As we are being bombarded in the media by no-mow-May exhortations in support of the Plantlife Charity’s initiative, this month I shall be thinking about Wildflower Meadows. I know in our recent Journal there was an article bemoaning this initiative for being too temporary a habitat in our gardens for the wildlife to really make use of it, but many of us have embraced the concept of leaving part of the grass to grow longer over the summer rather than just for May, even if we mow the rest of it. Long-time readers of my blog may recall in May – July 2020 I wrote about what wildflowers came up in our chalk hillside grass as we left it to grow. Obviously, I expected daisies, dandelions and plantain, but was impressed with the variety of what came up over the weeks. For example, Cowslips (Primulus Veris) in April under the Pear Trees: -
Also, the Dactylorhiza fuschii Orchids, (Common Spotted Orchids,) that come up in three places on the chalk hillside and in one patch are spreading well. Here, with another wildflower in the background – Hieracium pilosella (Mouse-Eared Hawkweed): -
We have other hawkweeds growing here too –a much taller deeper yellow version, Hieracium sabaudum group (Leafy Hawkweed), and the “choice” Fox and Cubs, Hieracium aurantiacum: -
Generously moving from a neighbour two gardens away several years ago, we now have Creeping Buttercup (Ranunculus Repens) colonizing – here in early May a carpet in the orchard: -
On the same day looking down the orchard under the cooking apple trees, a carpet of Queen Anne’s Lace or Cow Parsley, or Anthriscum sylvestris: -
I know this looks just like many of the RHS Chelsea Flower Show gardens of the past few years, but my orchard looks that good for maybe a week, and then the Cow Parsley goes over and is just straggly green, with hogweed coming up through it; and the grass overwhelms the buttercups. If I am lucky, I have a mix of grass seedheads to give interest before they flop over: -
However, earlier in May, and where my poor chalk soil doesn’t allow the grass to get too tall, I can find Common Vetch (Vicia Sativa): -
And Wild Mignonette (Reseda Lutea): -
They along with the Vipers Bugloss (Echium vulgare) that stands proud and flowers for many weeks are tall enough to be visible above the grass. In this picture you can see the two colours of hawkweed more clearly too: -
But many wildflowers in my grass are quite short or start as a whorl of leaves that need to be left by trigger-happy mowers/strimmers to grow to flowering stage, and indeed be allowed to set seed and cast it round. Even more of a problem are biennial wildflowers as their rosette of leaves in the first year are not obvious to mowers e.g. Teasel (Dipsacus fullonumm); or Vipers Bugloss (can you tell which is which from these two photos (answers below, no peaking!!)
(Answer: - The first one is Vipers Bugloss, the second Teasel).
Then there are shorter biennials such as Forget-me-not, (Myosotis sylvatica): -
Other leaves in April and early May such as Red Clover (Trifolium pratense): -
Or Geranium molle: -
CAN be spared if the mower is set at its highest setting but are often shorn.
Another very short wildflower which tends to flower in April and very early May is Fragaria vesca or Wild Strawberries (which then creates the problem of not being mown or stood on until the fruit is ripe and can be picked and eaten as you stroll - delicious!) Here they are in flower with the equally short Self Heal (Prunella vulgaris) on 11 April: -
Also, on 11 April the Wild Violet (Viola odorata) is flowering: -
Another short wildflower, the beautiful Veronica chamaedrys (Germander Speedwell) flowers all April and into May: -
I would describe this as a “natural” wildflower meadow, as in I haven’t sown or planted any of these wildflowers. They are coming up in spite of the grass. I HAVE tried to leave them to set seed and drop their seeds around, easier said than done what with a) a “trigger” happy mowing/strimming husband, who only recognises a plant when it is in flower rather than in the seedpod stage; and b) the difficulty of seed penetrating through grass to germinate. With the cowslips under the pear trees, I leave it unmown until their seeds have turned black and then himself used to scythe it first and rake it so that the seed fell to the ground. However, that is not practical on the wider chalk hillside, and whilst I try VERY hard to put protection round the orchid patches and the Common Vetch til they set seed (the Vetch sets seed in early June and the seedpods are black so are SLIGHTLY visible to mowers. On hot days you can hear them splitting open with a pop and propelling their seed around. Because he has not been able to mow much the past two years, they have managed to spread themselves around the hillside much more widely. This year, he is back to mowing fitness….
Another intervention I made was to sow Yellow Rattle (Rhinanthus minor) under the Pear Trees to restrain the grass. Firstly, just scattering the seed into the grass - to no avail. Even with clearing a tiny bare patch to sow the seed onto, the grass overwhelmed it. I managed to get some Yellow Rattle to germinate in seed trays and then put them in as developed small plants, but they didn’t transplant very well, so I still haven’t got an established colony. Plantain (Plantago major) on the other hand has no problem spreading under there, no wonder the Cowslips are moving home to the orchard and chalk hillside further down the slope (all by themselves I might add!). Lest you wonder whether Yellow Rattle (Rhinanthus minor) works in reducing the vigour of grass as it parasitizes the grass roots, here is a close up of the flower, then a longer shot (in someone else’s garden) of the difference it makes to the growth of the grass – in the centre of the wide shot is a patch of rampant grass with no Yellow Rattle….:-
The problem with this type of wilding in most gardens, is that it is basically a lawn grown long, with a few intermittent patches of flowers, most of which are small and comparatively fleeting. We don’t have the space for it to not be pulling it visual or practical weight for months. One option is to add extra plants to a patch – either as plugs or as seed – though as you can tell above, I have found that sowing seed into a patch of grass was not very successful. Most success came with inserting a plug or plant into the space I have made by digging out a dandelion or plantain root in the grass. Whilst the Yellow Rattle didn’t take, more success came from inserting tough perennials such as Geranium Endressii or Centurea Montana: -
Both plants not only hold back the grass, but cope with himself scything or strimming them twice a year….
Lots of seed companies sell a wildflower seed mix, or cornfield seed mix, but unless you plan to plant them in a bed which is clear of grass their impact may be smothered by the more rampant grasses. Also, garden plants have been bred from their wild forebears to have bigger flowers/leaves and flower for longer. So, you might be better off sowing a less “wild” meadow comprised of more cultivated varieties of plant. Next month I shall consider these options.
Meanwhile, let us see if the RHS Chelsea Flower Show gives us some more pointers into rewilding our plots.
Sheila May
