We find ourselves at that time of year in the garden where we would like to see more and more colours, the mix of white and yellow spring daffodils are quickly disappearing and we await the tulips to give us some more colour but again only for a short time. It might be an idea to consider some areas of the garden be given over to wild flower, possibly creating your own meadow. This is a low cost option to fill areas of the garden and the seed can be found for sale in garden centres and even in supermarkets, sowing time is Mar-May on a lot of varieties therefore still time for sowing to have some nice colour for this year. The seeds of wild flowers are sown out at very small amounts and often seed packets are bulked up with wild grasses as well. Spend some time deciding if your meadow is just for this summer or if you would want something more permanent that will give your garden colour year after year. If you are going for the short term option this is classed as an annual meadow and if you are looking to produce something long term then this is a perennial meadow. The preparation of both types of meadow are the same but important to remember there will be some maintenance required if you go for a perennial meadow but it will give you repeated colour every year. Wild flower mixes are great for biodiversity and also encourages bees in to the garden. Annuals mixes thrive best where there has been a border or well-maintained healthy soil previously. Annuals are good to sown in to an old lawn where the soil nutrients are good whereas perennial mixes do well on impoverished areas of the garden. If you are planning to sow a perennial mix in to a border or old lawn it is a good idea to strip away turf and any good soil as nutrient rich soils will allow weed grasses and broad leaved weeds to thrive to the detriment of the wild flower mix. Once the soil has been turned over, raked and firmed then the seed bed is ready. It is possible to turn over and sow on to sub soil with perennial mixes. Once the seed has been sown it is a good idea to rake gently to protect the seed from feeding birds. Do not apply any fertiliser to the soil as this will again only encourage grasses and weeds. Once your meadow has germinated you will notice grasses from the mix will germinate first. Four weeks after sowing the area should be cut and again after around 8 weeks, cuttings should be removed to allow the wild flower mix to develop. A perennial mix will require to be cut at the end of every growing season and the cuttings removed. You may find grass species in the mix become dominant, if this does happen it is advisable to sow in some straight wild flower to keep your meadow with a good variety.

Paul Brannan