Create a Mini Wild Flower Meadow !

Our bees and pollinators need help

You can create a mini eco system in a pot,

Add an extra scoop of wildflower seeds for £1.50

Provided by the same seed suppliers HRH Prince of Wales uses,

We send these out in envelopes of approx 1gram of seed, which fit neatly inside pots

Per metre squared, you need 4 grams. if you'd like to bulk buy; get in touch!

Perfect as a gift for another; to yourself; or to your garden and pollinators!

Sew Autumn to Spring for best results.

What's in the mix?

Pond edge mixture contains wild flowers and grasses suitable for sowing at the wet margins of ponds, streams and ditches.

 

Wild Flowers

% Latin name Common name

1 Achillea ptarmica Sneezewort

2 Angelica sylvestris Wild Angelica

0.1 Caltha palustris Marsh Marigold

0.6 Eupatorium cannabinum Hemp Agrimony

3 Filipendula ulmaria Meadowsweet

1 Geum rivale Water Avens

0.4 Hypericum tetrapterum Square-stalked St John's Wort

4 Iris pseudacorus Yellow Iris

1 Lotus pedunculatus Greater Birdsfoot Trefoil

0.8 Lycopus europaeus Gypsywort

0.6 Lythrum salicaria Purple Loosestrife

0.1 Mentha aquatica Water Mint

0.1 Pulicaria dysenterica Common Fleabane

2.5 Ranunculus acris Meadow Buttercup

0.1 Scrophularia auriculata Water Figwort

0.1 Scutellaria galericulata Skullcap

1 Silene flos-cuculi - (Lychnis flos-cuculi) Ragged Robin

1 Succisa pratensis Devil's-bit Scabious

0.6 Vicia cracca Tufted Vetch

 

Grasses

% Latin name Common name

10 Agrostis capillaris Common Bent

2 Alopecurus pratensis Meadow Foxtail (w)

2 Anthoxanthum odoratum Sweet Vernal-grass (w)

1 Briza media Quaking Grass (w)

32 Cynosurus cristatus Crested Dogstail

1 Deschampsia cespitosa Tufted Hair-grass (w)

24 Festuca rubra Slender-creeping Red-fescue

1 Hordeum secalinum Meadow Barley (w)

7 Schedonorus pratensis - (Festuca pratensis) Meadow Fescue (w)

 

Sowing Rates

kg/ha kg/acre g/m2

40 16 4

 

 

 

 

 

Growing guide

Ground preparation

Endeavour to select ground that is not highly fertile and does not have a problem with perennial weeds. Good preparation is essential to success so aim to control weeds and produce a good seed bed before sowing.

 

To prepare a seed bed, first remove weeds using repeated cultivation. Then cultivate to bury the surface vegetation and harrow or rake to produce a medium tilth.

 

Sowing

Sowings on ground prone to winter flooding are safest either in late summer or in spring once the land has drained. Most plants need time to grow mature enough to withstand flooding.

 

The seed must be surface sown and can be applied by machine or broadcast by hand. To get an even distribution and avoid running out divide the seed into two or more parts and sow in overlapping sections. Do not incorporate or cover the seed.

Aftercare

First year management

In the first year, annual weed growth may be cut back to encourage the development of a good perennial ground cover. Establishment on sites prone to flooding may be patchy and may take several years to fully colonise.

 

Management once established

The habitat value of pond edge sowings is enhanced if there are a variety of vegetation structures from dense tussock stands to bare and recently colonised mud. Management of these wetland areas should therefore aim to create variation with minimum disturbance to animal populations.

 

Variation in structure can be achieved by cutting back and removing short sections of vegetation every 2-3 years in rotation. In ditches, cut out sections and /or work from one bank each year. With ponds, remove vegetation as a wedge, like removing a slice of cake. Dense stands of single species (eg yellow iris) may benefit from selective thinning. Vegetation removal causes the least disruption to wildlife when carried out between September and November. On larger sites light grazing by cattle or horses in late summer can be used and is less disruptive than mechanical clearance. Machines and heavy equipment should be used with care on wet sites to avoid damage to soil and vegetation.

 

Wet grassland which only occasionally or seasonally floods can be managed as meadow or grassland.

 

In marginal wetland zones the water levels in the soil are never more than 50cm below the surface, but only occasionally submerge the plants growing there. New ponds constructed with liners often have very narrow margins (less than 1 metre wide) unless wider, gently shelving edges are designed in from the outset.

 

Embankments away from the water's edge are often well drained. These are best seeded with a meadow mixture appropriate to the soil type.

 

Establishment of emergent pond vegetation (eg reeds) and other aquatic plants is best achieved using plants.

 

Create a Mini Wild Flower Meadow !

Our bees and pollinators need help

Provided by the same seed suppliers HRH Prince of Wales uses,

Per metre squared, you need 4 grams. if you'd like to bulk buy; get in touch!

Perfect as a gift for another; to yourself; or to your garden and pollinators!

Sew Autumn to Spring for best results.

What's in the mix?

This meadow mixture contains a very wide range of species. It may be used to create a very diverse sward where conditions vary across a site. It is also useful in situations where precise soil and site characteristics have not been established before sowing.
Wild Flowers wide range of species. It may be used to create a very diverse sward where conditions vary across a site. It is also useful in situations where precise soil and site characteristics have not been established before sowing.

