A favourite area of my garden is my mini meadow. I love the moon daisies flowering on tall stalks like a child's drawing of a flower. Then there are the vivid pink flowers of red campion and ragged robin mixed with purple self-heal, red clover and the soft pink of lady's smock. Most exciting of all, my common spotted orchids, pale purple with spots on their petals, have seeded themselves and I now have many times the amount that I started with.
Orchid seed is incredibly fine and blows like dust in the wind. So I was delighted, but perhaps not surprised, when I found some had germinated on the far side of the garden in a patch of lawn chamomile! Orchid seed can survive for five years in the soil but on germination, it needs help from a special fungus to get started.
Leave your lawn to grow in No-mow May and you might be surprised by what wildflowers have been suppressed by the mowing. And if you want to dedicate an area to meadow it's not difficult, but you need to have a clear idea of which sort you want to establish.
Poor Soil, Rich Rewards
There are two types of meadow - annual and perennial - and it's important to know which kind you are aiming for. Annual meadows are bright with scarlet poppies, blue cornflowers and yellow com marigolds. They need sowing every spring into prepared bare ground that is free of weeds, lumps of soil and stones. They are a dream when in full flower but there is nothing to see for a large part of the year. You also have the annual cost, and work, of sowing the seed.
A perennial meadow is more subtle, a mixture of wildflowers and grasses. It needs ground that is not too fertile, or the stronger growing grasses will overwhelm the flowers, and higher nitrogen encourages plants such as dock, nettle or hogweed to thrive.
This story is from the {{IssueName}} edition of {{MagazineName}}.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber ? Sign In
This story is from the {{IssueName}} edition of {{MagazineName}}.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber? Sign In
I Can't Wait To Play The Queen Mum
Gracing screens, treading boards, royal roles much-loved actress Dame Penelope Wilton has done it all!
TAKING CANCER TO THE CATWALK X
Teacher Mary Jones reflects on the extraordinary way her breast cancer diagnosis challenged her view on womanhood and ultimately led her to a London catwalk
Fighting For All Women
Diagnosed with breast cancer aged 36, Jessica Parsons is raising awareness of the disease in younger women
The Fall Guy
Surely Caitlin’s boyfriend had nothing to do with all the drama going on at the jeweller’s...
The Widow At Number Ten
There were many secrets to unpack in this old house
Old Habits Die Hard
Even for our lively suburb, gunshots were pretty unusual and was curious to find out what was going on
A Wedding To Remember
Surely nothing would spoil this special day.
Distinctly Feline Flavour
Desperation forces Chris to add something unusual to his cup of tea!
The Old Burgundy Book
Within its ageing pages Rosie found a story of fading romance and a fresh chance for love to bloom...
The Haunted Ballroom
Mysteries swirled around this magical place...