What does sustainable landscaping mean?



The Environment Agency has warned that weather conditions are likely to become more challenging and that we need to make better preparations for coping with droughts as well as floods.

Has the world gone mad, or is it simply a case of human activity disrupting natural systems to the extent that they simply cannot cope with the demand?



Flooded field - this water will eventually soak into the ground,
the way nature intended.  The more hard surfaces we introduce,
the more difficult it is for Nature to cope with heavy rainfall.



2012 saw the wettest drought ever in Britain. Hosepipe bans were in place throughout the spring and summer months, even though rivers were overflowing and homes and businesses were flooded. It was all very confusing for gardeners who postponed major projects while they waited to see what the weather would do next. This, of course had a knock-on effect on plant nurseries, garden centres and landscapers.

Clever use of water and pollinator-friendly plants in the Olympic Park

I'm hoping that 2013 brings more "normal" weather patterns so that the nation's gardeners, possibly even inspired by the spectacular landscaping of the Olympic Park, will be able to create some really sustainable outdoor spaces.

Sustainability is based on a simple principal. Everything we need for our survival and wellbeing depends either directly or indirectly on our natural environment. Sustainability creates and maintains the conditions under which humans and nature can exist in productive harmony, that permit fulfilling the social, economic and other requirements of present and future generations. In other words, sustainability protects the water and other resources we need for a healthy society.

Phew! That's a bit of a mouthful but basically, what sustainability means for gardeners is that by facilitating natural processes like composting, keeping soil healthy, supporting wildlife and making sure water can soak into the soil instead of being flushed into the drainage systems, we each can do our bit towards helping the environment cope with flooding and drought.

plant a wildflower meadow and you'll attract all sorts of wildlife

So, instead of concrete, use turf......it's more permeable. Instead of wooden fencing, plant a hedge using native species (preferably UK grown); it will create a wildlife corridor and the blossom will help sustain pollinating insects; got a shed? Put a green roof on it to soak up rain water and to create wildlife habitat, hate mowing and weeding? You need a wild flower meadow - even if it's only little the creatures that visit it will fascinate and intrigue you.

Sustainable gardening isn't about hard work, it's about working with nature, not against her. At least that's what I think. What's your opinion?

Is biodiversity too untidy for 21st century living?

Wildlife-friendly garden  or lazy gardener?

The weather today is grey and gloomy, and because I've spent a good part of the last fortnight away from home; 2 days for my son's graduation in Sheffield, a day in London at the steering committee meeting for the Landscape Show, a reception at the House of Commons and of course the Futurescape Show at Kempton Park; the inside of my house is looking rather unkempt.

Now I hate housework with a vengeance and a passion, so invariably, as soon as I pick up a broom, my thoughts begin to wander, and today I'm wondering if our modern day obsession with outward appearances has lead to the demise of garden wildlife.

When I think about life in the western world, it seems to me that in general, we're far more materialistic than our predecessors ever were; more concerned with presenting the right image of ourselves to the rest of the world and, sadly, a tad self obsessed.

Way back in history, gardening for leisure was only for the rich and privileged. Everyone else was concentrating on keeping warm, dry and fed - but not necessarily in that order. As time went on, life became slightly better for the masses. If they were employed, they were generally housed too, but gardens were still only for the wealthier folks. So, it follows that if you had a garden, you were socially superior to anyone living in a two-up-two-down like my Auntie Aggies house in Preston.

Auntie Aggie lived in a terraced house with a front door that opened onto the street and a back door that lead into a tiny paved yard with a privvy but no room for greenery. Uncle Tom used to supplement their diet with veg grown on his allotment. The whole estate was the same, row on row of perfectly decent mill workers houses. If you happened to reach foreman grade, you may have been able to afford a house with a bit of a garden. Maybe grow a few roses...p

Jump forward to the 1950's and low and behold, standards of living have risen for some people and the lawnmower has become affordable. More people have gardens and they make a point of keeping them immaculate so that the whole world knows they are a happy, decent and prosperous family. There'll be a lawn, a hedge, flower borders, possibly a bird bath and it’s crucial that everything is neat and tidy.

