For many years, lawns were considered an essential feature in the suburban garden – usually a rectangular space given pride of place in the centre of the plot. More recently, they have come under heavy criticism for two main reasons: they are considered to be high maintenance, at the very least requiring cutting and edging once a week; and they are thought to be environmentally unfriendly, requiring petrol-driven machinery to maintain them and a constant supply of water and fertiliser to make them look lush and green.
However, these criticisms are not entirely fair. A lawn in the garden provides millions of tiny oxygenating plants that create a wide range of habitats for bugs and insects, whether they are living in the soil just below the surface of the lawn or within the thatch. If you sit down among the blades of grass you will see that they are host to a huge range of wildlife including ants, ladybirds, bumble bees and beetles. Considering the alternative landscape material is usually decking, concrete or patio slabs, it is not hard to realise that lawns are by far the greener option.
Secondly, lawns have a fantastic absorption quality. A large part of the flooding problem in the UK in recent years has been attributed to the hard landscaping of our front and back gardens, meaning water run-off has nowhere left to go. If there were more lawns there would be less flooding, as the water would be held in the soil layers below the surface for longer.
Lawns do not have to be high maintenance, either. True, if you want a finely manicured lawn it will take some work, but not really any more than having to weed a vegetable bed or a bedding display every week. Cutting the grass much less often will certainly encourage a greater diversity of wildlife, much of which will not only feed on it but also use the material for nesting. Allowing some weeds in the lawn will enhance the garden’s green credentials even more, as they will attract pollinating insects such as butterflies and honey bees.
Practical considerations aside, gardens often look better with a lovely green space somewhere. It is enticing to sit on, perhaps with a picnic or a cold drink, and it is a natural soft material for children to play on safely.
The impeccably kept lawn at The Courts Garden in Wiltshire.
Mowers are a very useful and efficient tool for cutting the grass, but there are other options that are not dependent on petrol-driven machines. Solar0-powered battery mowers are efficient for cutting small and medium-sized lawns, and small areas of grass can be cut roughly with hand-held shears.
Concepts of lawns are also changing, with some people prefering longer grass that only requires cutting once or twice a year, and incorporating wild flowers into their lawns. Alternatively, you could consider ‘fake’ or artifical grass and avoid lawn maintenance altogether.
The lawn at Polesden Lacey is spiked with wild flowers.
The grass in the orchards at Yew Tree Farm in the grounds of Polesden Lacey used to be regularly cut each year with a ride-on mower. This was done every couple of weeks, leaving the orchard with short, clipped grass that was easy for visitors to walk on.
However, apart from one or two mown paths, the grass is now cut just once a year, in late summer, using scythes. There has been a huge revival in the popularity of scythes as people increasingly appreciate the benefits of equipment that does not rely on fossil fuels. The grass can still be cut reasonably low and there is no longer the unpleasant sound of machinery in the garden, or the need for ear defenders on a warm summer’s day.
Leaving the grass longer has increased the diversity of plant life, with wild flowers such as cornflowers and knapweeds springing up. This in turn has encouraged the wildlife including butterflies, bats and bees. Small mammals are now nesting in the long grass and this has encouraged a pair of buzzards to forage in the area too.
The long grass is raked off to ensure that the fertility of the soil is not increased, as this would encourage coarse grasses at the expense of the more delicate wild flowers. The grass is bundled into piles by the side of the orchard and slow worms, hedgehogs and grass snakes use them for nesting.
Interestingly, the apple trees seem to have become less prone to disease and aphid damage – it would seem that the natural balance of life has been restored to this beautiful corner of the Surrey Hills.
The quickest way of establishing a lawn is to lay rolls of turf. This is by far the most popular option for many householders and professional gardeners as the results are almost instantaneous – the lawn looks good immediately and is ready to walk on about two weeks later. It can also be laid throughout the year except for in extreme periods of drought or cold, though the ideal time is autumn as the ground is still warm and the lawn should need only minimal watering to get the roots established before the growing season in spring.
Turf-laying can be back-breaking work, though, and if the idea of hauling heavy rolls of turf around the garden does not appeal you may be better off seeding the lawn instead. However, if you are willing to engage outside help, there will be plenty of garden contractors happy to lay the lawn for you. Always check the rolls of turf before they are laid to ensure that they look healthy and are not stressed and turning yellow.
Tip
‘Trim plants that grow over lawn edges little and often so that they don’t get hacked back hard and then look awful.’
