Wild flowers for remembrance

Speaking as someone who lives next door to the village churchyard, I can be confident, that in Feltwell at least, flowers feature heavily in the way that we remember loved ones.

Bunches of freshly imported colourful hothouse flowers are arranged and rearranged by some of the graves on a weekly basis.  Traditional holly wreathes are lain every Christmas and every November brings a flush of remembrance poppies. Each family has their own way of remembering. Me? Rather than bring cut flowers to a memorial, I prefer to connect memories with the flowers where they're growing.

Bluebells carpet a woodland floor

A bluebell wood, no matter where it is, brings memories of  Nanny Brown flooding back.  As a small (ish) child we would walk across the fields and through the woods to Goose Green where the bluebells carpeted the woodland floor every spring.  Nanny Brown would bring a picnic and we'd enjoy our sandwiches and iced gems before traipsing home with handfuls of sticky stemmed blooms to cram into jam-jars on the kitchen windowsill.

Sweet Williams remind me of Granddad Brown and I always grow them in my own garden as a reminder of the times we spent together in his garden.  Tying wigwams for runner beans and grubbing around in the dirt harvesting new potatoes with my cousins.

Granddad Brown with his first Great Grandson way back in 1988

This spring I have sown a patch of heartsease, the wild pansy, in honour of an amazing gentleman.  We'll call him DW. DW passed away in October aged 93. A good age, no one can say he was taken before his time, and his was a life well lived.

DW, just like Granddad Brown was of a different generation and represented a better time.  A time when young men were taught respect, honour, tolerance and loyalty. They fought for their country, they worked hard to support their families, never even considering any reliance upon the welfare state. They were always well turned out. I never saw DW without his tie fastened just so and his boots polished.

I met DW when I was 30 and he was 70. He was a true countryman. He understood why bees are important and knew where to look for pheasants eggs. The weather held no mysteries for him, neither did the ways of man.  We worked together for 6 winters before ill health kept me at home. I had the healthiest respect for him, and for his "mucker" Percy.

Somehow, heartsease, the Victorian's flower for remembrence seems a more fitting tribute to DW than gaudy chrysanthemums or sellophane wrapped carnations. 

Percy was of a similar age to DW. they had both fought in the Second World War, although not together.  I never heard DW ( or Granddad Brown) mention their wartime experiences but Percy did once, and only once, confide that he had been captured by the Japanese as spent time as a prisoner of war. He considered himself lucky because unlike many of his comrades, Percy had 2 pairs of socks.  One pair protected his feet while they walked and walked and walked.  The other pair saved his life ....... He ate them.  Poppies are for Percy. 

 

Poppies remind me of an old friend who survived a spell as a POW

The Victorians invented their own language using flowers instead of words.  I guess I have done the same....in my own little way.

Plants are one of my favourite ways to remember people, occasions and special places.  Sometimes their scent will bring back a memory (new mown grass takes me back to Bayford Primary School when in summer time the grass beside our classroom window was cut by a tractor and gang mowers), sometimes the colour or the setting will remind me of something (or someone) or other.

I wonder - do plants and flowers help Alzheimer’s patients in the same way?

Meadowmat for Remembrance

If you are thinking of planting some wild flowers in memory of someone or something special, Meadowmat's Passchendaele Poppy Mix is well worth a look.  Not only is it stunningly beautiful and easy to grow, each sale will raise money for the Royal British Legion to help support people like Granddad Brown, DW and Percy.

Discover more about Meadowmat Passchendaele Poppy Mix

A Christmas present to inspire future generations

On the first day of Christmas.....

....my Husband gave to me
 some money so that I can keep bees

Isn’t it exciting?  As a child I used to love wandering around the countryside with Nanny Brown being taught the names of trees, plants, butterflies and birds. Since launching Meadowmat 2 years ago my passion for wildlife has been revived and I’ve become super-keen to pass that enthusiasm to my Grandchildren, before they decide they know everything. Just like my Grandmother did with me.

 Last year I had the opportunity to take part in a beekeeping taster day run by David Wootton.  I jumped at the chance, thoroughly enjoyed my day and then that was it, I was hooked.

The best thing about bees

I'm looking forward to seeing more bees about the place
and having lots of honey to share

Aside of course from the prospect of spreading home-made honey on my toast of a morning, and having my own fruit, veg and flowers pollinated by the bees from my hive, I am just fascinated by the social structure of the beehive and the way they can thrive without mobile phones, tablets, cars, supermarkets and self help books. 

Call me an old hippy but I admire the way in which these creatures all contribute to a common cause....their community. 

I have booked an all singing, all dancing beekeeping course for April 2014.  It’s not an insignificant amount of money but the price does include 3 days tuition AND a beehive and I truly believe that it will be worth every penny just to help the honeybee.

Why take up beekeeping?

