We went to Mow a Meadow
Country Life UK|August 24 2016

ONE of the most fascinating aspects of the garden at Gravetye is our clutch of wildflower meadows, which are a source of pleasure all year round.

Tom Coward
We went to Mow a Meadow

They occur in repetition throughout the garden, contrasting with the more formal areas and supplying homes for a wonderful diversity of wildlife.

These areas are ancient meadows, into which William Robinson first started introducing bulbs and perennials in 1885. He recorded his experiments in later editions of his influential late-19th-century book The Wild Garden and it is fascinating to read these ideas and see the results of his experiments today here at Gravetye.

The display really starts in the very first days of spring, when snowdrops and crocuses pop their heads up, as a promise of things to come. By the end of March, a colour scheme of blue and yellow takes over, with hundreds of thousands of native daffodils flowering through a carpet of sky-blue Scilla.

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