By 2012, the family has got wheels – lots of them – and they need a place to park them that is close to the front door and acceptable to the insurance company.  So, the front garden is (very neatly) buried under brick-weave and concrete.  With these wheels, the family can travel – to the retail park, to friends’ houses and to work….and let’s face it; they need to work long hours to raise the money to pay for their home, their cars, their big TV and their brick-weave.  With no energy left at the end of the week, gardening takes second place to more relaxing pastimes and so the back lawn and flower beds are transformed into a low-maintenance deck with a patio area and a plastic lawn.  The hedge is then replaced with a wooden fence that won’t ever need trimming and bingo! very neat, quite attractive, but devoid of habitat.

Having said all that…recent research from the RSPB has shown that urban gardens are much more biodiverse than most parks and communal areas.  So where does that leave our wildlife?  Hungry I suspect.

green roof shed standing in a wildflower meadow

The answer is simple.  Find some low maintenance, but biodiverse ways of bringing green plants into public spaces and private gardens.  Green roofs and mini wildflower meadows really don’t need a lot of TLC and they can really benefit insects, small mammals and birds without making the outside of a house look unkempt or creating a lot of work.  If anything, a living roof on the garden shed or a modern planter filled with colorful native plants will prove to the community that whoever looks after this plot of land is very aware of the importance of biodiversity in the future of our planet and is “doing their bit”

I’m off to temporarily improve the look of the inside of my home…I say temporarily, housework seems like a waste of time when the home is shared by 3 dogs, 2 lively grandchildren, a welly-wearing garden lover and a filthy farmer.  It’s no wonder I prefer to be outside.

Maintaining a wildflower meadow - part 1

Way back when, before the advent of herbicides, chemical fertilisers and intensive farming, traditional species rich meadows were managed with one thing in mind…..animal feed.  Modern meadows are still managed for animal feed…but today’s farmer usually wants to feed more animals per acre of land and so he (or she) spends lots of money ensuring that the land grows grass, just grass, and as much of it as possible.  But that’s by the by.

So, before Fisons 57 became an essential ingredient, this is what would have happened in the four seasons of farming:

highland cow taking a break from munching through
all that vegetation

In late summer/early autumn cattle, sheep and probably some of the horses would be out at pasture most of the time, grazing on the grasses and other herbaceous plants and having very little in the way of supplementary feed…no need for it, there is still plenty of nourishment in leafy plants at this time of year.  Whilst grazing, they would trample and churn parts of the ground with their feet, thus creating small bare areas where wild flower seeds could germinate without too much competition from the grass.

As autumn draws into winter and the nights get longer, most creatures…especially the hardy old-fashioned breeds, will still be living out of doors but they may have be given extra hay or sugar beet pulp to supplement their diets because not only have the perennial wild flower plants “gone to ground”, most of the grass will have been grazed quite short.

In midwinter, some of the creatures will be brought into sheds – the grass has next to no nourishment in it so supplementary feeding is a must. Plus, the farmer likes to keep a close eye on youngstock and on pregnant ewes and cows.

Come the spring, there’ll be a flurry of activity with calving, lambing, foaling and the like.  Plants begin to grow again and so most of the beasts will be kept in the farmyard so they can be cared for whilst they’re still vulnerable.

early spring flowers in a traditionally managed meadow

In the meadow, with all the beasts safely out of the way, various wildflowers will be germinating, early blooms such as cowslips will be out to welcome the bees and of course the grasses….which is what the farmer is interested in, will be growing strongly.

As spring rolls into summer, various species of wildflower will bloom in succession providing a whole season’s worth of nectar and pollen for butterflies and bees

Some meadows may be grazed…it’s impossible to keep every animal indoors for all spring and summer, others would be encouraged to grow long.

By the end of July, the meadow grasses will be setting seed and at exactly the right stage of growth to make the hay that will feed the beasts in winter.  Hopefully, too, the weather will be kind and so the farmer is able to mow the whole meadow, grasses, flowers, herbs and all; let the clippings dry in the sun and then bale them up and take them away for storage.