Martyn Pepper, Senior Gardener at Coleton Fishacre, Devon
The immaculate maincured lawns at Coleton Fishacre are set off beautifully with the background of herbaceous perennials and impressive subtropical planting.
It is important to get your timing right when you order your turf, since once it has been delivered it will need to be laid within a day or two. If the work is delayed, unroll as many of the rolls as possible in the shade to prevent the grass turning brown.
1. Prepare the ground by digging it over with a fork and removing any perennial weeds. Rake it level using a landscape rake and then firm down the soil by walking over it slowly to remove any air pockets.
2. Rake over the soil again lightly and then start to lay the turf, butting each roll up tightly to the previous one. When it gets to the second row, cut a roll in half so that the pattern is staggered like brickwork as this makes a stronger bond.
3. Tamp down each roll of turf with the back of a rake. Lay boards or planks to work from, avoiding walking directly on the existing laid lawn. Avoid using small strips at the end of the lawn as these quickly dry out. Instead use them in the middle of rows.
4. Finally, use a besom or brush to sweep a non-peat top dressing into the gaps between the rolls of turf. If rain is not predicted, water the lawn well and then avoid walking on it for a few weeks until the roots have established.
Chris Wilson,
Senior Gardener at The Vyne, Hampshire
‘We created our turf raised bed to use up excess turves when creating the vegetable areas of our walled garden. We cut the turves using a 300mm (12in) wide turf cutter (available from most hire shops). They were lifted at maximum machine depth and we cut each one to 1m (3¼ft) long to keep them manageable. Next we marked out the corners of the bed – about 1.5m x 3m (5 x 10ft) for us but any size works.
Then we placed the first layer of turf upside down within the rectangle we had just created. Starting from the corners, we put further layers of upside-down turf on top of each other, staggering the joins in the same way a bricklayer builds a wall.
Once we had reached our desired height of eight layers, we put a final layer on top with the grassy side up. Then we filled the middle with topsoil and planted the vegetables. Our first set lasted about three-and-a-half years before they fell over. Every few weeks we would cut the grass top and sides with shears or a strimmer.
This is a great way of recycling material, and making an enviromentally friendly structure in the garden. It is free to make and avoids any need to import materials.’
For the more green-fingered gardener, sowing seed is a better option. It is trickier to establish, and patience is required as the lawn may not be ready to use for as long as 12 weeks. However, there are far more choices of grass types available, ranging from shade-tolerant to drought-tolerant, and a bag of seed is far cheaper than rolls of turf. Sprinkling seed is also much less hard work than dealing with rolls of turf.
The disadvantages are that seed needs reasonably warm temperatures to germinate and when freshly sown will need protection from birds. The bare soil is also susceptible to weeds until the grass starts to grow.
Tip
‘To reduce the chance of birds eating your grass seed, pre-germinate it in a seed tray so that it grows away quicker.’
Colin Clark, Senior Gardener at Greenway, Devon
The grass is left to grow wild, and paths mown into it at Westbury Court Garden.
Sow grass seed first in one direction, and then at 90 degrees to that, ensuring an even coverage.
The sowing of micro clovers is a relatively new development in lawns. They are simply a standard clover with tiny leaves, and from a distance they look like grass. They can be added into grass seed mixes or sown as pure clover.
There are many advantages to using micro clovers. Because they fix nitrogen from the soil with their roots, they don’t require fertiliser – in fact, their supply of nitrogen helps to feed any surrounding grasses. They tend not to suffer from drought like grasses do, are reasonably tolerant of wear, and because they stay small and low to the ground, the lawn doesn’t require cutting regularly.
Sow seed only between mid-spring and early autumn – it will fail to germinate in the cooler temperatures. Avoid sowing on a windy day, as the seed will be blown onto your flower-beds and you will find it difficult to distribute the correct amount on the soil.
1. Dig over the soil with a fork or use a rotavator, removing any perennial weeds and their roots. Also extract any stones in the soil. Level the soil with a landscape rake and then walk over it to firm down and remove air pockets.
2. Rake over the soil again to create a fine tilth. If the weather is very dry it is worth watering the soil, as this will encourage germination.
3. Using string, mark out the area into 1m (3 ¼ft) square grids. Check the sowing rate on the seed packet and measure the seed out into the cup.
4. Sow half the amount in one direction in a square, and the remainder at 90 degrees to it. Repeat this process in the other squares. Lightly rake the seed into the soil and water.
