to something and realising that it isn’t working.
And the idea of scale never really occurred to me. Because putting a meadow in a garden, is like me trying me trying to stuff my ass in the gym shorts I wore when I was 20. Not going to happen easily, and if it does, it won’t have the same appeal 😂
Looking forward to your consultation with Andy on this.
Okay. Interesting about the aesthetics of recreating large meadows, and the desire to have native plants. Any planting will improve the invertebrates and pollinators.
You are right, I think there can be a bit of misinformation about meadows and its easy. "Scarify the lawn a bit, expose lots of earth, get your yellow rattle in, get some seed mix in, make regular cuts and Bob's your uncle"
It is possible to keep it simple and easy, that is just mowing the lawn less often and keeping the blades at the highest level. This is what I do in one area so it still looks like a lawn but I have seen an increase in grasshoppers, there are more moths hanging around and yesterday a couple of small toads were moving on through. The additional biomass does make a difference
Another tactic is go for those areas that don't want to be a lawn.
I have a section of the garden, its shady, damp, and fertile. Moss loves it. But because the grass is "weak", it can't really compete. Rather than put plug plants in the area. I mostly took plug plants, or grew some things from seed, and only planted them when they were mature. Although I have put in some seed mix as well (Hemp agrimony has come from somewhere)
I still have to keep an eye on moss in winter/early spring and cutting bang the longer grass, but its pretty low maintenance, and has no yellow rattle in there
Otherwise - yeah its removing that top chunk of soil. Which is hard work, but does work. With an emphasis of doing little by little. As where there is a sunny area, good soil, even when yellow rattle is growing, it can still difficult for other plant to compete with grass, in a fertile soil, even a . Although longer grass still good for a lot of butterfly caterpillars, so not the end of the world
Good luck with sowing beauty - we look forward to the next chapter
True. Most suburban gardens aren’t the right place for a meadow.
There’s a green space accross the road from my home and the local council don’t mow it until all plants set seed and there are lovely wild flowers that naturally appear.
I have a tiny space left in my micro orchard not claimed for planting so my dog loves the tiny space available to her to just sit and ground. And yes, meadows need bigger spaces. A suburban house meadow could end up just looking like a stereotypical ‘council house garden tip’. Just incase anyone gets defensive, mine is a council house garden…😂
I dont have a meadow (I want one), but I have a mix of bought plants and native wild flowers that have just popped up by themselves in my garden, and I noticed that there's a big difference in what flowers the bees and butterflies go to. They like the clovers and a few other native ones, but others they just fly right past, preferring the bought ones, especially the lavender and one that I don't know the name of, that I got cuttings of from my aunt. But I still like having all the different wild flowers because they're pretty and I think preserving them for their own sake is nice, independent of wildlife.
They will certainly not harm and I massively appreciate them too. So many turn up for free so I’m not going to kick them out of bed either 😊
I'm looking forward to the conversation with Andy. Will hopefully learn a thing or two.
Sounds like you are making the best decision for your garden. The soil seems so rich a more traditional lawn or plant bed might be more productive.
I've just taken over a south facing garden which is currently nothing but lawn. I've let the grass grow tall whilst I'm digging sections, and I love the sound of the grasshoppers chirping when the sun comes out! I'll dig some areas down to the infertile subsoil and seed mini meadow mixes. Will hopefully have better luck with the open, light location. The main problem is waterlogging thanks to a 20 cm deep hard pan and heavy clay beneath.
thoughtful video.. to my prole mind, meadow makes sense if you have the land. for a smaller garden, going for a "woodland copse," maybe seems more achievable and functional
I have a 3m x 3m front garden with over 40 species of native wild flower. Seeded with a cornfield annual mix and general purpose insect friendly perennial mix from Emorsgate. 7 years on and it looks great. The addition of yellow rattle in year 4 to restrict the grasses that were beginning to establish has helped. My back garden is 22m x 7m and with the addition of three ponds and a similar seed mix to the front looks stunning 10 months of the year. Videos on my channel, should anyone be interested. I would say, don't give up, especially after only 3 years.With regards to planting native wild flowers and the increase in biodiversity, they do work from the point of view that caterpillars of our native moth and butterfly species are not adapted to feeding on exotic plants. It's all well and good planting hybrid scabious, buddliea and verbena to attract butterflies but you won't find any caterpillars on them. So to increase the species of butterflies and moths, yes, we need to plant native plants.