A couple of weeks later, the grasses will be growing strongly again and the beasts can come in to graze.  Which of course means that the meadows they were scoffing in spring can have a bit of a recovery period and maybe even pop up a few flowers?  Certainly clover is happy to be grazed (or mown) and will flower again in next to no time.

And so the cycle begins again.

Meadowmat has been designed to emulate a species rich meadow and so if you take all the above waffle, swap grazing for mowing, and translate it into a management program for Meadowmat, it looks a bit like this…..

Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sept	Oct	Nov	Dec
Growing						Mowing	Growing	Mowing

BUT

Us gardeners aren’t so interested in feeding our cattle, we want Meadowmat to support wildlife and look pretty for as long as possible.  So…..we need to tweak that management programme a little…

More details in a future blog post, but in the meantime, if you need advice on managing a wild flower meadow, please don’t hesitate to drop me an email angelal@qlawns.co.uk or drop a comment on this blog.............look forward to hearing from you

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

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!

What is the best way to start a wild flower meadow?

When I was studying marketing, I was taught that "best" means different things to different people.  For example, it might mean "highest quality" or "fastest" or "cheapest" and so when customers phone Q Lawns and ask what would be the best way for them to bring wild flowers into their garden, I can only tell them what I have found out by comparing seeding to using Meadowmat.

Last April, I planted two wild flower areas in my garden.  In the first, I used seed bought from the garden centre for a total of about £10.00.  For the second I used six square metres of Meadowmat - retail value about £68 including VAT. 

Was the Meadowmat worth the extra money?
For me personally, YES.  Why? because I'm a busy person and I like reliable results with the minimum of hassle.


 Check out these two pictures, taken this afternoon (March 1st).

perennial wild flowers grown from seed almost 1 year ago.  No flowers so far, poor species mix and poor germination

Meadowmat installed almost 1 year ago, most of these plants flowered last summer, excellent ground cover

What you can't see from the photographs is the difference in the amount of work that each area has created.  Both areas were watered regularly for the first 3 weeks or so, once the Meadowmat had rooted in I stopped irrigating it but as it was a dry spring/summer, the seeds were watered probably twice a week.  This year, we are already being threatened with hose-pipe bans. Meadowmat should be fine....most water companies allow you to water newly laid turf....not so, seeds.

Weeds....I HATE weeding with a vengeance and I have to say, that I haven't had to remove a single plant from the Meadowmat patch, it seemed to supress the plants that would normally have popped up by themselves.  Not so the seeded area.  I'll concede that there weren't any native grasses sown into the seeded patch and that may have made a slight difference to the amount of groundcover that grew, nevertheless, all that lovely water served to germinate just about every weed seed there could ever have been in that patch.  Maybe I should have left it to its own devices, just to see what happened, but I didn't.  I must have spent a total of over 20 hours on my knees in that small patch, pulling out all manner of things that I recognised as weed (if I wasn't sure, I let it be, just in case it was something I wanted to grow).  And what did I get in return for all my TLC in the seed patch?  Precisely NO flowers but some lovely Yarrow and Plantain leaves for the tortoises. 

white campion in my meadowmat

If I were paying a gardener to nurture the seeded patch, It would have cost me far more than the Meadowmat, and if I were a bee.....I'd have given one area a wide berth and enjoyed the wild carrot, clover, vetch, hay rattle, birds foot trefoil, white campion, yarrow and plantain that bloomed so merrily in the Meadowmat patch before it was cut down, dried and fed to the guinea pigs as hay (which would have cost me about a fiver from the pet shop).

It's for everyone to make up their own mind about whether to use wild flower mat or whether to try seeding.  I know which I prefer.  This video says it all.

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.

Using Wild Flowers in Garden Design

Sarah Raven's excellent TV program on wild flowers and pollinators last night was an inspiration.  But how can we bring more wild flowers into the garden and still have it looking good all year round?

 Maxine Tricker is a garden designer based in Hertfordshire who has a passion for wild flowers.  Read on to discover how she incorporates wild flowers into her designs.

One of Maxine's wild flower areas

It’s not so much... ‘I suppose we could stick some wild-flowers in this spare piece of ground in your garden’, but more... ‘where can we squeeze some wildflowers in to compliment or enhance the overall design’ !

