Small wildflower meadow.

Hi,

Having worked on our bungalow for 30 years I could now concentrate on our overgrown gardens. Our site is on a very steep valley side so it's like gardening on the side of a mountain; just standing upright is challenging and any work at all is hard graft. We have a large mature rear garden and at the very top the Snowberry hedge with its brambles; mile a minute vine and small holly trees etc was heading downhill it being very invasive; the main hedge bordering the lane is mostly laurel and these had grown to around 30' tall; this snowberry secondary hedge was some 8' tall so a lot of hard work ahead and this only the top of the mountain; at least it wasn't quite as steep.

The laurels and other bushes I dropped to 8' tall from the higher lane side still affording us privacy; this hedge at 60' long. These laurels weren't just shrubs they were trees given their trunks; my petrol 20" chainsaw received a lot of action; the trunks were cut into logs for our neighbour with a wood burner she taking many car loads away; the brash I shredded and used the shredded material as mulch; there was a lot of it.

Now I could tackle the secondary hedge all 40' length of it; oh boy this was hard work; using loppers and the chainsaw I brought the lot down to ground level; thick trunks again for woodburning the brash shredded; it was amazing the amount of material I had to remove just to see the ground but as if this wasn't bad enough there was masses of English ivy and all manner of other stuff growing to dispose of; the chainsaw and shredder earned their keep all this taking many weeks often in pouring rain; high wind and freezing conditions; I suffered.

Next job were the hedge stumps and there were many of them; painstakingly I dug the lot out by hand running them by the car load to the tip. After all this work the ground where the hedge had vacated was very well dug over indeed and the soil was incredibly rich given the many years of leaves dropping upon it.

I sure was glad to see that part of the job behind me but more pain to follow actually in spades; I dug all the grass over turning the grass sods in; now not only was the digging by hand extremely hard work the whole area contained lots of roots and stones of all sizes; I even uncovered a concrete path that I had to break up and dispose of; the pile of stones grew in height as I worked and the roots were more trips to the tip; piles of debris were removed; I bought four large composting bins but gave up with these in the end selling them on they being too much trouble to play with so lots more shredding and many trips to the tip; when it wasn't raining it was hailing; everywhere I went I left a muddy trail but I'm much too stupid to know when to quit so carried on in solitude.

With all this now done the weather turned to sleet and snow so I abandoned the job for a few months. Christmas arrived and my lovely wife Bron asked of me what I would like for Christmas? A new Hyundai rotavator was chosen but once the snow had finally gone and I tried to use the rotavator it proved impossible; the rotavator bounced around uncontrollably unaided by the sloping garden; it was churning up the grass sods and fouling on roots and stones also everything was still soaking wet so I put the rotavator away after giving it a good clean feeling rather disappointed.

Once again I went over with the spade this time chopping the sods into smaller pieces and removing more roots and stones; weeks later I dragged the rotavator up the mountain again and tired myself out as I attacked the grass sods; the rotavator was brilliant; it was almost uncontrollable as it bounced throwing out lumps of grass sods; roots and more stones; many times it jammed on bigger stones and the small roots kept fouling the tines meaning many stops to free the tines; over the next couple of weeks I must have used the rotavator at least six times; a forum member kindly suggested I rotavate "uphill" which I confess I thought would never work but I was proved wrong; the rotavator now powered it's way uphill then was freewheeled back down; it worked a treat and with each rotavating session the soil started to improve. This rotavator proved to be an excellent Christmas present; once the roots and stones were finally out I could then rotavate across the slope; still hard work but now a lot easier than digging; the rotavator suffered slight damage due to the many tine jams; one of the tines became displaced rotating on its securing rivet; I removed both sets of tines; repositioned the displaced tine then welded the lot in place; the rotavator is fitted with an overload clutch so when it jams the clutch just slips; I didn't like the rotavator at first but now it's a pleasure to use. Another winter hit us so work stopped.

This year I've been doing lots more pressing jobs but 3 months ago I resumed work at the top of the mountain; of course the big hedge needed trimming again but now using the rotavator was a pleasure in fact I enjoyed it so much I went over the ground at least three times; the soil is very rich indeed and now so soft as I walked upon it I sank in 3". A lot of raking pulled out more small broken roots and lots more small stones but now it was ready for planting. Now what to plant because we can't see this section of the garden from our bungalow but I wanted it to look nice.