For a native wildflower meadow to succeed in the long run you need to either inverting your soil so you have a layer of sub soil on the surface or buy it in bulk bags and /remove/ cover the existing top soil / trying to grow a diverse wildflowers with native species on nutrient rich top soil will rarely succeed in the long run, dominant weeds including grasses will eventually just recolonize.
100% definitely better to prepare the soil properly for a better chance of success. Fertile soil is the wrong foundation for such a project
New subscriber... THANK you... great info!
You’re welcome and great to have you here 😊
To stop it flopping over a cut (and remove) in mid April helps greatly in addition to the usual end of autumn cut and remove
Yeah I’ve tried twice annual cuts but it still just grows too fast to hold itself up.
@@tecmow4399 OK. That black soil looks very fertile, maybe strip some off to get more to the subsoil layer?
I did consider whether to remove the soil an replace it with an infertile substrate (like sharp sand). I think I'm going to work with the soil I have and adapt to it rather than removing it. It's definitely a good idea to do if i wanted to persevere with a meadow for sure. Thanks for the helpful hints @@taxusbaccata6332 ☺
Yellow ants and waxcap are a real dream.
Really enjoyed this 💚
Thanks mate 😊
Looking forward to a meadow update. I’m transitioning from lawn to ‘something’. Not sure what. Maybe a clover lawn. Maybe a rain garden.
Great series this, really useful information
Thank you so much and I’m glad you found it useful
I'm going to get the really tall Echiums and get our native Echium, which is Viper's Bugloss.😊
They get everywhere too. I put a load of them in a wildlife garden a few years back and in the height of summer it looked amazing!
a pity that you give up already. Creating a beautiful meadow takes many years. I think if you would mow one year in April and again in June, and a hay cut in September, and remove cuttings every time, and next year sow loads of yellow rattle, you will have a nice meadow. The way you sow the yellow rattle matters, probably you didn't do it the correct way, as it really does make a huge difference once it establishes. If you do, and "oversow" after mowing several times the year before, you will see a difference. But, I do agree with you that in a garden setting, you do not need a meadow to support wildlife. A garden filled with flowers is also very good.
I order native wild flowers seeds that naturally grow in my zone area. Native seeds take to the soil naturally. Wildflowers are very tough and although beautiful, they are survivors and thrivers❤
That’s a great way of gardening ❤️
@@tecmow4399 thank you ❤️
Help bees plant nasturtiums in some pots with tired soil from previous season let them go wild so neglecting it only water now and again and at end of season chop n drop into pots and by following year your soil has nutrients again and you feed butterflies and bees all season ✌️😎
I quite like nasturtiums is salads too. Always have loads on the go. Great minds 😉
Your place looks like it would do well with tons of potted plants and will still attract pollinators.
I think the purpose of native plants is not directly for honeybees, bumble bees and other showy pollinators. You are trying to increase the number of host plants that caterpillars, beetles, grubs, and other smaller fauna that are not readily observable will use. In this respect native plants vastly outperform imported plants.
Your mistake was to allow too much to grow wild. It is important that you have proper neat paths so that anyone can walk around there and enjoy the experience, whilst feeling that they are in a way inside a meadow.
(And you must cut it at least twice, as farmers would to make hay)
That really wasn’t my mistake because I cut it twice annually
I know I have already commented on this - and this is from a while now
But have you come across John Little from the Grass Roof Company?
