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wild flowers instead of grass


holliebabes

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hi guys,

i am reasonably experienced at gardening,and know that to plant a wild flower meadow i need to do the preparation first.but i have a large area,very stoney and full of various grasses and it would be impossible to prepare.can i cover with membrane for the winter to starve the grass and then top with compost and then sow the wildflower seeds in spring????.it would be impossible to rotivate the area or dig over as it is too large.

i am not looking to cheat,i know gardening is hard work,but i just want to make it look pretty for next year.any suggestions i would be grateful.also on a limit for time and money!!!!

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Wildflowers love disturbed soil, hence why poppies grew on battlefields so readily.   They don't mind rotten soil particularly, stones or whatever, but I don't think they are especially keen on rich soils as you'll get more foliage than flowers.

Just dig it over, rake out the worst lumps, sprinkle your seeds and wait for springtime!

I bought some meadow flower seeds in Wilkinsons in UK - very cheap  & cheerful - but those daisies on my avatar are an example of what popped up. Ours is going to be mown but with drifts of wildflowers, that is, when I get around to it!

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Next year one of the things that I'm planning on is having visits to my land / garden so if anyone is near south Vienne I will be providing more information soon.

So, it really does depend on what you are trying to achieve, personally I have been working on my project for some years and it is really based on as many native species of plant / flower that I can get to grow that would "normally" be in this region, not so much the "plants of cultivation" as all the plants that once established will look after themselves with a bit of management. For preparing an area I use anything that I can get my hands on, metal sheets, cardboard, old swimming pool covers, in fact anything that is going free and is going to be thrown away. Cover now and remove in early spring if it's seeds you are sowing.

[IMG]http://i133.photobucket.com/albums/q73/unautremonde/Flowers%20and%20Plants/ground-clearance.jpg[/IMG]

Chris

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Whatever you do, don't use compost. Wild flowers need an impoverished soil - nutrient-poor. In order to remove nutrients from the soil you can first of all sow loads of a plant called yellow rattle, then when it dies back sow your wildflower seed mix.

M

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Have seen in our local FranceRurale a box of seed with wild flowere in - includes a wide variety including cosmos. On my travels around have noticed occasional small pastures near the roadside which are a mass of flower and soooo pretty - think they might be from the same source? Perhaps you could rake the grass to expose the soil and sow some of the seed mix? Worth a try perhaps. Phylis

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""Have seen in our local FranceRurale a box of seed with wild flowere in - includes a wide variety including cosmos. On my travels around have noticed occasional small pastures near the roadside which are a mass of flower and soooo pretty - think they might be from the same source?""

Sorry, not wild flowers but "Jachere Fleurie", we had a discussion some while back about this, it's a con by the hunting associations to pretend how well looked after the countryside is (not)... just about a total waste of space...

Chris

 

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If you have any bee keepers near you - as we do - they will be very grateful for any additional flowers growing - there just aren't enough!

In fact I've heard that they can provide you with seeds for planting as it will be to their benefit too - sorry I don't have any weblinks/addresses to hand as I guess it takes place at a local level.

 

Good luck!

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Thanks Chesnelay.   This was pretty much what I want to do here, essentially fill a gap (where very poor soil exists) between a flower bed and a patio, because it is an area a little inaccessible for our ride-on mower (ie, my big new(ish) toy).

Will have a look, as cost may not be prohibitive for this area.   Thanks again.

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