I’ve noticed an increase in requests for a ‘wild area’ in design for about the past year or so... or perhaps it’s my influence as I ‘plant the seed’ early on in discussions ! I do like to squeeze a few wild-flowers in where I can !!

For the past few years I have experimented with wild-flowers, in different forms, in my own garden and have been fortunate to have had clients keen to include wild-flowers in their garden too –  a different choice of product depending on the area and their budget.

If cost is not an issue, my preference is wild-flower matting (Meadowmat) enhanced with wild-flower plugs.  Meadowmat is a great product – you need to clear the area of perennial weeds, level the soil a bit... then just bung it down ! OK maybe take a little more finesse than that.. but as long as there are no major air-gaps it will root through the membrame and do it’s stuff and cover the ground and that means NO WEEDS !! Excellent ! 

But... it is mainly grasses (which do look great !) and in the first year or so the ‘flowers’ can be few or far between... so adding a few extra flowers of your choice just gives it that bit of an extra ‘wow’ ...  and a personal touch too ! 

Saying that... I have the tiniest piece of meadowmat (my sample) .. and I was blown away by the wild carrot that appeared. It was so impressive !! Wildflowers and grasses are effected by soil fertility – the grasses love the good stuff.. but the wild-flowers need poor soil. So treat it mean ... and no feeding !!

So how or where could you use wild-flowers in your garden ?

If you have a separate area of your garden as a designated ‘wild’ area that’s great.. you can add a log pile and surround it with berry bearing shrubs ... for a wild-life haven !

Or you can ‘sneak’ some wild-flowers in....

meadowmat just before flowering

I like to use Meadowmat at the bottom of a lawned garden... the smooth lawn ending with the rough grass  - looks great ! And easier to cut too... just mow along the edge, no trimming required ! If your lawn goes all the way to the fence or a hedge.. this is a great way of softening the gap and can be a more cost-effective option than shrubs etc. It also looks good around the edge of a lawn.. filling the gap between the grass and the planted border.. so just mow round the edge and no trimming !!

I have also used Meadowmat on a slope where the soil is not stable enough for planting... you need a few pegs to hold it in place (although it’s a heavy product, so won’t move too far !) This will hold back the soil perfectly and it’s interesting to see how the grass grows upright and some of the wild-flowers hang down the bank.. so again gives a different look.  

Wild thyme growing naturally in Thetford forest

The  wild-flower  I use most of all is ‘Wild Thyme’ –  this is creeping thyme so not the woody type you generally buy as a herb for cooking. I buy this by the tray of 100 plugs... and always have a few around, just incase !

It’s great as a lawn edging, to fill the gap between grass and gravel, as an in-fill between stepping stones or slabs.... or even as a small ‘Thyme Lawn’ ! I do like creeping thyme J

So what about wild-flower seeds ? I’ve had some good and not-so-good (bordering on a bit scarey) experiences with seeds. I would suggest that you are cautious in your exuberance of scattering seeds – do stick to the recommended quantity you need for a measured area as they tend to germinate very well ! (they’re not called wild-flowers for nothing !!) So don’t double up, or triple-up on the qty even though they are cheap ! And do mix sand with the smaller seeds to help with an even spread.

plug plants and seeds mixed

I had a fairly large area (6m x 10m approx) which I planted with about 200 plugs and then added a mixed annual seed to give it a bit of ‘umph’ in the first year ! Well it certainly did that... as I also used a much larger quantity than recommended (as requested by my clients) ... then I started to panic as the wildflower plugs were slowly swamped by the annuals ! Eek !! It looked fantastic for a while... but it took me hours (or more like days) to remove the monster plants before they self-seeded.. and so much plant waste to dispose of ! I won’t be making that mistake again !

Cost is a major input when choosing which wild-flowers I select.. .. Meadowmat, plants, plugs or seed..    but I also take into account the preparation time and maintenance to keep the area looking good.  

Here’s my thoughts on the different options I use :

Meadowmat

Meadowmat – Cost is quite high, but soil preparation and maintenance is fairly low. Needs one or two trims in the autumn depending on the growth rate of the grasses. Has a reasonable selection of wild-flowers, but it’s a bit pot-luck !