My Son on his wedding day
He holds the key to the sustainability
of the family farm

The second wonderful thing about going on this beekeeping course is that my eldest son, Andy will be coming along too.  One on one time with my offspring is a very rare commodity indeed.  I’m proud to say that all three of my Children have grown into well rounded, independent people with common sense, jobs, great personalities and busy social lives.  All three have flown the nest.  The eldest two live locally and I see them almost every day but although our lives touch frequently, we rarely spend any quality time together.  To have Andy to myself for 3 days and to develop a shared interest (one that will hopefully passed onto one of the Grandsons) will be just super.

I’m also hoping that between us, Andy, the bees and myself will be able to influence my Husband to make a few changes around the farm to help support wildlife.

Changing the mindset of a farmer

My husband, Ed, was brought up and educated in an era where wildlife came second to cropping.  Full stop. End of. He’s of that mindset that if something on the farm isn’t bringing in a profit it should be sold, moved on or eliminated.  Which is why I go out to work.....I wouldn’t want him to get the idea that I’m detrimental to his ledgers. 

Modern farmers – and that includes my Andy – take a more holistic approach and aim to find a balance where the farmland is able support the “owner’s” family, the families of those who work on the farm and/or support the local businesses who supply services such as engineering, transport, accountancy and agronomy.  Which means, I hope, that Andy will be introducing more wild flowers, bird boxes, native trees and hedges to the farm.

This Christmas will benefit wildlife and wellbeing

So for the first day of Christmas my husband thought he was giving me cash.  What he really gave me was a chance to spend some quality time with my firstborn, a new hobby, and the hope that the younger generation and their offspring will  be far more wildlife friendly.

When to plant a wildflower meadow

wild flowers in spring

Traditional wildflower meadows look their absolute best in late spring and early summer but unlike cultivated plants or turf, we can't go into the garden centre, buy a meadow in flower, bring it home and plant it.

Creating a really good, species rich meadow that will look amazing and benefit wildlife requires patience - and plenty of it.

I installed a small area of Meadowmat wild flower matting quite soon after Q Lawn' launched the product.....around April 2011.  In that first summer, I was pleased with the number of flowers I had and the attention it recieved from insects, particularly bumblebees, but I had been hoping for a more spectacular floral display.  This summer, my patience was rewarded with a lovely show of flowers that lasted from May until the end of July.  Sadly, horrible weather all summer meant not too many butterflies and bees came to visit but I did see my first ever Hawker dragonfly....it was HUGE (and rather ugly).

The little area of meadow I started from seed at the same time as installing my Meadowmat also did well this year.....see....I just needed more patience.....but I'm not convinced that the plants I enjoyed so much this year actually came out of that seed packet.  They're all indiginous to my garden and I spent 26 years pulling out dead nettles, campions and mallow before I saw the light.



birdsfoot trefoil seed head

Mother Nature likes to sow wildflower seeds from late summer through to autumn.  Now as a gardeny type of person, I'm used to sowing seeds in spring...probably in the greenhouse...and then having them flower (or fruit) that same summer and I think that maybe I've got into bad habits by doing that. 

Horticulturists and plant breeders are incredibly clever, they've managed to tweak plants so that they do what we want them to do, when we want them to do it. Not so wild flowers.  Wild flowers do their own thing.  They set seeds when the weather tells them to, and those seeds germinate when the time is right for them...not necessarily for us.  That's why, when sowing a wildflower meadow from seed, it's best to do it now....in autumn.  You may have to wait until spring for some of the species to germinate....you may have to wait until spring 2015...some seeds are fickle.  But patience will pay off.

lay wildflower matting for speedy meadow establishment

 

If you're like me....impatient...lay some wild flower matting.  Most of the seeds are already germinated and you're effectively buying 12 months worth of time.  It can be installed at any time of year, but for best results I'd be inclined to install it in autumn so that the roots can get really well established into your soil then, come the spring, all the plant needs to do is grow and flower.

 

So when is best to plant a wildflower meadow? 

Using Meadowmat, it can be whenever suits you but for best results think autumn/winter and if you want the greatest possible number of flowers in the first summer, definitely lay Meadowmat before mid April.    Seed from perennial wild flowers can also be sown at any time of year but as these plants haven't been improved by plant breeders, it's best to copy nature and sow them in september/october or maybe november if the soil is still workable. 

Meadowmat wildflower turf                                 Meadowmat wildflower meadow seeds

Mowing my meadow has increased biodiversity

A hay meadow in Norfolk ready for cutting
most of the flowers have already set seed

It's never easy to attack a lovely wild flower meadow with a sharp instrument that will take away the flowers and the vegetation and leave what looks like a shaggy, weedy lawn, but sometimes you have to be cruel to be kind.

I was late giving my Meadowmat its annual trim this year.  Two reasons, one I've injured my neck and needed to persuade my husband to do the deed (never easy, he hates gardening as much as I hate ironing); plus, I couldn't bring myself to chop the flowers off the yarrow, clover and vetch.  Nevertheless, the deed was done a couple of weeks ago.  The hay has been removed and used to fill the nest boxes in the chicken coop and I've had a pleasant surprise.

