Jachère fleurie

[Gemonimo]

I have seen so many pretty wild flower fields in the last couple of years and would like to plant one for next year.  Does anyone have any experience of planting one - is it better to plant in the autumn or spring, where to buy the seeds etc.  I don't want to get it wrong as the field will be a backdrop to the area where my daughter will be getting married.  Jen

[Christine Animal]

Didn't know myself, but now I've had a look

http://www.jachere-fleurie.com/achat.htm

http://www.jardiniersdefrance.com/fr/boutique/produit_detail2.asp?produit_id=11631

http://www.vilmorin-jardin.fr/public/spec/systeme_1/BANNIERES/jacheres-fleuries-85-81-1-1.htm

http://www.novaflore.com/les-jacheres-fleuries-86.php

http://www.novaflore.com/les-prairies-fleuries-20.php

[:)]

 

[Chris]

Wildflower meadows are far from easy to create, so I wish you luck!

Certainly in the UK, the process starts with eliminating the competition before anything is sown. The more pesky perennial weeds need to be dealt with, and the grass cut short and the cuttings removed a few times in order to starve the grass a bit.  Obviously the seed mix would need to be one which is appropriate to your area.

Chris

[Gemonimo]

Thanks Christine Animal  and Chris for your help.  I know it is going to be a bit difficult (even very) but I really want to have a go.  Perhaps I was hoping that all I had to do was to turn the soil a bit and artistically throw the seeds then wait for the compliments!!! If it ever works I'll post a piccy next year.

[cassis]

A lot of the "jachère" fields I've seen have been dominated by cosmos or calendula , so the French idea of a wildflower meadow is a bit different to what we're used to.  I sowed a small packet of jachère mix next to the veg patch this year and although it was quite pretty it definitely is not what I would call a wildflower mix.  This was taken at the start of July after sowing early May.

[IMG]http://i68.photobucket.com/albums/i26/cassiscassis/garden/potager_july_2008_1-1.jpg[/IMG]

As I thought it might, it is dominated by calendula and cosmos; there

are a lot of other smaller species but these two dominated. 

This French "faux wildflower" version of "jachère" just needs you to clean the ground and scatter the seeds.  That's all I did, anyway - turn over a band of grass a few metres wide, rake it out, wait for weeds to germinate, hoe them down, scatter the seeds and rake them in.

For a true wildflower

meadow to flourish the ground needs to be poor, otherwise the wildflowers tend to grow "soft" in

fertile ground and you get a lot of competing grass growth.  The

classic way to impoverish the soil, if it is quite fertile, is to keep

cutting the grass and weeds down and clearing them for a year or two -

don't let top growth lie and feed the ground again.  Then plough over and level.  You sow seed

in either autumn or spring and you cut down when flowering has finished

and wildflower seeds have set/fallen for the following year.  But I hear it is not

easy to succeed long term with a real wildflower meadow and I've never done it.

EDIT - Sorry, just realised that Chris already said all this!

[Gardengirl]

As already mentioned, the soil does need to be poor, otherwise the plants will not be what you want - they do seem to need to fight their way to flourishing! I haven't tried it, but I've read about actually planting out the plants you want - hard work in a meadow, but if you plant them around now, they should grow if the soil is suitable, plus the seeds may also be available for new plants.

Good luck! Jo