Alternatively, instead of sowing by hand a seed distributor machine can be calibrated for seed sowing. Seed distributor machines are reasonbly cheap to buy, and are useful for sowing grass on larger areas. By following the sowing rates on the sack or box of grass seed it should be possible to callibrate the machine to distribute the right amount of seed as you push it along. You don’t need to mark out squares, but it helps to mark out the rows, using string. The machine will tell you the rate seed will be distributed at, if you walk at an average speed. It is possible to check the distribution rate by walking the machine over a hard surface first, then sweeping up the seed, weighing it, and checking it has distributed the right amount of seed per square metre that you required. If the machine has distributed too much or little, then adjust the machine accordingly and test it again.
A mower is probably the most expensive piece of kit you will need for the lawn, if not for the entire garden. There are several different types and which you choose depends on your budget, lawn size and how much work you want to contribute yourself.
A rotary mower is the most popular choice for cutting all kinds of lawns, but there are many other options available.
‘If you want to put stripes on your lawn but are a bit worried about your ability to get them straight, consider cutting diagonally across the lawn rather than square to the edges. It is easier to disguise wonky lines this way.’
Chris Gaskin, Senior Gardener at Polesden Lacey
The most commonly used mower in the domestic garden is the rotary. This has cutting edges like helicopter blades that rotate parallel to the ground. Rotary mowers come in all shapes and sizes, but usually have a collection box at the back to catch the grass clippings, and adjustable height so that a lower or higher cut can be made.
Rotary mowers are tougher than cylinder mowers so are ideal for rougher areas of grass. Many have a roller on the back to give a striped effect to the lawn. Most ride-on mowers and hover mowers also operate on a rotary type of system.
The blades of a mulch mower are like those on a rotary mower but are at a slight angle which chops up the grass clippings into tiny pieces and spits them back out onto the lawn. These clippings are an invaluable extra source of nitrogen and will keep the grass looking green. Because the clippings are so small they do not smother the grass, causing brown dead patches. Some ordinary rotary mowers also have a mulch option rather than using the collection box, but the performance may not be as good as a mulch mower specifically designed for the job. Mulch mowers are much lighter as they don’t have a roller on the back or use collection boxes, this makes them ideal for using on steep banks or awkward small areas.
Used on fine lawns, cylinder mowers give lawn-fanciers those much-desired traditional stripes. Rotary mowers with rollers on the back will also provide stripes, but they are not usually as pronounced. They are much more finely tuned than rotary mowers and capable of cutting at a considerably lower level, but are not suitable for rougher, coarser grasses or uneven ground. The collection box is usually on the front and the roller is at the back. The cutting action consists of a horizontal rotating drum with blades that trap the grass against a lower, fixed blade. They are usually more expensive than rotary mowers and are not as easy to maintain.
Retro push cylinder mowers have come back into fashion. They do not require any electricity or petrol, you will not annoy the neighbours with the roar from your mower, and you will get a good weekend workout in the garden too. Push mowers are surprisingly efficient, inexpensive (you may even find one being given away on a recycling website) and give a lovely finished look to the lawn. Electric mowers are always a better option than petrol mowers in terms of energy efficiency. However, it is usually necessary to have a cable trailing from a power source and is therefore not practical on large areas. At Polesden Lacey we invested in battery-operated rotary mowers which are light to use and still give an exceptionally good quality of cut. We rigged up solar-panelled units on the toolshed, and these charge the batteries each night.
Push cylinder mowers are a greener and more peaceful alternative to rotary or cylinder mowers.
History from Polesden Lacey
‘The pony used to pull the roller and the mowing machine. We used to put his leather boots on, put one foot in, strap it round each foot... they had flat bottoms to stop them damaging the turf.’
Mr Arthur Thompson, the groom at Polesden Lacey, 1907
Most garden lawns are a mix of several species of grass. This is because individual species have specific desirable qualities, but none of them is able to provide everything that is required of a lawn – some species, for example, have a creeping habit that knits a lawn together, while others form clumps but have better disease resistance. Consequently, lawn mixes are designed to provide the best qualities from a range of different species.
Choose a blend of grass that is suited to your lifestyle. Lawn grasses have been developed so that there are tough types able to withstand a lot of foot traffic, while others are more sensitive but can be cut short and look more attractive than their coarser relatives. Agronomists have also developed mixes suitable for specific areas of the garden such as shady or damp areas and there are even some species-rich and wildlife-friendly blends that will encourage insects, birds and small mammals into the garden. You can also obtain wildflower mixes.