My Meadowmat was installed in spring 2011.  In the first summer, it was quite grassy but managed to supply the local bees with some yellow rattle, some clover flowers, a couple of oxeye daisies and a yarrow or two.   It was allowed to grow unchecked until July 2011 and then it was cut back and all the clippings made into hay.  From september last year until the end of march this year, I periodically zoomed over the Meadowmat with my rotary mower on its highest setting and took away all of the clippings for composting.

Meadowmat in it's second summer

This summer I was rewarded with a beautiful floral display.  Yellow rattle, clover, birdsfoot trefoil, vetch, yarrow, wild carrot, sorrell, plantain and knapweed were the main contenders AND there was a lot less grass than in the previous summer, especially in the two patches where the yellow rattle was doing well.  Sadly, there weren't enough bees to enjoy the meadow to the full.  But heyho, that's the British weather for you.

Oh dear, my newly cut Meadowmat looks awful
(happily it's recovered a bit since this photo was taken)

Leaving the mowing/strimming until mid august perhaps wasn't a good move though.  The grass had been battered by rainstorms, fallen over and looked as though it had smothered some of the plants beneath it.  But, once again, Nature triumphed over adversity as two weeks on, I can see that the floral plants are regenerating nicely...there are even a few different leaf shapes in the mix, so maybe some surprises next year...but the grasses are still thinking about re-growing.

I am convinced that mowing the meadow increases it's biodiversity.  On the Meadowmat production field,
Robert regularly mows the grass .... it's easier to roll up and despatch if the vegetation is short...and he tells me that after each cut, he sees less grass and more flowering species.

I've heard tell that it takes seven years to establish a species rich meadow from seed. I would like to think that by using Meadowmat I fast forwarded the process by at least one or two years, but that does still mean that things can only get better.  Whoohoo can't wait to see what next summer has in store.

The Beauty of Yarrow

Yarrow, botanical name Achillea millefolium, is a stunning native plant that is useful in the hedgerow, the meadow and indeed the herbaceous border. The value of yarrow is not just in its beautiful flower heads and the way it attracts bees and butterflies, but, believe it or not, for it's healing powers.

Yarrow, shown here in the foreground has divided leaves
and flat white (or pink) flower heads

How to recognise Yarrow

Yarrow has flat heads of many white or pink flowers and blooms throughout the summer and often well into the autumn.  It thrives throughout the UK and you'll find it in rough grassland, road verges and hedgerows.  The leaves are distinctive - they have many many lacy fronds...hence the name millefolium which translates as thousand leaves.

If the leaves are crushed, they smell a bit like crysanthemums.

We've included Yarrow in the seed mix for Meadowmat because it tolerates mowing well, flowers happily for most of the summer and provides a valuable source of nectar throughout the summer. 

Uses for Yarrow

Our Production Manager, Robert, is famous in the office for eating almost anything...even my cooking but I wonder if he realises that yarrow is edible.....It can either be eaten raw in a salad or boiled for 10 minutes before being fried in butter.  I might let Robert try that before I indulge.

The "Achillea" part of yarrow's latin name is a reference to the classical hero Achilles who apparantly used yarrow to staunch bleeding on the battle fields of Troy and I'm led to believe it can also be used as a herbal remedy for problems with circulation.  Hmmm, I might have to give it a try this winter to see if it can help me avoid chilblains.  

Yarrow tea, is said to be a traditional remedy for the common cold.  Just infuse some fresh or dried yarrow leaves in boiling water for a few minutes then remove them from the water and serve the hot drink with a slice of lemon or lime.

Jennifer and Jemima, my buff orpington hens

But this is the yarrow application I'm most keen to try and I have two little helpers all lined up to assist with the experiment.  Rumour has it, that if you place a few pieces of yarrow in the chicken shed, it will help to keep fleas and mites at bay.  So tonight, before Jennifer and Jemima go to bed, I'll be cutting some yarrow stems from my Meadowmat patch and slipping them into the nest boxes.  Watch this space and I'll let you know if it works or not.

How to have more flowers in your meadow

I was chatting with a lovely lady this morning, a keen gardener with a lot of common sense.  She installed some Meadowmat last autumn in some poor-ish soil that tends to be dry.  The wild flower mat established well and has looked incredibly healthy, but after its first season, there is more grass in it than she’d like and fewer flowers.

pink campion appeared in my Meadowmat for the 1st time this year

The Meadowmat in my own garden has just finished its second season of flowering and I have to be honest, it’s not the same as last year.  I have less grass, more flowers and indeed, more species visible than there were in that first summer.

