Re: Lawns for wildlife

Hi everyone ,I have a theory about grass and its all in here

www.rspb.org.uk/.../499382.aspx

If you have seen it before I apologise, but if you have not ,its food for thought

Regards Mick

Hi Oxeyedaisy

Great to see the photos - and to hear of success achieved through trial, error and determination! Yellow rattle is semi-parasitic on grass and sucks some of the energy out of it, which is why it is so recommended. Have you ever got it to germinate?

Nice one, Mick. There's more than a grain of truth in that. Human beings, eh? So intelligent and yet.... ;-)

Hi Rose Marsh. Too right that we need to get the message through to town and parish councils about not feeling that they have to mow and strim every inch of grass. Even if they don't 'get it' from a wildlife point of view, maybe they'd be tempted by saving some money! There are some great councils out there who are already realising this, which is encouraging, but plenty that aren't.

Hi All,

Not been on for a while as been a little bit busy in the garden and sorting out my wild flower lawn!! LOL :-)

Last year I just let it grow and planted a few wild flower plugs grown from seed and it looked like this....

It didn't look too bad but was somewhat 'artificial' with plugged plants in amongst the rough Rye grass, so.....

I decided to do it properly this year and completely scalped it last Autumn......

Here it is in the process of being de-turfed....

I then sowed it with perennial wild flower seeds from flowers which are native to Somerset in the Autumn and again this Spring! As the perennials will take a year or so to establish I also grew lots of annuals such as Corn Marigolds, Corn Cockle etc etc from seeds to plant out as plugs for colour this summer (if we get one!!).....

I grew approx 100 plugs of annual wild flowers....

Plugs planted out & a big blister on my hand later....

At the beginning of June it looked like this.....

Unfortunately I don't have an up to date picture as it looks much better four weeks later already!

I have basically split my lawn in two with this wild flower area and a more formal lawn area with perennial borders etc. The two areas are separated by a dry river bed and a bridge which I built out of old rockery rocks and a concrete drainage pipe I found under the hedge!! I keep this area a bit messy with rough grass & wild flowers but mixed with ornamental grasses and irises etc to give a natural transition between the two areas....

That's my wild flower lawn!!

I do record & photograph all butterflies & insects etc that I find here but it's lots so I won't bore you for any longer unless your interested to know how successful this has been???....but I warn you it might just make you want one yourself!!!! LOL :-)

Cheers

Higgy

Hi Higgy ,nice to see you are still about and working the gardens ,it looks grand, I like the wild flower patch, I also bet that daughter of yours could hide in there, Gill has some fantastic wild foxglove seeds if you need any, PM me if you do,and will post some off later in the year.

Edit   (or anyone else if they want some)

Regards Mick

I wish we could do this 'natural garden' here, but a neighbour who left his garden, 'oh naturel', had so many complaints, the council insisted he sorted it out. Too many 'curtain peepers' round here me thinks.

Higgy, that is coming on brilliantly.  I have my eye on some stunningly beautiful poppies that  are growing wild around some areas I go - will harvest a little of the seed later on.

Caroline in Jersey

Hello All,

Thanks for the kind comments they are appreciated as always!

Stich, I say just go for it or if you want it to look less 'scruffy' just do the edge of the grass or alternatively a patch of wild flower grass in the middle of the lawn and keep the outsides mown and edged? Cutting paths through it can also help to make it look somewhat 'managed'???

Mick, Kind offer as always and I might just take you up on that..... You will have to let ,me know if I can return the favour with seeds/plants etc??

Hi Caroline, Poppies make a wild flower meadow somehow don't they? I scattered plenty of seeds but only have half a dozen which have actually grown and flowered in my patch! I'm hoping that these will shed their seeds and produce a few more as the years go on!!?

Cheers

Higgy

Hi Higgy. Loving it!

And I agree with your encouragement to Stich - mowing straight edges around a longer grass area can look really formal and 'tended'. Stich - is there any way you could communicate in advance what you'd like to do (to neighbours AND the Council), so that 'curtain twitchers' aren't alarmed?

Adrian

Like most I have always had the standard green lawn. I have been cutting as normal this year then thought I would just let the wild flower grow a little. Now I have great colours and I don't have to mow. Seeing your post makes me feel a whole lot better as I'm now doing it for the wildlife.

Here is a picture that I hope captures the beauty.

Robert

Robert, that is beautiful; made a lovely start to the day- thank you! I can almost hear the bees buzzing in it :) Why can't more local councils see the value?

Robert, one word - wow! Looks like you've got White Clover, Self-heal and Bird's-foot Trefoil. If you live anywhere near 'wild' or 'wasteland' habitat, you could easily get Common Blue butterflies taking advantage - as you may well know, Bird's-foot Trefoil is the caterpillar foodplant. Don't worry if when you cut later in the season the area looks a little yellow - it will soon green back up.

Thanks Adrian but the less cutting the better.

Most of the garden is about 4 inches high and only needs a trim in parts. The strange thing is that the birds have made their own pathways between the feeders at the front and the back of the garden.

Anyway it's so much nicer than just green.

Oh, even better then Robert if you don't need to cut :-)