Wildflower area - help needed.

I’m desperately trying to create a wild flower meadow or similar but I’m failing miserably.

My problem is the grass grows to fast and high and smothers any wild flowers I introduce, even the clover which was there in abundance has given up.

The above photo is the area I have put aside, it’s not easy to make out but it runs down the left side of the photo and across the back. It goes from full sun to deep shade.

The area floods a couple of times a year, with the flood water comes rich silt so the soil is relatively fertile.

The area used to have a wide selection of wild flowers (Lady’s smock, celandines, clover, ajuga) but all have disappeared since I left the grass to grow.

This photo shows the problem, the grass grows tall and then falls over and smothers anything underneath.

The deep and semi shaded areas are coming along well as there is not sufficient light for the grass to grow strongly.

I don’t want to have to resign myself to just having spring flowers and mowing throughout the summer, has anyone got any practical suggestion please?

Not an expert on this, but maybe a few observations might help? Firstly, it's a bit of a puzzle that the flowers used to be there but have now disappeared - has this area always flooded, or is this a recent thing? This could have made less than optimal conditions (eg seeds drowned and unable to germinate) - grass seems to be less susceptible to this sort of thing. Also, you say that  because of the flooding the soil is quite fertile - in my experience, this is actually a BAD thing for wild flowers which do better in poorer soil (poor soil = more flowers as they get desperate to reproduce quickly!). I'm not sure how you could reduce the soil fertility if this is indeed the problem, but someone out there may have a suggestion. Perhaps you could trial a small area to see if this has any effect? Keeping the grass short-ish while species get established may also help (not too short or you will also mow the flowers, clearly!). By the same token, you also need to make sure you don't mow until the plants have cast their seed. We're lucky in having (more or less accidentally!) a lovely mix of wildflowers in with our rather old and neglected lawn - the only thing we ever do to it is mow it a little when it starts getting a bit shaggy!

Hope some of this helps?

The grass grows much faster than the flowers then falls over blocking the light from anything growing below which then dies.

It’s always flooded, it’s on the edge of a flood plain.

 

I think this could be my main problem, there isn’t a way to reduce the fertility as each flood increases it.

Hi WF - I don't know it this is viable for you or whether you have the rest of that (what looks to be) large area ear-marked for something else. If you haven't and if you are using seed to start your meadow, might you be able to scatter / sow over a larger portion of that area and see what transpires? I was just thinking that, that way, the wild flowers would be able to show you where they want to grow.

Hi WF - I've been looking through my books for you and this is what I've found so hope it helps.  Unfortunately though, it doesn't say anything about an area which is prone to flooding

As Cartimandua has said, a fertile lawn is not great for creating a wildlife meadow, as it encourages the grass to grow as well as the plants you have put in, also if the grass species is coarse, this also deters flowering plants from succeeding.  Here are some suggestions:

• If you know that the turf is fertile, cut it very low (1-2cm) and often, for a year.  During this time, apply no fertilizer and remove all grass cuttings after mowing.  This reduces soil fertility, giving wild flower species a chance.
• Strip the existing vegetation back to the surface of the soil.  Sow a wild-flower seed mixture over the area.  This gives the wild flowers a better start on the site, with less competition from strong grasses.
• Strip the vegetation and sow with a special grass mix containing native meadow grasses.  These will compete less with flowering plants than coarser grass species.
• Bent (Agrostris) or fescue (Festuca) are less invasive and the wild flowers will thrive among these.
• Maintining your garden: Three cuts a year to stop the grass from becoming coarse and swamping other plants.  Each time, rake up and remove all cuttings and compost them if possible.
• In October & November, give the meadow a very low cut, within 2-5cm of the ground.  This allows you to see any spring flowers amongst the short grass and it will not need cutting again until the summer.
• Leave the next trim until all the early summer flowers have finished flowering and seeding in early July.
• This gives the seeds time to scatter and so increase the flowers for next year's display.  Cut to within 8cm of the soil surface.
• Make a third cut to 8cm at the end of August.

Phew!

That's impressive Kezmo, and VERY useful and helpful information. Well done you for finding it and (possibly) typing it all out (or did you copy & paste?).

Thank you Squirrel ! nope all typed out by my own little fingers! Don't do much typing any more and had to have  a cup of tea afterwards!

Thanks for that Kezmo, I’m a two finger typist too so I know how much effort that took.

I have been mowing the area for eight years and removing the clippings and it hasn’t helped, each flood just replaces the nutrients.

The grass that is there is very coarse and it’s a tall growing variety. If I want summer flowers my only hope will be to remove all the grass and start again. It’s a huge area and the ground is rock hard.

I have made a note of your suggested mowing times and I’ll follow it next year and see how it goes. I’ll post the results next year. If all else fails I can at least have a spring meadow. The area is full of spring bulbs that make an appearance before the grass swamps them.

Rather than a meadow could you create a cornfield? This would involve stripping the turf  and sowing a cornfield mix (corn cockle,corn marigold, cornflower, chamomile, field poppy etc with some grain like spelt wheat and other grasses) This would be cut and cultivated in the Autumn after the flowers have seeded. The ground disturbance is important for the germination of the seed. I've done something similar, on a very small scale, and I used the subsoil from my pond to replace the turf and lower the fertility. I also have spring bulbs in there. Just an idea :-)

Thanks for the suggestion Frog Prince but it’s a huge area so stripping the turf is not practical. I have been offered a 16 wheeler full of sub soil (about 20 tones), I’ve shifted that amount once before (with help) over a shorter distance, it’s one job I’m not prepared to repeat.

I’ll try a different mowing regime next year and see if I get better results.

Understandably, that's what I thought you would say. If you get into this project next spring and need an extra pair of hands give me a call or email and if I'm free I'd be very happy to help. I'm sure you could call in the folks....like a barn raising!

Colin

I saw a large meadow that was under construction at the Welsh National Botanical Gardon. They approached the problem by raising plug plants and taking out areas of turf and replacing with sub soil about a foot in diameter and planting into these all over the medow. These can then be mowed around keeping the grass down but allowing the flowers to florish. It looked a bit strange at first but seemed to look OK after a while. This too would be a lot of work but might be worth testing out in a smaller area. Just brainstorming for what it's worth.

Thanks for the offer of help Frog Prince.

I like the idea of doing small areas at a time, this I could manage.

Good advice from Kezmo (who is obviously more organised than me in the research department!) and FP. The plug planting could be a workable solution. I think keeping the grass 'shaggy' (to allow the other plants to gain some height) but not too long would help. Our front 'lawn' is never closely mowed  but also not allowed to get long, and contains all sorts of wildflowers - black medic, bird's-foot trefoil, coltsfoot, speedwell etc - and a few escapees from the borders such as lady's mantle and bugle. On the other hand, the back garden often floods and the grass gets very overgrown because we can't mow underwater and has far less diversity.

Good luck!

Cartimandua

On the other hand, the back garden often floods and the grass gets very overgrown because we can't mow underwater and has far less diversity.

That is my problem

I've been giving this area a lot of thought and have come up with a plan.

I’m going to mow through the winter and stop when the spring bulbs begin to appear (early nectar is important for bees etc), when the leaves of the bulbs begin to die back I’ll mow again. The grass will be very long by this time and mowing will leave the area almost bare. I’ll plant the area up with plug plants, these should be able to flower before the grass has reestablished enough to smother them.

In theory it all works well, time will tell.