Wildflower planting

Pewmouse

Hello,


I'm after some advice on planting a mini wildflower meadow please, I've order my native perennial mix (including grasses) and also some annual seeds as it would be nice to see some flowers in the first year. I had planned to use a section of garden that is 12m square and is already bordered off, it's currently gravel and when I started removing the gravel I found that there is quite a big concrete plinth under the liner it must have been a shed base but it's in a very strange place in the middle of our decent sized garden.


So my options are to hire some equipment to break up the concrete and also hire a skip to get rid of the rubble or the other idea is to create a sort of raised bed for my wildflower area. The square section has a stone edging border at the moment leaving the area about 4/5 inches deep once the gravel is up, the concrete plinth is in the middle of the section but the edges are just soil under the liner. Would it be possible to fill in this area with soil and then plant the seeds? I was thinking the wild grasses and flowers tend to have shallow roots so could still thrive but I'm new to this so all advice is welcome!


Thanks!

Farway

Worth a try as you suggest, easier than the alternative, and wild flowers do not need rich soil

The resultant plants may be shorter than normal. I have a gritty patch at the front, ex graveled over and I just turned the soil / gravel over. Plants grow but only short, which is fine by me

You will soon find out which plants love or loath it by the results. In my case Love in mist is fine, Chives just die every time, and they are the easiest thing ever to grow, allegedly.

Pewmouse

Thanks, I think I'll build up the soil depth as much as possible and see what I can grow. I've ordered an 80/20 flower and grass mix and also some yellow rattle seeds in the hope that grass won't take over. I don't mind if they don't grow too tall, I'm just keen to grow more flowers suitable for pollinators.

mickeymouse303

Glad I've seen this - I recently received some of these pretty wildflowers as a gift and needed some pointers!

Pewmouse

They look like a lovely gift, I've read that you can sow wildflower seeds in pots or planters if you prefer. I think wildflowers look lovely in the garden either in beds or in pots, my aim is to attract as much wildlife as possible and wildflowers should help with the bees.

Jojo_the_Tightfisted

I'd just chuck some topsoil onto the gravel and take advantage of perfect conditions for things that like chalk downland and some coastal habitats, plus some Rosemary, Thyme and Lavender.

Mojisola

Farway wrote: »

wild flowers do not need rich soil

Pewmouse wrote: »

Thanks, I think I'll build up the soil depth as much as possible

If you put down too much good soil, the wild flowers won't be happy.

Pewmouse

Thanks all, I've settled on leaving the concrete down and planting on top. I've got some soil from another part of the garden that was dug out for a pond, we have sandy soil so I don't think it's too good and I won't add anything extra to try and keep it poor so that the wildflowers can thrive. I just need to build up enough soil over the concrete section so that the seeds can take root.

Jojo_the_Tightfisted

Pewmouse wrote: »

Thanks all, I've settled on leaving the concrete down and planting on top. I've got some soil from another part of the garden that was dug out for a pond, we have sandy soil so I don't think it's too good and I won't add anything extra to try and keep it poor so that the wildflowers can thrive. I just need to build up enough soil over the concrete section so that the seeds can take root.

A lot of wildflowers have very shallow roots, so you should be alright, especially if you keep the gravel, which will ensure good drainage even with a concrete pan underneath - things like Docks, Borage and wild carrot might not like it, but there will be plenty of things that will.

Davesnave

Many wild flowers in the seed mixes won't be happy or won't compete with the grass when it comes to re-seeding themselves, so don't rely entirely on those.

Plants like Ox-eye daisy and others one sees on motorway embankments will probably thrive, but for variety you may also add a few garden perennials. For example, I have the less 'cultivated' forms of Veronicastrum, Geranium and Achillea coping happily with grass I only cut once a year. I've just stuck some Verbena hastata in too and I'd expect them to do well.

Pewmouse

Thanks for all the input, I sowed the seeds last night and put the small wildlife pond in the corner. I'll now be waiting very impatiently for next year to see how it grows! I've put some yellow rattle in so hopefully the grasses won't take over.


I'm hoping this will attract more wildlife to our garden. Our other pond is thriving and full of frogs and we only finished it in early July. We also have a hedgehog feeding and nesting which I'm thrilled about. I hope the wildflowers will encourage more bees and butterflies, we've had quite a few bees this summer but not so many butterflies.