Wildflower Mixtures | Maintenance and Care

Wildflower–meadows are permanent and varying Eco-systems consisting of approximately 50 individual species creating a plant family with a different appearance throughout the year due to changes in temperature, soil, light, moisture and invasion by other seeds. Typical for wildflower-meadow mixtures are combinations of grasses, clovers, herbs and flowers giving it its characteristic look. Due to the above-mentioned types of influences some species might be suppressed or disappear for a certain time or totally, others may dominate.

This might be influenced even more by mankind, but seldom in a positive way. One should not forget that a wildflower meadow is neither a lawn nor an agricultural surface to be used intensively. Nature is creating itself, so very little care is recommended.

Preparation of soil:

Dig or turn the desired area of soil. In case of heavy or rich soils it is recommended to add sand (medium to larger calibration). Do not fertilize! Rake the surface so that it is free from weeds and allow to settle. Stones and wood (stems or bushes) may remain on the surface, giving protection to insects and smaller or sensitive plants. Leave the seed bed for approximately 2-3 weeks so that the soil may settle and the weed seeds germinate. The surface should now be raked over several times to a depth of about 2-3cm; any weed growth should be removed. Flatten all uneven patches of the soil.

Sowing:

When about to sow, manually mix once again the contents to get a homogenous seed mixture. Repeat the procedure as often as possible while sowing. (The seed mixture consists of over 50 species of seeds with different weight, size, form and shape). The mixture may now be sown at approximately 10g/m². The sowing can be done in two operations with half of the recommended seeding rate to allow a better distribution of the various seeds. Do not seed too densely.

If in doubt use sand as a sowing aid. For example, take about one tenth part of the mixture and mix it with about 5 or 10kg of sand in a bucket. (Mix well and spread around, standing in the middle of an area of about 3.5m diameter). Do not forget to mix through the bucket after all three sowing acts, because of the difference of weight between seeds and sand. The sand will also help you to get a visual control of the surface sown already. Avoid irrigation as it only gives advantage to those plants with high water-need, which may afterwards suppress the slower developing species. Save your fertilizer for your lawn or roses and similar plants.

Sowing – period:

Two sowing periods are favourable. Early spring or late autumn. Both periods have advantages and disadvantages.

Spring seeding:

The Sowing can be done in March or April, when soil temperatures have achieved more than 11°C; more or less in the same period when your lawn is mown for the first time after winter. Do not forget the soil preparation! The advantage of spring seeding is the flowering period in the same year. The disadvantage is that the pressure of the weeds in spring is high and might influence the development of the more sensitive species.

Autumn seeding:

The sowing can be done from September to November even at low temperatures. There is not as much weed pressure anymore and the biannual species are flowering mostly in the following year because of vernalisation in the winter months. It is already too cold for germination concerning the annual species, so they will use early spring moisture to develop quickly to get in an early flowering period. Most professionals are using the autumn-sowing period, because of the above mentioned arguments but also because the gardening season is over.

Maintenance:

The maintenance of a wildflower-meadow is simple; do not do much, be lazy! Fertilising and irrigation are prohibited. One or two cuts during the year are recommended and sufficient. For spring-sowing take the first cut in October or November (autumn cut) after the flowering period. If cuttings are not removed, the plants underneath will suffer or even disappear. The second cut (spring cut) can be taken in early spring depending on the development of the surface. If the meadow is forming a dense surface with a lot of green-material, one cut should be taken down to a height of about 10cm, not lower. It allows the slower growing species more light and space to develop without being suppressed by the quick-starters. Also now, remove the cuttings! If some unpleasant species appear, remove them manually after flowering or when identification of the species is clear and the plant is definitely not welcome. Never use chemicals against weeds in a wildflower meadow.

Development:

As already described above, a wildflower-meadow is a permanently varying structure of plants of different families, struggling and competing with each other but also needing and supporting one another. The annual species such as corn poppy, bachelors button, bluebell, birds eye, baby breath, black eyed Susan, marigold, candy tuft, catchfly, cornflower, daisy African flake, scarlet fax, blue larkspur, love in a mist, California poppy, snapdragon, Siberian wallflower, just to name but a few, will flower in the first summer and autumn, some of them even in the second year, than in combination with the biennials and perennials together, such as yarrow, ribgrass, daisy, bellflowers, knapweed, foxglove, bedstraw, St.John’s wort, field scabious, hawkbit, blue flax, lupin, lavender, mallow, chamomile, forget-me-not, selfheal, etc…and of course the grasses and trefoils. After the fourth year the wildflower meadow reaches its final appearance. This means that in the following years no significant changes within the range of species will be expected.

The established species will then dominate and leave only few opportunities for others to establish if conditions stay stable. It might be helpful to over-seed every two years with a pure wildflower mix consisting of annuals, biennials and perennials such as the GREENFIELD WILDFLOWER TIN. It refreshes the meadow every year with a new generation of plants showing their typical magnificent colours.

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