The theory is that after a year of careful management, there are now fewer plant nutrients in the soil beneath my Meadowmat and so the grasses are less vigorous giving the flowering plants a better chance of survival.  I also think that Yellow Rattle has played a big part in the process, so I’ll be sowing some more of that this autumn.

yellow rattle - the meadow makers' superhero

I’ve been told that it takes seven years to establish a species rich meadow from seed.  Some of our native species are slow to germinate and won’t appear for two or three years; some need cold winters to help wake the seeds up, some need warm summers, some of the plants need to grow on for a while before they bloom.  As Meadowmat is grown from seed on our farm in Norfolk, I can only suppose that I’m not going to see all of the flowering species in the first season and that it’s just going to get better and better.

So, for all of you first-year meadow growers out there, take comfort.  Provided you follow a sensible management regime (hay cut in the summer then mowing through the autumn and winter removing ALL of the clippings every time) you can expect your wild flower patch to get better and better as the years go by.  Mine has.

Insects seem to like my wild flower meadow

It's been a busy week at work, what with the run up to our "Gardening for Wildlife" workshop on the 12th July, the day-long workshop itself, which thankfully coincided with the only rain-free day we've had for ages and went down really well (thanks to everyone who came along and made the day so enjoyable) and then the inevitable de-brief with managers and directors. 

a living green roof - a great way to support pollinating insects
without taking up space in the garden

I have to confess to being a bit stressed about the presentation on green roofing that I was asked to give and I did re-write it several times in the evenings preceding the event. By far the best place to gather my thoughts has been out of doors in my garden, usually late in the evening, so I couldn't see how the rain has ravaged the borders and I've been amazed at how many critters there are out and about after dark.

I'm sure that this year there are more bats than usual and more moths too - or maybe it's just that I've taken the time to notice them.

I must confess that temporarily being unable to drive, weed, paint, clean or read (much) because of a problem with my neck, I have taken a lot more notice of the world around me.  For example, the wild flowers on road verges are much easier to spot from a car window if I'm not trying to point a vehicle in the right direction, as are birds of prey hovering above cornfields and the occasional small furry disappearing into a gully.

Snail on meadow plant - any help identifying the species gratefully received

In the garden I've spotted a few more critters than I would normally.....on sunday morning, I found a HUGE brown hawker dragonfly perching on  one of the grasses in my meadowmat patch, although goodness only knows why, I'm nowhere near any large bodies of water and as Charlie grandson calls my little pond a puddle, I don't suppose that's attracted dragonflies.  There are wolf spiders running around in the dense foliage at the bottom of the meadow, some snails, ladybirds of course and whenever the sun comes out, lots and lots of bees of all shapes and sizes.  Charlie and I spotted an enormous bumble bee on sunday that was so hairy that he insisted it was a cat (oh to be 18 months old). 

Mullein moth caterpillar.  Isn't he handsome!

Sadly, not many butterflies yet.  I'm hoping that's just because of the dreary weather and that next week, next month, even next year, I'll be innundated with "flying flowers".  I did find a very colourful caterpiller on a self-seeded verbascum plant.  According to my book it's a mullein moth and is considered a pest.  Ah well, there's only one of him and when he grows up there's every chance he'll be a meal for one of my visiting bats.

Good old Mother Nature

Why I'm glad to be gardening with wildflowers

Right now I'm struggling with mixed feelings of frustration, cabin fever and disappointment, having injured my neck and been unable to do any gardening for the last 6 weeks or so. I'm also supposed to be preparing two presentations for our "Gardening for Wildlife" workshop on 12th July.  So this afternoon I dodged the rain showers and wandered in my garden for half an hour or so seeking inspiration and hoping to lift my mood.

Chickens fed, mood lifted and strawberries gathered I'm back indoors with a huge cup of assam tea, ready to make a start.

One thing I couldn't help but notice in the garden while I was making a mental list of jobs to delegate to my husband, was that many of the "posh" plants out there are looking rather dishevelled after all this rain.  Roses are drooping, delphiniums that didn't get staked are flat on the ground, ornamental poppies are all battered and soggy looking but the native plants are defying the weather and looking quite chipper.

Oxeye daisy looks great despite the weather

On the wild side though, oxeye daisies just turn their heads to the sky and laugh at the rain, likewise the scabious.  The mullein outside my window is a fine upstanding plant and the clover in my lawn is thriving.  In my meadow, the weight of the rain has pushed some of the grasses over slightly but that only gives the sparkling white yarrow a chance to show off.......it all looks great.  So that's why I like gardening with wild flowers....they seem to tolerate a bit of neglect and they really don't mind British weather.

Is a wildflower meadow like a lawn with weeds in?

I was honoured to be asked to chat to Ken Crowther about Meadowmat on BBC Radio Essex this afternoon.  Well, honoured and very VERY nervous. Happily the team there are used to neurotic people like myself and I was soon put at ease.  So much so that my allotted 20 minute spot passed very quickly indeed.

