Sowing wildflower meadows from seed

September and October are without a doubt the best months for creating a wild flower meadow from seed.  After all, it's when most seeds are distributed naturally...wherever I wander I see seedheads in various stages of development, wild berries are ripening and on the ground, there are a few tiny seedlings just beginning to show themselves.

In early autumn the soil is still lovely and warm, it's nice and moist and conditions are perfect for setting seed.  Some wild flower seeds need to have a frost or two on them before they'll germinate....so for species such as yellow rattle or cowslip, it's no good having the seed packets languishing in a drawer until spring.

How to grow wild flowers from seed

I have a sneaking suspicion (actually I'm sure) that when I began my experiment to compare wildflower seeds with Meadowmat, I didn't allow enough time to prepare the ground properly.  It's absolutely vital that every single perennial weed is removed before sowing a wildflower meadow.  I chose to dig out the docks and the bindweed that had sneaked into the patch, but I think I should really have swallowed my pride and my anti-herbicide policy and resorted to using a systemic weedkiller.  It might have saved me a lot of kneeling and weeding. 

With deep rooted weeds and grasses out of the way, the ground can be prepared as though you were going to lay Meadowmat

Then instead of unrolling Meadowmat - simply sprinkle on wildflower meadow seed at a rate of 5 grams per square metre..careful! If you spread it on too thickly you'll find that when the plants do grow, they'll out-compete each other.

Keep the soil moist, and the birds at bay; watch out for cats, who love to dig in freshly prepared soil, and wait for mother nature to do the rest.

Which is best? wildflowers from seed or Meadowmat?

If you have patience and perseverence, growing a wildflower meadow from seed is a cost effective way of supporting butterflies and bees in your garden.  If you're less patient - try installing Meadowmat OR better still, combine the two techniques.  Have areas of Meadowmat for instant maturity and seed in between them to help keep costs down.

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.

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.