Bron and I visit Meadowhall in Sheffield; one of the routes we can take is through a council estate; in this estate a number of houses had been demolished and removed in their place the council had created wildflower areas and these looked truly beautiful in what surrounding them was nothing more than a slum. Could we create our own small wildflower meadow? I had planted hostas and ran a row of sky rocket conifers with potentillas along the laurels; lower down I had planted two rows of primroses but what a wonderful opportunity to plant a wildflower meadow between the two.

I bought online from "Meadow Mania" two packets of wildflower seeds and also a large box of wildflower seeds from our local "Home Bargains" store. I was very unsure whether to try wildflowers because these need poor soil whereas our spoil couldn't be richer? About four weeks ago I went up the mountain with the seeds but as there is always a prevailing breeze coming up the valley and it being very cold the seeds went everywhere but where intended; then a thought occurred to me; why not use the breeze after all the breeze scatters seeds in nature; I came down onto the grass path and threw a handful of seeds into the air; WOW it worked the breeze doing a much better job than I could.

I've just been up the mountain to take a couple of pictures and our new small wildflower meadow is stunning; was it worth the pain; it sure is.

Kind regards, Colin.


The main laurel hedge was around 30' tall but here it's down to about half; the secondary hedge in the foreground was around 8' tall but reduced down to around 4' tall.


Some of the debris ready to be dragged down the mountain on the tarpaulin.


One of many such piles; the composting bins in the background were a waste of time.


A few of the stones removed.


Digging by spade; grass sods being turned over. Very hard work indeed especially whilst trying to remain standing upright against the slope.


More digging.


Rotavated.


Initial rotavating churning up grass sods; roots and stones of all sizes; an horrible job during wet cold and windy conditions.


Well worth all the pain to achieve this.



About 40' long; sky rocket conifers and potentillas in the border to the left.

 

Hi @Retired. I got tired just reading about all the work you did!
But that wild flower meadow looks lovely. I assume you will not strim it until after everything has seeded? And maybe you could start including some more permanent wild flowers eg snakes head fritillaries, primroses/cowslips to extend the season.

 

@Retired I feel quite wonderful after reading that you've spent 30 years working on your house. I've spent almost 8 on mine and I thought that was a long time. And, it's not finished yet .

Love the wild flowers . Impressed with all the hard work you've put into all the garden .

I've got meadows here. I didn't have the motivation for all the preparation involved with creating just flower meadows, so I let the grass grow and waited for the wild flowers along the lanes to arrive. I've also planted some wild flower plug plants, ie, Poppies, Marsh Mallow, Knapweed, Wild Scabious. I wanted to keep as much grass as possible as A/ beneficial to wildlife, B/ the seed heads rippling in the breeze create a pleasing effect and C/ I'm not keen on lots of weekly grass cutting . The plug plants I bought I planted into small slightly raised beds ( basically just mounds of soil ) and let the grass grow around the edges giving the illusion the plants were growing directly in the grasses. The wild flowers that grow along the lanes have seeded into my garden and do grow directly in the grass. Currently have Red and White Campions, Rapeseed, Purple Thistles ( not sure of name but loved by bees and butterflies ), Yarrow, Toadflax, Roberts Herb Geranium, Ragwort ( I have to keep an eye on that ), Corncockle, Cuckoo Pint, self seeded Poppies and several others I don't know the names for. A couple of weeks ago I discovered a blue Cornflower . My point in writing all this is that if you wanted something to fill space, add colour and a bit less work you could create something similar. Just a thought.

 

Hi,

Thanks CarolineL; I'm new to having a meadow and welcome suggestions such as yours; I will indeed let it all die back before tidying it up; I confess I'm unsure just yet how to proceed once the seeds have dropped; I intended doing a bit of web browsing for information; I don't have a strimmer but I think it's time I bought one; it will have to be a petrol strimmer given the length of our garden; I had considered pulling out the dead plants then rotavating again then leaving it alone until next year before rotavating again and raking starting afresh with new seeds; the seeds don't cost much and now I've gained a little experience I could add other seeds too as you kindly suggest. I do ramble on a bit being a bit of a keyboard warrior but posting the story wasn't as tiring as doing the work; at the bottom of the garden we had more laurels at 30' tall these too are now down to under 4' tall; I've removed an 80' long x 8' tall conifer hedge and also a selection of big trees two of these at 80' tall; I don't need to visit a gym but now at 71 I'm finding all this heavy work very tiring and with no let up in sight.

