Starting a wildflower garden in the FRONT garden?

Nice_Username

Has anybody any experience on how to start a wildflower garden, and how do you think it would go down with neighbours if I did it at the front?

The garden is about 30-40 feet long, north facing, so only the end farthest away from the front door (ie nearest the street) gets much sun. It's currently a straightforward lawn with a few border flowers, the usual thing, but I find it a little bland and uninteresting and am quite interested in creating a more suitable environment for all different kinds native flowers and wildlife. However I have reservations about whether the front garden is suitable as you know how funny neighbours can get, probably thinking it has just been neglected.

chatta

The first thing maybe would be to tell the neighbours what you want to do, they might even join in with you. North facing could be tricky due to the lack of sun but what about a small pond, and lets face it anything is better than a garden concreted over for a car to park on which is what is common where I live x

Davesnave

I'd agree that the first thing a wildflower meadow expects is sunshine. The next thing it needs is quite impoverished soil, so if you have fed & looked after your lawn & borders, that could be hard to achieve too. It could be a struggle trying to get your plans to fit the constraints of reality.

However I'd run with the pond idea, if it isn't going to be a hazard. I have one in my small front garden, visible from the lounge, and it does add a layer of interest. As my drive has no gate, I had to design the pond area to avoid toddlers falling in (it's 85cm deep) but that wasn't too hard.

Facing north, you could get a mini woodland in at the far end of the plot furthest from the house without upsetting your daylight or anyone else's.
There are some pleasant small trees, but shrubs like cotoneaster and holly can be trained to do the tree job too, have berries and might be more easy to manage long term.

As for the rest...Well if it were me, that lawn would have to go. I would put in a fairly simple winding path using gravel on a geofabric base and then work with lower shrubs and perennials to create low maintenance areas of dense planting. There are lots of easy things like geraniums, astrantias and even some asters that cope admirably with shade.

Incidentally, there is new legislation arriving in October to dissuade people from concreting over areas of front garden, though how effective it will be is another matter.

chatta

Davesnave wrote: »

I'd agree that the first thing a wildflower meadow expects is sunshine. The next thing it needs is quite impoverished soil, so if you have fed & looked after your lawn & borders, that could be hard to achieve too. It could be a struggle trying to get your plans to fit the constraints of reality.

However I'd run with the pond idea, if it isn't going to be a hazard. I have one in my small front garden, visible from the lounge, and it does add a layer of interest. As my drive has no gate, I had to design the pond area to avoid toddlers falling in (it's 85cm deep) but that wasn't too hard.

Facing north, you could get a mini woodland in at the far end of the plot furthest from the house without upsetting your daylight or anyone else's.
There are some pleasant small trees, but shrubs like cotoneaster and holly can be trained to do the tree job too, have berries and might be more easy to manage long term.

As for the rest...Well if it were me, that lawn would have to go. I would put in a fairly simple winding path using gravel on a geofabric base and then work with lower shrubs and perennials to create low maintenance areas of dense planting. There are lots of easy things like geraniums, astrantias and even some asters that cope admirably with shade.

Incidentally, there is new legislation arriving in October to dissuade people from concreting over areas of front garden, though how effective it will be is another matter.[/QUOTE]

I havent read anything about that but can speak from experiance that when I bought my house 25 years ago it was a pleasure walking along my street and in the last few years have been saddened to see all the trees and plants have been dug up and concreted over to accomodate cars. We managed to put beds in the corners and grass in between the wheels of the car so it doesnt look so barren. Sad that the contractors employed to do this work for our neighbours couldnt show a bit of imagination x

Davesnave

Sorry, should have posted a link. Here's one:
http://www.burdensenvironmental.com/news/articles/new-legislation-paved-driveways-gardens

I can't agree more that a predominance of concreted/crazy paved/slabbed front gardens makes an area depressing. Where some of my relatives live, (won't say where as I might upset some folk!) the natives are not exactly noted for their gardening skills, unless it is large vegetables, and there they don't even need the excuse of having a driveway! Everywhere you look, it's concrete and crazy paving.

It isn't totally surprising that, not far from this place, they've suffered some pretty nasty flash floods this weekend.

greenfingeredsteve

what you really want is a wildflower patch for hedgerow wildflowers i.e foxgloves. you can buy special mixes online just google it.
knapweed,oxeyedaisy,st johns wort,teasel ,bugle are all good plants for it too.
the neighbours should be ok when they see all the bees and butterflys arriving until later in the year when things get ragged, then let them seed themselves and later chop it down ,it will come back year after year.
as mentioned beforedont fertilse as they dont like it .
no offence to the others but if you are having this meadow then i would forget about the pond idea but its up to you good luck anyway let us know how you get on .

ExiledWool

My front gets the sun till around 11:00am then it's shade.

I've got a great big lavender bush from the path outside the house up to my door (not very long, about 15 feet). There's also a big ivy bush next to a gate post. In another corner there's a hebe rescued from an old pot which has grown considerably in about 5 years.

As it happens, it was originally paved over (mid 70's I'd say) and I dug it all up about 5 years ago and replanted a small lawn and a gravel driveway. The lawn may go and be replaced with more bushes/small trees as it's more trouble than it's worth to be honest.

I'll also plant as many wild things as a I can, preferably bought from the Landlife Wildflowers at the National Wildflower Centre.

katiel

My recent experience suggests it might be a good idea to avoid the general mix of wildflower seeds, if you're thinking of using those, and go for buying individual species. People like http://www.wildflower.org.uk/department/wildflower_seed_single_species/ as mentioned in the last post do this (although I've not tried them myself). It's no doubt a pricier option, but you get to choose what's suitable for you (and your neighbours). The teasel in my general mix pack has seeded all over my front and back gardens, and no doubt into the neighbours' gardens as well, and I don't think they're going to thank me for it!

Davesnave

Well done katiel. I didn't want to say that, but I thought it. When my new neighbours moved in they had a self seeded teasel in the front garden, overhanging my gatepost. I'm afraid its seedhead suffered an 'accident' when I was flamegunning my driveway! However, the main plant survived and, this year, produced about half a dozen seed heads. The neighbour was very pleased with it until about July, when it suddenly developed a disease, going very yellow. The neighbour said to me 'I'm having that thing out, it looks awful' and I breathed a sigh of relief. To this day, I'm not sure if her husband had put some weedkiller down there, but as nothing else is growing in the immediate area, I have my suspicions!

Back in 1982, I grew an ornamental thistle about eight feet high, just for a giggle. This was in a rented property. Seeds from that thistle were still germinating a couple of years ago.

Wild gardens are all well & good in the right place, but the main thing to remember is that most are not truly 'wild,' and the management has to be thorough, right down to the selection of species.