Growing a mini meadow

The idea of sitting in the gentle rattling of the tall golden grasses, encountering butterflies and bees, as you soak it all in on a warm summer’s evening is a tempting thought.

Creating a mini meadow from seed is easy. In time you’ll be enjoying a diverse ecosystem of wildflowers and insects on your patch.

When growing vegetables, it is essential to attract as much pollinator activity into the garden as possible. If we want to ensure our pollinators are there when we need them, then providing enough food, in the form of flowers, is key.

Planting a native mini wildflower meadow can help. Ideally seed should be sown in the autumn for a display the following summer – however, March offers a second opportunity to sow a wildflower patch in your garden that can be enjoyed the same year.

Mini meadows can revive a connection with wildlife. Sowing wildflower seeds now means that you can watch the magic unfold before your eyes, and if you manage the meadow correctly, you can experience the magic changing and even getting better with each passing year.

I have encouraged a section of my garden to grow into a lush wildflower meadow. It has evolved over the years. I now find annuals such as cornflowers, that have self seed around the meadow, among other native wildflowers such as red and white clover, knapweed and oxeye daisies.

If you sit and listen on a sunny day you can hear the hype of activity and it is extremely therapeutic.

Last year I added some native mixes along with annual colour and I plan to do the same this March to retain some vibrancy.

Annual mixes are more colourful but are less sustainable.

When selecting a mix, try to stick to Irish wildflowers.

You can test your soil type and amend the mix to suit your site.

Generally a good mix can include: cowslip, herb-robert, knapweed, meadow buttercup, oxeye daisy, red clover, yarrow, selfheal and a special ingredient called ‘yellow rattle’.

This magic ingredient is an annual flower that has a special ability to reduce the vigour of the grasses, allowing the wildflowers to flourish; this is also known as the meadow maker and is essential when selecting your mini meadow mix.

Three to five grams of seed is sufficient per square metre of meadow.

Scatter the seed and gently walk across it so that the seeds are in contact with the soil. Wildflowers prefer poor soil, so if your soil is very fertile, you’ll need to remove the top 5–6cm, where the nutrients will be concentrated.

There is no need to take out the stones. The best way to remove the top layer of topsoil is by using a turf cutter, or a spade and some muscle-power!

Growing wildflowers in a patch or strip can be a great alternative and more cost effective than sowing a full meadow. You can create a wildflower meadow naturally through reduced mowing.

Mow once in autumn and remove cuttings to reduce soil fertility, then wait and allow wildflowers to grow naturally, making your garden more pollinator friendly.

Selecting a section of lawn or an old flower bed for a designated mini meadow has beautiful and beneficial results and is well worth the small amount of effort involved. I would highly recommend this with young children as an activity this spring.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Tara Kate Linnane is passionate about sustainability and growing all things edible. Together with her husband Barry, she has embarked on a journey of designing edible spaces and getting others started on their gardening adventures.