Meadowmat, a great way to create wildlife habitat

Ken's first question was "Is meadowmat just turf with weeds in it?" and in all fairness, I'm sure plenty of people, including my beloved husband, would say tha it is.  After all, if some of the plants in my meadowmat were to spring up in my lawn, I'd probably do my best to eradicate them.  But, a weed is simply a wild flower in the wrong place, and in the right place, they're beautiful both visually and ecologically.

200 years ago, if there was such a thing as Meadowmat, it would probably have been regarded as a poor-man's medicine cabinet....I'm kicking myself for not saying that earlier.  Wild flowers have been used to produce herbal remedies for centuries with their recipes being handed down from generation to generation.  Funny how modern technology has all but killed off traditional skills...but that's a whole other argument.

wild flowers and bees are inter-dependant

Wild flowers evolved alongside pollinating insects such as bees and butterflies and as a result, they're interdependant.  Flowers need bees, bees need flowers. Simple as.  And as Ken and I discussed, vast quantities of ancient wild flower meadows have been lost since the second world war; modern farmers need to concentrate on food production, road verges are not always managed for the full benefit of wild flowers and so gardeners are the people who are best placed to help re-create and care for wild flower meadows --- no matter what size----to help support UK wildlife.

So is Meadowmat like garden turf with weeds in?  I think not. Meadowmat is a wild flower meadow on a roll and it makes the important task of rebuilding our population of wild flowers and pollinating insects into an absolute joy. Garden turf is a joy too...for what is a garden if it doesn't have a lawn?

Preparing the ground for wild flowers

A common question for the Meadowmat team is "how do I prepare the soil for wild flower matting?"

There are books and websites out there offering all sorts of conflicting advice, especially on making sure that the topsoil has a low nutrient content. One lady suggests digging the topsoil up and taking it away, somebody else advises growing a greedy vegetable crop before trying to establish wild flowers. 

So what is the right way to get ready to start a wild flower meadow?

Well, the whole idea of Meadowmat is that it's low maintenance.  I installed some Meadowmat this time last year on to a piece of garden that had been used to grow vegetables (runner beans actually) the summer before. In its first summer, there were a few flowers, but the most successful plant species was by far grass.

grass is important in a wildflower meadow
but don't let it overpower the flowers

Grass is the rough diamond in a wild flower meadow.  It's essential for providing food and shelter for many creatures, but it needs to be kept in check otherwise it will bully all the flowering plants out of existance.  In other words, it's a good thing provided it's kept under control. 

How do you stop grass getting too rampant? A combination of three ways; restricting food supply, cutting it back if it gets too strong; and growing yellow rattle in the meadow.

In my own meadow-ette (it's very tiny), I did have a few yellow rattle plants last year, so I harvested the seeds and sowed them back into the sward in the autumn.  This year I have lots of young yellow rattle plants and much less grass than last year.  I also made a point of keeping the sward quite closely mown from the time I took a hay cut (late July) all through the summer, autumn and winter; only letting it grow again from the end of march onwards.  That probably meant I sacrificed a few flowers last summer, but it also means I'll have a much better floral display this year.

So how to prepare the soil then?  Unless it's really high in nutrients, you can take a reasonably relaxed approach.  Take away all existing vegetation - roots and all - so that it can't rot down to make more plant food and consider taking away a layer of topsoil if you can.  Avoid fertiliser at all costs and once your meadow is growing strongly, use careful management, and a lot of patience, to keep the grasses from getting too vigorous.  Make the most of yellow rattle, which is a parasite of grass and helps to suppress it's growth.  Gather seed in the summer, keep it cool and dry and in autumn, mow the sward as short as 5cm, so that you can press the yellow rattle seed onto the soil ready for it to grow again next year.

Oh- and watch our installation video to see how to get a good tilth to install your Meadowmat on to. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AzBPpCa6v2g

Wild Flower Meadow in May

Wild Flower Meadow in May

cowslips in the wild

May is the month when the countryside really starts to prepare itself for summer. In the traditionally managed meadow not far from my home, cowslips are braving the rain and merrily blooming in the hope that the sun will come out for long enough for bees to pollinate them. The grass is thriving in this weather and is beginning to grow strongly and it won't be long before the cow parsley explodes into fluffy white flowers beneath the trees.

In my garden, Dandelions are putting on a defiant show in the lawn and because it's been too wet to get the hoe out, there are red and white dead-nettles flowering beneath the fruit bushes...not that I mind, they're great bee food.

My own little wild flower patches are thriving too.  The Meadowmat patch is now 1 year old and looks very different to when it was first installed.  There are undoubtedly more flowering plants and more species than last year, the grass is less rampant..probably thanks to the yellow rattle in the seed mix and I am estimating that the campion will be in flower in about a week's time...the buds are swelling nicely but I'm not sure if this is a white campion, a red campion or a bladder campion.  All 3 are in the seedmix so I'm playing a waiting game.

campion and plantain almost flowering

There'll be no more mowing in my meadow until at least the end of July.

The area I sowed from seed is less biodiverse but the plants are bigger...probably because it hasn't been mown over the winter.  It looks as though I can expect flowers from yarrow, plantain, campion, scarlet pimpernel and some self-sown dandelions.