Festuca rubra makes for a fine looking lawn at Shaw’s Corner, Hertfordshire.
Agrostis capillaris is one of the finer types of grass, making it ideal for naturalising in an orchard where wild flowers can grow among the grass.
While there are a number of grass species to be found in lawn mixes, there are four most often to be found.
Festuca rubra Creeping red fescue is probably the most common type of fescue found in a lawn. It has thin, needle-shaped blades and is usually found in good-quality lawn turf and surfaces for sports. As the name suggests, it has a creeping habit and is great for knitting a lawn together. It can be cut short and is often blended with bents, which are also fine lawn species.
Agrostis capillaris Commonly known as browntop bent, this is a fine-leaved grass that is used in formal lawns and wildflower mixes and can be cut as short as 3mm (⅛ in). It is a very popular choice in formal meadows because of its attractive appearance.
Lolium perenne Perennial rye is a popular grass for lawns for general use. Very tough and hard-wearing, it usually appears in a blend with smooth-stalked meadow grass in family lawns and rugby and football pitches. It will not tolerate close mowing and is therefore not normally used in formal lawns.
Poa pratensis This hardwearing perennial, known as smooth-stalked meadow grass or Kentucky blue grass, is often combined with rye grass to create a resilient lawn suitable for high footfall and for sports pitches with high wear and tear. It is also suitable for sowing in banks and on slopes.
Holcus lanatus Yorkshire fog is a vigorous, coarse grass that quickly seeds into formal lawns, leaving unsightly clumps. The only realistic way to remove it from the lawn is to dig it up, then top-dress the lawn and overseed it with the preferred grass mix.
Poa annua Annual meadow grass seeds everywhere, producing small unsightly seedheads that cause problems in bowling greens, golf greens and tennis courts as they affect the roll of the ball. In gardens, when it dies back in winter, it often leaves bare patches that weeds can seed into.
With more than 300,000 visitors per annum, the lawns at Polesden Lacey were often worn out by the end of the season. Many of them were designed to be formal and cut short, but the existing mix of fescue and bent species was not hardy enough to cope with the footfall. The garden team started to overseed with a new type of dwarf-leaved rye grass that looks like a fine grass but has the tolerance of a normal coarse perennial rye. Now the lawns at Polesden Lacey remain green all year round and are able to cope with the high visitor numbers.
Yorkshire fog can form unslightly mounds in the lawn and should be removed in order to keep your lawn looking immaculate.
Tip
‘If you have a fine lawn it is best to vary the direction that you mow it each week to avoid creating permanent ridges. However, avoid mowing at right angles from one week to another too, as this affects the smoothness of a fine lawn. Instead, mow at 45 degrees.’
Chris Gaskin, Senior Gardener at Polesden Lacey, Surrey
Thyme and camomile are low-growing creeping perennials that can be used as an alternative to the traditional lawn. They’re not as hardwearing as grass but they can make attractive features in garden, and when walked on they release a beautiful scent as the leaves are slightly crushed. Both will produce flowers that are popular with bees and butterflies, although some purists like to use the non-flowering camomile variety called ‘Treneague’.
1. Prepare the ground thoroughly by digging it over and removing any perennial weeds. In heavy clay soil, add horticultural grit to improve drainage, as both thyme and camomile prefer not to sit in wet conditions.
2. Use a trowel to create planting holes approximately 10cm (4in) apart, then remove the plants from their pots and place them in the holes. Their fast-growing, creeping habit should quickly fill in the space between.
3. If no rain is predicted for a few days, water them in lightly. Avoid walking on them for a few weeks after planting, and even then, do not walk on them too often as they will start to die back.
• Avoid using petrol-driven machinery where possible.
• Allow the grass to grow longer.
• Leave grass clippings on the lawn as an extra nitrogen feed. Alternatively, make sure they are added to the compost heap.
• Consider creating wildflower meadows instead.
• Tolerate some weeds in shorter lawns, but do not let them take over.
• Do not water unless absolutely necessary. Grass is amazingly resilient.
• Use natural products on the lawn, such as bonemeal to provide phosphate. Rake in garden compost to add nitrogen and ash from the fireplace or barbecue for some potassium.
• Consider the use of micro clovers.