Many thanks luciusmaximus for adding your interesting story; only another 20 years or so to go to catch up with me on your house improvements? The only outside help Bron and I have had has been regarding gas jobs; our central heating and about four years ago our new front room gas fire professionally installed; everything else from replacing the foul drains right up to the chimney pot including a new bungalow and extension roof we've done ourselves but now we have many skills and don't owe any favours. Just a few cornflowers briefly appeared so they must have been included in the seed mix. You've done very well to create your meadows without lots of aching bones; it's the end result which counts isn't it; nature seeds everything as you say it's just a case of standing back and waiting; our rape seed put on an impressive display and now the big poppies and plants with masses of daisy flowers are in bloom; I don't know the names of all the plants so please excuse my ignorance; it does show though even without any experience a nice wildflower meadow can be created. Ragwort I won't have in our gardens and it's so bad that local councils are supposed to control ragwort; it's certainly a danger to horses?

Ragwort and the Law The Weeds Act 1959

I'm only aware of this because I was curious as to what the plants were in our garden and Ragwort was one of them so I pull it out on sight before it can spread; I also attack nettles; ivy and thistles. I don't like coming into contact with nettles or thistles and I've ripped out masses of ivy it being too invasive. I'm interested though in yours and CarolineL's wildflower names which are useful to me. Because I'm a novice gardener I'm making it up as I go along; I like to experiment rather than copy; if I fail with one plant I learn from it; I'm not into things like checking what soil we have; Bron and I just choose plants etc which appeal to us; I now know not to plant hydrangeas because I planted four last year and all died; a number of things can kill plants here; we're very exposed to extremes of weather being on the valley side with lots of rain ( I have my own personal cloud called Blackie and he's here as I type keeping the dust down as usual) and a prevailing breeze. I'll never be a knowledgeable gardener but I do enjoy being in our gardens time permitting; there are always more pressing jobs to be done around home; I've been retired for 19 years and am working as hard as I ever did but now there's no holidays and it's seven days a week full on; I even struggle to get time in my workshop. I'm not complaining because I'd rather be ultra busy than be bored.

Kind regards, Colin.

 

Hi Colin

What interesting reading your posts are. I do admire all the work you and your wife have achieved . I have limited DIY skills but I do try to do as much as I can when I can.

You are correct about the Ragwort but it is an important plant for the Cinnebar moth and , I think, the Common Blue butterfly. Which is why I have it here. It does have a tendency to take over (like the docks ), so I have to ' manage it ' . I see quite a lot of Ragwort on Anglesey but I don't know if the local council know about it's benefits as well as negatives. I will take a few pics of my meadows.

 

Hi,

Many thanks luciusmaximus for your kind comments.

Ragwort actually looks nice when in bloom and seeing some appear in our garden I was curious as to what plant it was hence the web search threw up lots of interesting information; I'm unsure if Ragwort is injurious regarding skin contact but to be sure I always wear rigger gloves.

Stick at it with DIY; skills come with practice; do small projects first and build on your successes; I'm still practicing after 55 years and still make lots of silly mistakes. It's the mistakes I learn from but not always because I can make the same mistake many times; I can now put these down to senior moments.

I'm grounded again due to Blackie ensuring I don't suffer from dust; it's also so dark I don't even fancy a trip into the workshop; with all the panel lights switched on it still looks gloomy; I don't know why the "s" isn't dropped from "West Yorkshire" just call it Wet Yorkshire.

I'd love to do some woodturning and metal spinning but I'm fed up of the soaking I receive each time I venture outdoors; a fireman's pole might be a good project from our bedroom down to the workshop. Our immediate neighbour spent £12,000 having a lift installed from the garage into her bedroom; ours are bungalows with garage beneath; I converted our garage into my full time workshop.

Kind regards, Colin.

 

Hi Colin, yes ragwort causes liver damage, so I try always to wear gloves when handling it. However in your meadow it is probably not going to affect local horses because there are always plenty of others in verges that are spreading their seeds. We treated a horse paddock to kill all the broadleaved plants and restore the grass, and within a few years the ragworts had started appearing again from somewhere - the seeds travel a long way. Depending on whether you want your meadow to be nothing but authentic native plants, or are willing to incorporate the rest of the world, then you could include various bulbs (eg dwarf native daffodils, cyclamen, crocus speciosus) to extend the flowering period.