I have to confess that I haven't taken a look at the seeds I sneaked onto my farmer-husband's uncultivated land.  All being well I'll be able to check on them over the weekend.  I also have some heartease seeds to sow - I'll probably waft them about when he's not looking.  Interesting development on the farmer front.......he's growing peas this year and remarked that there couldn't possibly be enough bees to pollinate every pea flower on his field......all the more reason to encourage bees with wild flowers says I....with the situation as it is your crops might not be yielding their your full potential.  That pricked his ears up.  Pollinators don't interest him, by profits do!

Meadowmat wild flower meadow FAQ's

Here are some of the questions about Meadowmat that my colleagues from Q Lawns are asked on a regular basis:

When can I expect flowers from my Meadowmat?

Our flowering schedule for Meadowmat indicates roughly which blooms you might see on a monthly basis once your Meadowmat has established. Depending on the time of year it is installed, your Meadowmat may take up to 12 months to reach its full glory. As a rough guide, Meadowmat installed between October and March will usually flower in its first summer.  If it is installed between April and October, you may only have a few flowers throughout the summer because the plants will be busy building up their root systems email us for a copy of our flowering schedule

My garden soil is rich in nutrients, is it suitable for Meadowmat?

Meadowmat performs better in nutrient-poor soil.  Where there is a lot of plant food in the ground we find that the 4 species of native grass in the seedmix grow strongly and out-compete the flowering plants.  If you do want to install Meadowmat on to well fed soil, we would advise you mow regularly and remove all cuttings all year round for the first year.  It will mean that you miss out on flowers for one season but over time it will pay dividends.

What is the best time of year to install Meadowmat?

Meadowmat can be installed all year round…unless the production fields are frozen too hard for us to harvest.

Will my Meadowmat look the same every year?

Probably not; Most of the species in Meadowmat are perennials and will grow back year after year but the beauty of Meadowmat is that the balance of species changes depending on weather conditions, the way it is managed and what seeds etc brought in by the wind and by visiting birds. Like any natural living thing, Meadowmat will evolve and change over time.

Can I add plug plants to increase biodiversity?

You, most definitely can enrich your wild flower area with plug plants and/or annual seeds. 

Are the species in Meadowmat suitable for my garden?

The Natural History Museum has an online list of UK postcodes and the native plants that grow wild in each area.  Most of the species in Meadowmat grow in most UK postcodes and so yes, as long as your garden is nice and sunny, Meadowmat will be happy growing there.

What is your delivery lead time?

If you order online or direct from either Q Lawns or Turfland, Meadowmat can normally be delivered to you within three working days

sowing wild flower seeds

wild flowers, food for bees and butterflies

This week I have been a little bit cheeky, and whether or not I will get away with it remains to be seen. At the end of march, Q Lawns exhibited at the Ecobuild show in London and I managed to escape the stand long enough to have a good chinwag with Nick Mann from Habitat Aid who is of a similar mindset to myself in that we both want to see more gardeners, and indeed farmers, creating and conserving wildlife habitat.  Nick sold me a little packet of "Meadow Anywhere" seeds for a very reasonable price.

Now if it were for my garden, I would use Meadowmat any day of the week, but I have a special plan for Nick's seeds and it involves a teeny bit of sculduggery.  Meadowmat just wouldn't be subtle enough for this.

My husband is a farmer, and, in common with many of the farmers in this area, regards wild flowers as weeds that compete with his crops for light, water and nutrients.  I can see his point, but being born under the star sign Libra, I like to think there's a way of finding a balance.

nutrient poor soil in a sunny spot..ideal for wild flowers

Around some of the corn storage sheds are areas where the soil and chalk banks have been dug away to improve access and where potentially, wild flowers could grow completely undisturbed by farming activity.  Conversely, they won't affect crops apart from helping to support pollinating insects in the area......can you see how I'm thinking? 

There is no water supply to the area, and anyhow, we're about to be hit by a hosepipe ban, so Meadowmat just won't do, but I think I can get Nick's seeds to grow here...doesn't matter if it takes 2 or 3 years for them to get really well established....I can wait.  So, armed with a packet of seeds and a promise from Carol on BBC Breakfast that it will rain here tomorrow, I have spread my wild flower seeds. I haven't prepared a seed bed...Mother Nature never does so I know I can expect germination to be erratic; Now all I need to do is wait.

I suppose technically, I am now a Guerilla Gardener...not something I would normally advocate, but in this case, I can placate the farmer with Lasagne and Apple Pie...not everyone has that luxury so please be careful about planting things on someone else's land and I can't stress enough that guerilla plants or seeds should be from native stock.