Plants – many wild-flowers are available as small plants (1 litre pots or larger) . Great for using in a mixed border where plugs are too small, but cost is high compared to plugs.

Plugs – Wild-flower plugs are great !! Cost effective and a huge choice of wild-flowers... specific to soil type, sun or shade and even rabbit-proof ones !  There is perhaps too much choice and can be quite daunting to choose.... but you can get mixed trays like a ‘Butterfly’ mix or all blue flowers. Lots of choice ! J

Cost is OK – I think very good value, but soil does need to be prepared well, and if planting more than 100 plugs can be quite tedious (although there are special planting tools you can hire !) – and of course you will need to keep on top of weeding. If you let the weeds grow up too big, then weeding can be a big multi-choice question paper ! You know when you have the answer wrong... when you pull up a plug ! Ooops !! ... Yes I have got a few wrong answers !

If you plant the plugs in groups, then this gives you a better chance of working out which is plant and which is weed before you get it wrong. With 30 or 40 plugs it should be easy enough... but when you have 200 or so it can be quite confusing! Plugs in Meadowmat... means no weeding J

Seeds – Of course, these are by far the cheapest to buy and again a huge selection of plants to choose from, and ready mixed packs also available. You need good soil preparation again, as for the plugs, and lots of weeding ! And unless you know what each seedling looks like... then weeding can be a challenge.  For a larger area, say over 50m2 – it would be not be practical to weed, so some of the more vigorous plants would be a better choice, as they are likely to outgrow the weeds.

Either collect seeds or allow them to self-seed before trimming back in the autumn, or leave the plants to die down over winter. It depends on the area and what it’s used for.

I hope this gives you a few ideas for your own garden, and perhaps using my experience to help you choose the right product for you.

Visit Maxine's website at http://www.maxyourgarden.co.uk/http://www.maxyourgarden.co.uk/

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

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

wild flowers in november, mowing meadowmat and my big wildlife garden

yarrow and ragged robin pictured in mid november

This amazing picture was taken by our Sales Office Manager only last week!

All this colour and diversity in the middle of November.  Amazing!

Debs took the picture on the Meadowmat production field.  Admittedly, we have sneaked some annual wild flower species (cornflowers and poppies) in here for extra colour but doesn't that ragged robin look stunning?

Lenny, who's long legged good looks only serve to enhance
the beauty of these native wild flowers

Also looking stunning, is Lenny who ought to be a supermodel - even if he does say so himself!

Mow, Mow, Mow your Meadow
Traditional wild flower meadows - including the one featured in this blog - are grazed at this time of year.  Grazing keeps the grasses nice and short so that they're not competing with the flowering plants for light.  It also scuffs up the ground, creating bare patches where flower seeds can germinate. 
My little patch of MeadowMat is too small to support a cow and although I'm tempted to let Jennifer and Jemima (my two buff orpington chickens) have a scratch around on there, I'm worried that they'll scoff any seeds that are trying to germinate.  So, the next best thing is my trusty Hayter Harrier.  This afternoon, once the sun had dried up all the dew, I ran the mower over my Meadowmat with the blades set as high as possible.  All the clippings were despatched to the compost heap.  My "meadow" looks much neater now and I'm confident I haven't damaged any of the flowering plants - they all sit quite close to the ground.  In fact, now that the grass is shorter, I can see a couple of species I haven't noticed before - hurrah! 
My Big Wildlife Garden
Installing Meadowmat in my garden has really inspired me to do more for wildlife.  I've signed up to the Big Wildlife Garden Competition being run by the Wildlife Trusts and the RHS.  Hopefully I'll be able to pick up some hints and make some new friends.   Check out Angela's patch at bigwildlifegarden.org.uk

new wild flower pictures taken late october/early november

Walking out on the MeadowMat production fields yesterday (1st November) I was flabberghasted to see so much colour so late in the year.  Note to self; bribe the Production Manager with cake to find out how he does it and then get him to help me advise folks on the best possible management regime for wild flower meadows.

oxeye daisy

ragged robin - looking windswept

lesser trefoil

yarrow

common toadflax