Following on from the idea of annual seed mixes of meadow plants discussed last time, this month I am considering perennial seed mixes for meadow planting – something I was unaware of until this past winter when I was reading old garden magazines. I suspect as hardy planters you already know that there is such a thing as perennial meadow-style planting, with special seed mixes developed for this purpose. A key proponent of these has been Nigel Dunnett, who used the style for the Olympic Park in Stratford, for the London 2012 Olympics. He has developed proprietary seed mixes for different conditions (sunny; dry; damp; shadier) as well as different styles or “feels” of meadow. Similar to the annual seed mixes these are not inclusive of “grass.” (Photos are of perennials I think would be good for meadow planting styles.)
The article I was reading was about a private garden in Suffolk where a large perennial meadow was created. I must say, the methodology of how the professionals went about creating the meadow was a shock to me, nothing LESS wildlife-friendly could I imagine, as they start with a scorched earth policy of spraying the rough turf with glyphosate to eradicate weeds. The ground was covered in 7.5cm of sand, and the perennial meadow seed mix sown onto that and then covered with hessian mesh which is pegged down. This does two jobs - it protects the seedlings as they emerge from 1) being washed away by rain; or 2) being eaten by rabbits. This clearly shows that my experience of having a large bank of seeds in my soil is the norm, and that to have only what you sow come up you have to take much more drastic measures than just a thorough weed of an area!
Digitalis ferruginea
Even with that start, obviously the seedlings need watering regularly to begin with to establish them, but there may also be weeds appearing which have to be removed by hand. In that garden turf paths were laid through the meadow areas as well. I imagine in a public space there would be hard landscaped paths, and more defined “beds” for the meadow mix to be in – perhaps grown in sheets elsewhere and laid into the radically prepared beds as young plants rather like a roll of turf, or sedum matting for a green roof.
As it was a proprietary mix, I don’t know all the plants used in the seed mix, a few were mentioned in the article, but I am going to suggest some hardy perennials that I think would be suitable. In my view a meadow style planting be it annual or perennial needs to be mainly a tapestry/matrix of small flowered, filmy foliage plants that are 45-60cm high, with perhaps the odd higher (see-through) plant here and there, all tightly packed together. It is not staked, nor is it blocks of plants (even though most of the photos I am going to show you are of larger clumps of a plant), for a meadow-style I think perennials should be planted singly, not allowed to get too big, and not overbear the other plants either in size, habit or leaf size. Starting with our favourite hardy geraniums, perhaps Geranium pratense, as pratense means meadow; Geranium ‘Patricia,’ which I have growing in shade here: -
This is a good choice as its leaves are quite divided, and it’s a taller plant – maybe 60cm, with the flowers standing above the foliage. Verbena bonariensis (here in my garden showing its gangly see-through qualities).
A red Achillea was used in Suffolk but I find the red or terracotta achillea too in my face, and prefer the paler yellow – Moonshine I showed you above, or an even paler yellow one I discovered this past week on a visit to Devon – Achillea Anthea – as you can see, still in the pot I bought it in:-
Lychnis coronaria – another plant that does well in my beds here.
A white umbel – such as Baltic parsley, (Cenolophium Denudatum) – here seen with Knautica macedonica, which I would also recommend for a meadow-style planting: -
Other plants that I think would work well either as part of the seed mix, or as added plants include other scabious, such as Scabious columbaria, easy to grow from seed: -
How about a cultivated cornflower? This one is a bit different – Centaurea ‘Amythyst in Snow’: -
This is rather low growing, and I find floppy as a plug inserted into my wildflower grass meadow but stands up better in the border here.
Another “spike” you could grow from seed as I did is Veronica Longifolia – this is a self-seeded clump that I have potted up until I rehome it elsewhere: -
This Thalictrum is a plant that was originally here, and I never manage to get an in-focus shot of its flowers. It also likes shade here, as it really needs moister soil than we have – but it has self-seeded itself into the fern bed, so I know it grows well from seed: -
I would add Gaura lindheimeri ‘The Bride’ (now known as Oenothera lindheimeri ‘The Bride’), as that is easy to grow from seed -something I have grown from HPS seed distribution seed that does well here: -
Perhaps you can see the Linaria purpurea (Purple Toadflax) behind it, which self-seeds everywhere here, and would be good for a meadow mix. I would also suggest a salvia such as verticilla, or officianale, both also easy to grow from seed. Another plant I have just purchased, and is still in its pot is a very posh clover – Trifolium ruben, a very striking addition to a meadow planting I think: -
The habit of this plant I feel is ideal for a meadow-style of planting – upright stems, smallish well-spaced apart leaves, and flowers that keep on coming, as well as making interesting seed pods. This allows other plants to grow cheek by jowl with it; gives lots of green background to all the small flowers from our human perspective; and is a great nectar source for pollinators. Whilst spikes such as verbascum would be good to punctuate a meadow, they can have very big leaves, as can Giant Scabious, (Cephalaria Gigantea), a much daintier size of yellow scabious is Scabiosa columbaria supsp. Ochroleuca which in the article I read, the designer had added as an established plant into the meadow - this seeds itself very freely around here, so I am surprised it wasn’t part of the original seed mix. It makes a lot of lovely seedheads, so I can save seed for the HPS seed distribution scheme each year too. Here in August, with the Verbena Bonariensis starting to make seedheads: -
In the garden in the article to give the planting more substance other perennials were added in too as existing plants, such as Stipa Gigantea; Dianthus carthusianorum, which is as tall as a carnation, and leggy, with a small flower head, often in even more shocking pink than my photo shows:-
Penstemon ‘Andenken an Friedrich Hahn;’ and Eryngium planum.
Their perennial meadow was initially strimmed the following spring from sowing to make the plants bushier. Thereafter the owners strim it in the autumn, once any cuttings of plants have been taken, and seeds collected. However, if it was my meadow, I might leave areas over winter (depending on the plants habit) as habitats for wildlife or seedheads for birds in the winter. I know other public garden meadows are scythed/strimmed and raked and left a few days before removing to ensure that the seed falls to the ground to be left to germinate for next year. I have seen gardeners lifting the scythed plant material and moving to another location to spread out and rake/shake, to try and move the seeds to that location to spread the meadow naturally. Obviously if you want to ensure that a particular plant spreads you would want to take seeds or cuttings so that you can either direct sow elsewhere, or sow in seedbeds/trays to prick out next year.
This being a seed-driven planting style, as with annual meadow mixes, different plants dominate in different years. In the article I read in the first full year of growth Geranium ‘Patricia’ dominated, along with the Achillea Summer Pastels Group, and Eryngium Planum – indeed the latter had to be “edited out” (which is designer speak for pulled up/weeded out) as it was seeding around dramatically. Here is my stand of Eryngium Planum grown from HPS seed, which I am very pleased survives on my windy, poor chalk soil, though three years on it hasn’t seeded itself anywhere else yet…. Here early July: -
Nigel Dunnet says that even with all that drastic preparation perennial meadows look good for 5-10 years before they need severe editing or starting again once grasses and other weeds encroach.
All this talk of plants grown from seed, leads me next month to talk about plants that self -seed themselves around my garden.
Sheila May