Above, left Corn chamomile makes a pretty alternative to grass lawns. Above, right The lawns in the Victorian Parterre Garden at Erddig, Wrexham, are carefully maintained by their team of gardeners.
To keep a lawn looking in tip-top condition you should scarify it at least once a year, ideally in autumn, to remove some of the ‘thatch’. This is the build-up of debris that occurs throughout the year, usually composed of decaying fragments of grass clippings and leaves. Collecting at the base of the blades of grass, it impedes the water uptake in the soil and can smother and kill the grass eventually, leaving dead, brown, muddy patches.
On large areas, scarification is carried out by a scarifying machine. This is usually driven in one direction and then the setting is lowered and the machine is sent across at a 45-degree angle to the original cut. The thatch is then raked up, or mowed up into the collection box and added to the compost heap.
A greener method of scarifying is to use a spring-tined rake, pulling it across the surface of the lawn. Scarification inevitably makes the lawn look ragged, but it will quickly recover.
The lawn is scarified with a spring-tined rake to remove all the thatch from the base of the blades of grass.
It is surprising how much thatch can come from a small area of lawn. The material can be added to the compost heap to rot down.
After a lawn has been scarified, it is often spiked to break up compaction of the soil and encourage air to circulate down at the roots. Compaction is often a major problem in lawns, particularly in public spaces and on desire lines – the paths that walkers make as the easiest way to their destination. When a lawn becomes compacted the roots are prevented from growing downwards, causing the grass to die back as it fails to take up nutrients and water from the soil.
At Polesden Lacey, compaction is an issue because of the large number of visitors each year. The lawns are often used for picnicking, particularly during the summer. To resolve the compaction problems we use a ‘plugger’, which is a machine that pushes spikes in the lawn and heaves them slightly when it lifts them out.
On smaller lawns a fork can be used for aeration. Simply push it into the ground, give it a wiggle and pull it out, repeating about every 20cm (8in). Once the holes have been made, sweep garden compost or a peat-free top dressing into them.
Aerating your lawn means that nutrients and water are able to reach even the more compacted parts, making for a greener garden.
Having a good-looking lawn can be as easy or as complicated as you wish to make it. There is no doubt that a smartly striped lawn with clipped edges looks great in a formal setting, but it is equally pleasing to see longer grass with informal, curvy paths snaking through the garden. Whatever style of lawn you have, there are a few tricks of the trade to keep it in good condition.
After a few years lawns become uneven, particularly if there is any mole activity, and need to be levelled out. A very uneven surface can make cutting the grass with a cylinder mower almost impossible.
Bumps Using a half-moon tool, make a cross through the bumps and peel back the turf. Remove some of the soil and gently fold back the turf, ensuring it is level. Tamp down the lawn with the back of a rake.
Hollows Make a cross in the lawn, peel back the turf and fill the hollow with good-quality topsoil. Replace the turf and tamp down with the back of the rake.
Worn edging Slice out the worn section of turf. Turn it 180 degrees, aligning the newly cut side with the edge of the lawn. Back-fill the worn section with topdressing and overseed.
‘There’s nothing more annoying than clipping a perfectly straight edge only to find the mower wheel or roller then bends some stray blades of grass over your pristine edge. Always mow first.’
Len Bernamont, Head Gardener at Bateman’s, Alfriston Clergy House and Monk’s House, East Sussex
From left to right: edging shears; small tined rake; bag of fertiliser (back row); bucket of grass seed (back row); half moon; fork for aerating; rotary mower (centre); besom (for brushing in top dressing); switch; true lute; spring-tined rake; wheelbarrow full of top dressing (back row).
Using a shovel to throw your top dressing across the lawn ensures an even distribution.
A switch can be dragged across the lawn to remove the morning layer of dew.
Acquiring a few basic tools will help you to achieve a handsome-looking lawn. The following are not expensive to buy and provided you give them some basic care they will last a long time.
• Switch This tool is swept over the lawn to remove the dew in the morning, pushing the moisture down into the roots where it is needed. Lawns should not be cut when they are wet as the grass clogs up the mower. Dew brushes are also commonly used to brush off moisture on the lawn.
• Edging shears As you might expect from the name, these are used to edge the lawn. Use them working in the direction of the open blades, as you would scissors. Keep your right hand still, using your left hand to do the cutting motion to ensure a straight line is maintained.
• Half moon For cutting straight lines through turf, this tool has a blade designed to cut through the grass easily. Use a board to stand on to avoid damaging the edge of the turf, and to create a perfectly uniform straight line and neat edge.
