Hi @michael
This is a good question especially given how many gardeners are now opting to convert their lawns to easy-to-maintain wildflower meadows.
Wildflower meadows only require mowing 3 times per year and, once established, are a great way to reduce garden maintenance and help increase biodiversity in any garden.
The first thing I'd recommend doing is scarifying the lawn to remove all of that moss. Scarification will help lift the moss and prime the soil ready for either wildflower seed sowing or planting of wild perennial plug plants (which could be grown from seed in advance - as per my meadow growing guide on YouTube).
https://youtu.be/8oeYfHJvmsQ
If you don't remove the moss, it will easily block out light and water from your wildflowers, smothering them very quickly. You can compost the moss in a home composting system to help completely recycle it!
You have two methods for creating a wildflower meadow:
1. Sowing seeds in September after preparing the ground - these will then over winter and then germinate the following spring
https://youtu.be/DICGT44SMSs
2. Create a perennial wildflower meadow by growing suitable plants as plugs during the spring and then transplanting them out in early summer.
https://youtu.be/YDBXSsKXMGg
The first method is usually used for annual meadows that have to be allowed to set seed each year. The second method is far less maintenance as the perennial plants come back year after year but require more growing effort in year one.
You can read and watch far more on creating a meadow with my guide here but hope the above helps.
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Happy meadow sowing!
Lee
Hi @michael
This is a good question especially given how many gardeners are now opting to convert their lawns to easy-to-maintain wildflower meadows.
Wildflower meadows only require mowing 3 times per year and, once established, are a great way to reduce garden maintenance and help increase biodiversity in any garden.
The first thing I'd recommend doing is scarifying the lawn to remove all of that moss. Scarification will help lift the moss and prime the soil ready for either wildflower seed sowing or planting of wild perennial plug plants (which could be grown from seed in advance - as per my meadow growing guide on YouTube).
If you don't remove the moss, it will easily block out light and water from your wildflowers, smothering them very quickly. You can compost the moss in a home composting system to help completely recycle it!
You have two methods for creating a wildflower meadow:
1. Sowing seeds in September after preparing the ground - these will then over winter and then germinate the following spring
2. Create a perennial wildflower meadow by growing suitable plants as plugs during the spring and then transplanting them out in early summer.
The first method is usually used for annual meadows that have to be allowed to set seed each year. The second method is far less maintenance as the perennial plants come back year after year but require more growing effort in year one.
You can read and watch far more on creating a meadow with my guide here but hope the above helps.
Happy meadow sowing!
Lee
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