Whilst in this talk he was talking about brownfield site - ua-cam.com/video/hXU6z-vt0mA/v-deo.html
There are some other videos out there where he show his garden and his "meadows" are grown in very nutrient poor soil, like sand or crushed builders rubble
He is also the only person I have seen who complains - this is growing too well
Any hoots thought it would be interesting from "meadow" conversation
And if you have any projects that involve building works - some thoughts on recycling the material locally and selling part of it - less maintenance
All the best
how about roman chamomile and irish moss?
In the context of climate change, the potential invasiveness of ornamental plants is a topic of concern. While native ornamental plants are generally less likely to become invasive compared to non-native species, there are still risks associated with climate change that could increase the naturalization potential of certain native ornamentals. Studies have highlighted that climate change may lower the barriers to naturalization for some ornamental alien species (Haeuser et al., 2018). Additionally, the effects of climate warming and disturbance can enhance the colonization potential of ornamental alien plant species, thereby increasing their overall naturalization risk (Haeuser et al., 2017).
The introduction of ornamental plants, whether native or non-native, plays a crucial role in determining their invasiveness. Nurseries indirectly contribute to the spread of potentially invasive ornamentals, affecting the distribution of native species (Skou et al., 2012). Moreover, the invasion of native habitats can occur from ornamental settings, as there are numerous examples of exotic species used in gardens becoming invasive (Matter et al., 2012). This emphasizes the importance of considering the origin and characteristics of ornamental plants to assess their potential invasiveness.
Furthermore, the characteristics of ornamental plants, such as their native range, ease of propagation, and adaptability to different habitats, are key factors influencing their successful invasiveness (Urziceanu et al., 2021). Gardens act as reservoirs of potential invasive species, with many ornamentals having high naturalization success, posing a risk of escaping and becoming invasive (Rojas-Sandoval & Ackerman, 2021). Therefore, while native ornamental plants may have a lower inherent risk of invasiveness compared to non-native species, the changing climate and human activities can still influence their potential to naturalize and become invasive.
In conclusion, while native ornamental plants generally have a lower likelihood of becoming invasive compared to non-native species, the interaction between climate change, human activities, and plant characteristics can influence their invasiveness. It is essential to consider these factors when assessing the risks associated with ornamental plants in the context of climate change.
Potential invasiveness? So it wouldn’t be the climate causing the problem and the change in success of the alien plant merely being a symptom. And the fact that lots of plants flourish outside their historical range but no longer within it is also a reason to reject this premise.
Invasion biology rests entirely on retesting the same hypothesis: are species bad just because they’re alien?
Climate change is a good reason to examine which plants are good, regardless of their origins, in context. Predicting their potential invasiveness based only on whether they’re native or not is hoping for a world we’re never going back to.
@tecmow4399 , there is a difference between dominant and invasive. Invasive have not adapted to the local environments, which allows them to out-compete native species, whereas dominant species have, which are native species and largely do not couse any ecology threats. If climate change creates conditions for non-native species to their geographical conditions in a short period, then they are more likely to become invasive.
Sounds like you have lots of invasive species in the “meadow”.
The species in the meadow aren’t considered invasive in the U.K. I know turf grasses are considered invasive elsewhere in the world because they behave in this way though
Wait so even if I plant the host pants and food sources for insects/ pollinators... They aren't likely to even show up?! 🤯
I just watched the presentation on ecological landscaping with Dr Douglas Tallamy and thought I had learned the opposite lesson 👀
Don’t be put off by what I said. If you put loads of plants in your garden, you’ll provide for tons of insects and pollinators
Why don't you just grow wild flowers amongst herbacious perennials!?! Get the best of both worlds. Why have one , when you can have both.
I’ve got some Scabious in the borders for that reason. I love the way they mingle together
you turned your "meadow" into a weed patch. That is not a meadow of wildflowers. Do it properly and stop complaining.
Even if it was effective, my point is I don’t think it’s worth it for the sized garden I have.
@@tecmow4399 I have a meadow strip in front of my whole property. A 4 foot strip that is the talk of my cul-de-sac. It constantly gets people coming by to look at how the flowers change through the seasons.
That’s great! What species have you grown?