Wild Flowers

% Latin name Common name

0.5 Achillea millefolium Yarrow

0.6 Betonica officinalis - (Stachys officinalis) Betony

2.5 Centaurea nigra Common Knapweed

0.8 Centaurea scabiosa Greater Knapweed

1 Daucus carota Wild Carrot

0.6 Filipendula ulmaria Meadowsweet

0.6 Galium album - (Galium mollugo) Hedge Bedstraw

2 Galium verum Lady's Bedstraw

0.4 Knautia arvensis Field Scabious

0.3 Leontodon hispidus Rough Hawkbit

0.6 Leucanthemum vulgare Oxeye Daisy

0.5 Lotus corniculatus Birdsfoot Trefoil

0.1 Origanum vulgare Wild Marjoram

0.5 Plantago media Hoary Plantain

1 Poterium sanguisorba - (Sanguisorba minor) Salad Burnet

0.4 Primula veris Cowslip

2 Prunella vulgaris Selfheal

2.5 Ranunculus acris Meadow Buttercup

1 Rhinanthus minor Yellow Rattle

0.6 Rumex acetosa Common Sorrel

1.2 Silene dioica Red Campion

0.2 Silene flos-cuculi - (Lychnis flos-cuculi) Ragged Robin

0.1 Trifolium pratense Wild Red Clover

Grasses

% Latin name Common name

8 Agrostis capillaris Common Bent

40 Cynosurus cristatus Crested Dogstail

28 Festuca rubra Slender-creeping Red-fescue

4 Phleum bertolonii Smaller Cat's-tail

80

Sowing Rates

kg/ha kg/acre g/m2

40 16 4

 

Ground preparation

Endeavour to select ground that is not highly fertile and does not have a problem with perennial weeds. Good preparation is essential to success so aim to control weeds and produce a good quality seed bed before sowing.

 

To prepare a seed bed first remove weeds using repeated cultivation. Then plough or dig to bury the surface vegetation, harrow or rake to produce a medium tilth, and roll, or tread, to produce a firm surface.

 

Seed is best sown in the autumn or spring but can be sown at other times of the year if there is sufficient warmth and moisture. The seed must be surface sown and can be applied by machine or broadcast by hand. To get an even distribution and avoid running out divide the seed into two or more parts and sow in overlapping sections. Do not incorporate or cover the seed, but firm in with a roll, or by treading, to give good soil/seed contact.

First year management

Most of the sown meadow species are perennial and will be slow to germinate and grow and will not usually flower in the first growing season. There will often be a flush of annual weeds from the soil in the first growing season. This weed growth is easily controlled by topping or mowing.

 

Avoid cutting in the spring and early summer if the mixture is autumn sown and contains Yellow Rattle, or if the mixture has been sown with a nurse of cornfield annuals. These sown annuals should be allowed to flower, then in mid-summer cut and remove the vegetation. It is important to cut back the annuals before they die back, set seed and collapse: this cut will reveal the developing meadow mixture and give it the space it needs to develop.

 

Management once established

In the second and subsequent years sowings can be managed in a number of ways which, in association with soil fertility, will determine the character of the grassland. The best results are usually obtained by traditional meadow management based around a main summer hay cut in combination with autumn and possibly spring mowing or grazing.

 

Meadow grassland is not cut or grazed from spring through to late July/August to give the sown species an opportunity to flower.  After flowering in July or August take a 'hay cut': cut back with a scythe, petrol strimmer or tractor mower to c 50mm. Leave the 'hay' to dry and shed seed for 1-7 days then remove from site.

 

Mow or graze the re-growth through to late autumn/winter to c 50mm and again in spring if needed.

Choose between our most favoured mixes here, approx 4 grams in a packet, this is the perfect amount for a metre squared

Cornfield Annuals

Create a swathe of beautiful poppies, cornflowers, corn marigolds and corn chamomile

This is an instant pop of colour, easy to grow

But, remember, you need to cut it back at the end of each year, and scatter the seeds as otherwise they won't come back

Woodland Mix

This is a stunning, mixture, think fairy land

Foxgloves, bluebells, wild garlic, primroses; it's perfection

Many will take 2 years to flower from seed, think of it as an investment. The sooner you start the sooner you'll reap the rewards and all the wildlife will thank you

This mixture likes full shade or close to it; it's unusual to find flowers which are happy in shade, but this is the mixture for you if you have it!

Pollen and Nectar Meadow Mix

Filled with beautiful wildflowers, some common, some not so

26 different types to be precise, what grows will depend on you soil type

See what thrives and get more of that if need be

That is the beauty of a diverse sward!

Wildflower & Herb (Easy Grow)

If you have a spot; a piece of land, a pot, a field and you want to know wildflowers will grow;

buy this!

Try mixing it with our other mixtures for increased diversity

#1 bee friendly plants like borage, phacelia & clover are in this mixture 

Don't forget pea plants, like sainfoin, field poppies and the blue daisy like flowers, chicory

These make perfect stocking fillers!

Just the right amount for pots, or small borders!

Create a Wild Flower Meadow !

Our bees and pollinators need help

Provided by the same seed suppliers HRH Prince of Wales uses,

Per metre squared, you need 4 grams. if you'd like to bulk buy; get in touch!

 

Perfect as a gift for another; to yourself; or to your garden and pollinators!

Sew Autumn to Spring for best results.

What's in the mix?