Wildflower Meadow - Maintained by Hand

Sarah’s wonderful wildflower meadow

Wildflower areas are becoming very popular in gardens.  We realise the importance of biodiversity and helping the nectar gathering insects. 

They don’t have to be huge expanses of ground either, even a square metre of wild flowers will help to bring loads of beneficial creatures into the garden, who will in turn help you keep pests to a minimum. It is possible to have an ecosystem in the garden devoid of any pesticides or chemical feeds.

I was chatting to Sarah in the Isle of Wight this week who has taken the wildflower patch idea to another level and painstakingly worked an acre and a half field into a wildlife paradise. 

How did the meadow idea come about Sarah?

“We had a horse/donkey/goat/sheep field that was no longer being used so I decided to make it into a wildflower meadow six years ago to do my bit for the environment.  I did a lot of research into how best to set the system up beforehand.  I can now say that I now have ignored and adapted to my own rather quirky, but effective land management.”

How does that differ from regular ideas about tending to meadows?

“Most guides suggest you cut the grass once or twice a year to stop trees growing and to deter more prolific weeds from seeding.  I never mow the meadow, as I found that this destroyed a lot of plants I wanted to keep. My way of picking out individual weeds is extremely labour intensive, and involves strange looks from passers-by as I weed by hand!”

What type of seeds did you plant?

“The original seeds came from a company in Liverpool, but I collect my own each year now. I have poppies, cornflowers, corn cockles, corn marigolds, oxeye daisies, foxgloves, flowering chamomile, yellow rattle, yarrow (a bit of a pest), self-sown evening primrose (no idea where that came from), also others such as Californian poppies and, strangely, wallflowers, presumably dropped by birds. There are vetches and a few little broad leaved hellebores (very excited to find them), and loads more that I’ve probably forgotten!”

Was it a big job getting started? You do have over an acre and a half to work on.

“Yes. Our soil is wonderful, sandy loam, and is probably too fertile for wildflowers. It was always used for animal grazing, so had to be cleared of grass and weeds before we began. I hired a local contractor, but as I have a keen eye for detail and put in the time that a contractor couldn’t I’ve done it all myself since the initial clearing.”

Did you add grass seed to the mix?

“The seed did not contain any grasses. We haven’t put animals on there either, because they’d eat a lot of what I want to keep and some flowers, such as the corn cockles, are poisonous. I have a mixture of annual and perennial flowers, surrounded by hazels, beeches, walnuts and sweet chestnuts for our numerous red squirrels. I even have a few buddleia bushes in there to keep the butterflies happy. There’s another acre at the back of the meadow which is left to its own devices, with thistles, nettles and brambles for the caterpillars. I have painstakingly got rid of the weeds and it’s a constant job keeping on top of things. It is time consuming but very rewarding and enjoyable!”

Getting started

Putting in the time to create an area of practical beauty such as this can be daunting, but if you start small and build up slowly at your own pace it will remain manageable. Sarah knew that she had the interest and determination to convert the whole acre and a half but it’s not for everyone and the square metre might be enough. 

Even on small areas it’s important to get out the perennial weeds and reduce the amount of weed seeds in the soil. The first thought is to plough or rotovate the soil. This isn’t always the best solution. Turning the soil will only flip the weeds over and will not kill Nettles, Dock or Couch Grass, no matter how deep you plough. Attention to weed control is the key to helping the wildflowers establish and you need to be very meticulous at the start. 

If you don’t have the time or interest to do this, how about just working with what you have?

Simple method

The simplest route to this is not to abandon your lawn and mower but to learn how to move the mower’s blades up, so the cut is higher than 10cm.Hold out for your first cut until the end of June, then leave a month between each cut until autumn. If you need a route to the washing line or shed, mow just a path. The wildflowers will adapt and bloom to your cutting cycle and as you only cut the grass once a month you can spend more time admiring the flowers and the wildlife they attract.