• True lute While this is not an everyday gadget, it is handy for lawn repairs where there are bumps and hollows as it is used to level out top dressing. It is particularly valuable on lawns where level surfaces are crucial, such as the croquet pitch at Polesden Lacey.
Above, left Using a lute to level the lawn after fixing a hollow. Above, right Edging shears help to keep your lawn looking neat.
Chartwell in Kent is the fomer family home of Winston Churchill. The croquet lawn was, and still is, kept in immaculate condition.
Tip
Remember to remove lawn clippings after edging to prevent weed germination.
Creating a wildflower meadow in the garden is a wonderfully rewarding experience. Your meadow does not need to be on a large scale – you can incorporate one in the tiniest of spaces and it will become a nectar bar for thousands of pollinating insects.
The main difficulty in establishing a wildflower meadow is competition from vigorous grasses. Wild flowers generally thrive in poor soils, where they will not be overwhelmed by stronger and taller plants. On very fertile sites it pays to strip off the grass entirely and remove the first layer of topsoil. This can be added to areas of the garden where fertility is required, such as filling up raised beds in the kitchen garden.
Where the soil is moderately fertile, a plant called yellow rattle is often sown. A semi-parasitc plant, it decreases the vigour of the competing grasses, enabling wild flowers to become established.
Wildflower plug plants can also be bought from garden centres, giving the flowers a head start against the grasses. A cheaper option is to buy a seed mix, sow it in modules in peat-free compost and then plant out later in the year.
Andy Lewis,
Head Gardener at Uppark, West Sussex
‘We collect seed from the hemiparasitic yellow rattle in the meadow to use in other areas of the garden in the autumn. We cut the grass short, scarify and then broadcast and roll the seed in using a garden roller. We then leave it to germinate and establish over the next few months.’
A wildflower meadow is easy to maintain and means that your garden will be filled with colour.
1. Use a scythe or mower to cut the grass right down, as close to the soil level as possible. Remove the grass clippings and add them to the compost heap, where they will add valuable nitrogen to the mix and eventually contribute to the fertility of the soil.
2. Pick areas at random for a more natural feel, and use a spade to remove sections of grass and scuff up the soil with a rake.
3. Sow a type of seed mix suitable for the soil. If the soil is fertile, there are some more vigorous mixes that will survive, but be careful that they do not take over the entire garden when they seed or spread.
4. Rake the soil over the seed, add water and leave to germinate. In large spaces it may be necessary to provide some defence against birds taking the seed.
Once a wildflower meadow is established it is very easy to maintain. Cut it down each year after it has flowered and had a chance to set seed. After cutting, collect the grass otherwise it will rot down and increase the fertility of the soil. Either add it to the compost heap or leave the grass in piles at the sides of the meadow as this will hopefully encourage wildlife such as hedgehogs and mice seeking a home for hibernation.
Anthemis arvenis Commonly known as corn chamomile, this classic meadow annual has attractive large, white, daisy-shaped flowers with yellow centres. It is often used in a ‘corn’ mix with cornflowers, corn marigolds and corn cockle.
Agrostemma githago The corn cockle has vibrant magenta flowers that create an instant splash of colour in a wildflower meadow. It is uncommon in arable fields now as a result of modern agricultural practices, so it is lovely to see it being introduced to ornamental meadows. However, it should be noted that it is highly toxic.
Centaurea cyanus The cornflower is a classic and popular choice in meadows because of its stunning bluish-purple flowers. It is also a very easy flower to naturalise in grass.
Papaver rhoeas There is nothing more spectacular than a meadow full of bright red poppies with their dark black centres. They prefer disturbed ground and can lie dormant in the soil for years.
Chrysanthemum segetum Corn marigolds are a maginificent sight in a meadow, producing golden-yellow flower heads from June until October. It grows in a range of soils and can just as easily be found on a rubbish tip as it can be in a meadow.
The corn cockle is a delicate and attractive addition to a meadow.
The striking blue cornflower.
A sown wildflower meadow at Hidcote.
Instant wildflower meadows
If sowing a wildflower meadow sounds too difficult, it is possible to get rolls of wildflower mixes and lay them on prepared flower-beds. This creates an instant wildflower meadow or bed in just a few weeks if done in spring. There is a range of mixes including annual and perennial species that come in lots of different colours and seasons of interest.
Corn marigolds add a sunny cheer to a wildflower mix.