The wonders of willow and my plans for guerilla gardening

One of my regular dog walks takes me along a farm track that runs between two wheat fields for about 3/4 of a mile before reaching a fairly intensively managed hay meadow nestled between buildings and a small wooded area. 

white dead nettle

As Spud, Lola, Rosie and I traversed the wheat field at the weekend I was amazed to hear a subtle buzzing off to my left; it was a sunny day but I still didn't expect to meet a bumble bee in the middle of such a pollen-free monoculture.  I kept a close eye on the narrow grass verge after that and spotted a few dead-nettles and some speedwell but nothing that I imagined would attract such a big fat bee, until that was, I had crossed the hay meadow and rounded the wood.
All of a sudden I was hit by a wall of sound, a bustling choir of humming, droning,whirring wings, bees of all shapes, sizes and designs feasting on a willow tree.

willow in full flower

Now I have never thought of the willow as a wild flower, but mine eyes have been opened.  When few other plants are blooming, this little tree is a valuable source of nectar for insects just out of hibernation; and when the willow finishes, there will be may blossom, brambles, dog roses and a whole field of cultivated peas to nourish them. 
After the peas have finished flowering though, I suspect there might be a bit of a lull in the pollen supply for these busy buzzy creatures.  The hay meadow is kept well fed so as to maximise yield, weeds will have been eliminated from the surrounding crops, and most of the land that cannot be ploughed has turned to scrub.  Solution........I must turn guerilla and start sowing wild flower seeds wherever there is a chance the plants will survive. 

My mission, in my own small way, will be to bring wild flowers back to survive side by side with intensive farming.  I have 4 main challenges; lack of rainfall (can't change that and sadly it rules out any thoughts on using Meadowmat), the farmer, my husband, does not believe in flower power (fine, if he doesn't help me, I won't cook his tea or wash his clothes), there is a thriving community of rabbits who may well consume the fruits of my labour and ditto for the roe deer.
At EcoBuild, I finally got to have a good chat with Nick Mann of Habitat Aid who sold me a packet of "Meadow Anywhere" wild flower seeds.  These are my secret weapons.  Wish me luck.

Number 15 in Angela's wild flower top 20, The Foxglove

foxgloves in Thetford Forest

I took these photo's a couple of years ago on one of my walks through ThetfordForest.  This is in a part of the forest not far from my home ... us locals call it "top of Old Brandon Road"....where the trees had been felled in the previous autumn allowing an absolute myriad of wild foxgloves to really show off.  Normally, they're hidden in the woods.

I'm amazed at the variations in colour and I just love the combination of foxgloves and grasses. I also love the way that bumble bees completely disappear inside the flower, only to reverse out again a few moments later.

sideways foxgloves - my browser isn't playing nicely tonight

Apparantly every part of the foxglove is poisonous  so I suppose I've taken a bit of a risk in introducing it to my garden where the grandchildren play.  Neither of the boys has ever shown signs of wanting to eat flowers, but nevertheless they will be closely supervised around the plants.

The foxglove is more of a woodland plant than a meadow plant, consequently it isn't included in the standard seedmix for Meadowmat; but as luck would have it, Robert, our Production Manager has been experimenting with a woodland meadow mix which includes....foxgloves.  I'm hoping he'll let me trial some of it in my garden, against a north facing hedge where it's a bit shady, so this evening I've baked a chocolate cake to take into work tomorrow.  Don't know if that's a good thing or not....my cooking might just be my downfall.

Growing wild flowers from seed and my 16th favourite wild flower, the Cowslip, Primula veris

My next blog post is going to be a comparison between establishing wild flowers from seeds and using wild flower matting but for now, here is my 16th favourite wild flower, the cowslip.

I was having a bit of a de-weeding session in my garden at the weekend and came across a little patch of cowslips that I had forgotten I'd planted under the Cornus bush.  A couple of years ago, I put in three plants, now there must be at least five times that many.  That's the beauty of perennial wild flowers, they just keep growing and multiplying year after year.

cowslips

Rumour has it, that St Peter dropped the keys to Heaven and the first cowslip sprang from where they fell.  Rumour also has it that the word "cowslip" came about because the seeds like to germinate in the remains of cow pats - or cowslop.  Either way, the sight of a field full of cowslips in the spring never fails to chase the winter blues away.
Cowslips are included in the Meadowmat seed mix.  So far I haven't spotted any signs of them germinating but like most wild flowers, they can be slow to show themselves.  They definitely need a frost on them before they'll spring into life, so maybe in April 2013, once the plants have matured enough to flower, I'll have some more lovely nodding yellow blooms in my garden.  I'm told they make good wine, but I think they give more pleasure in the field than they ever could in a bottle.

Angela's top 20 wild flowers; Number 17 is Clover

Red clover, one of the first wild flowers to bloom in spring,
this picture was taken in April 2011

Red clover is perhaps one of our most recognisable wild flowers here in the UK.  It's distinctive trefoil leaf  has been borrowed by Girl Guides all over the world to symbolise their three part promise, and the hope of finding that elusive four-leaved clover has had many a child grovelling about on their knees.  It's also a blessed curse in my lawn; blessed because it stays green in the summer and doesn't need as much mowing as grass; cursed because it is forever thwarting my attempts at producing a velvety sward.

Clover flowers are rich in nectar and nourish bees from late spring through to early autumn, they're especially important to bumble bees awakening from hibernation and looking for a hearty breakfast because clover pollen is high in protein.  That's one of the main reasons that red clover (Trifolium pratense) is included in the seed mix for Meadowmat

Bumblebees are in decline, mainly because they're aren't enough of their favourite flowers available to feed them...remember, bumblebees don't make honey, their lavae feed on pollen. Bumblebees really like pollens from the legume family of plants, that's clovers, vetches, peas and beans because they're rich in essential nutrients. 

Why should we mind that bumblebees are in decline? well, if you're into growing your own veg, or if you're a farmer, you'll know that bumblebess are the ones that help to pollinate almost all of the fruit, peas and beans that we eat, and many of the veggies too.  A world without bumblebees would be a world without  baked beans or apple pie.......or scrumpy! It doesn't bear thinking about!

So if you want to help bees and other pollinating insects.......grow some clover!

Angela's top 20 wild flowers; Number 18 is Meadow Buttercup



insects just adore the cheery yellow buttercup flowers

 This flower has got to be one of the brightest, cheeriest wild flowers there are.  I have enduring memories of friends from primary school holding buttercups under each others' chins to "see if you like butter".  I never did understand how the trick worked, but it was certainly a strong playground tradition, nearly as strong as "kiss chase" and hopscotch.


buttercups in a traditionally managed meadow in Norfolk

 I was so glad to see Meadow Buttercup included in the seed mix for Meadowmat wild flower matting, so far they've not appeared in my own little patch, but there's still time, it was only installed 9 months ago and some species need a hard frost before the seeds will germinate.  No shortage of frost in my garden tonight, so maybe I'll be lucky this year.

Flowering from early spring onwards, this is one of the wild flowers that is abundant in the traditionally managed meadow on one of my regular dog walks.  I didn't realise until reading Sarah Raven's book "Wild Flowers" that the flowers and stems of Ranunculus acris (Meadow Buttercup) are unpalatable to grazing animals---not poisonous, for they quite like buttercups in hay---but with a bitter taste that I suppose ensures the flowers stay around long enough to set seed.  Ingenious.

Next post will be Maxine Tricker's ideas for using wild flowers in garden design .... keep checking the blog, I've read the article and it's too good to miss

It's wonderful to see wild flowers in winter



winter heliotrope taken 13th january 2012


Outside the office at Q Lawns, sits a sample of MeadowMat waiting to be collected by our salesman.  It's freezing out there, the vegetation is white with frost, yet bobbing about above the leaves are two blooms, one is ragged robin, the other yarrow.  It's so unexpected to see wild flowers in winter, these two are a real joy to behold.

I've not been down to the Meadowmat production field lately, but Robert Allen, our Production Manager tells me it looks amazing with the frost on it.  He says I can probably get some amazing photographs if I get up early in the morning when it's still freezing hard.  Hmmmmmm, I like the idea of some frosty photos, but getting up early?  It's just not me.....

I did manage to snap some lovely wild flowers while I was walking the dogs at the weekend.  I had no idea what they were and had never seen them in flower before.  Lucky for me, Nick Coslett from Palmstead Nurseries, Paul Addison from Q Lawns and Harriet Holland on Twitter were able to identify the plant for me.

I always assumed from the leaves that they are coltsfoot but in fact they're a cousin of coltsfoot called Winter Heliotrope or Petasites fragrans. Apparantly the plant was introduced to England as an ornamental in 1806, it's actually a nativ of the central mediterranean; is quite invasive, flowers from Nov - Feb, spreads via underground rhizomes and the flowers smell a bit like vanilla.  I'm afraid I can't verify the scent....I didn't fancy scrambling over the barbed wire fence just for a sniff!

ragged robin

yarrow

Gardening for Butterflies, Bees and other beneficial insects

Today, I recieved in the post a copy of the book "Gardening for Butterflies, Bees and other beneficial insects" by Jan Miller-Klein. 

I've not had time to study it in detail yet, but a quick flick through has left me itching to put aside a whole afternoon to be spent in a comfy chair with a pot of tea, a log fire and a fruit cake, just reading this book and learning so much more about ways to nurture and support the flying minibeasts that are so important to our eco-system.

Jan's book takes us through the four seasons, telling us which butterflies and bees are likely to be active and which plants they need to supply them with nectar and with food for their caterpillars.  I'm not surprised to see that many of the plant species Jan describes are in Meadowmat and how many could be plug-planted into Meadowmat or planted alongside it to make even more valuable habitat. All of the  plants in the book are beautifully photographed and described with sensible advice on how best to cultivate them and what to grow alongside them.

This is a great book for anyone who enjoys (or would like to enjoy) gardening for wildlife