[Help] Gardeners Question Time.

A mex eyecan said:

My son has just bought himself a new built house which comes with a 50-60 foot long and 15 foot wide Somme mud clay pit rear garden. A gardener my lad isn’t! He’s now skint having shelled out every last £ he had.

Patio, well 9 slabs outside back door are going to need to be extended. If he will decide to go for decking I can build it for him as I’m half handy with stuff like that, whereas if he opts for slabs I’m the last person suited to getting them laying anywhere near flat.

He was saying about grassing the rest. I’ve suggested an area of formal lawn leading into a rather large area of meadow/wild flowers.

I haven’t got much of a clue about where to suggest starting. I dare say the labourer will be me whilst he’s out working and earning a living, so it will take me sometime to do allowing for my old ticker and shot knees Still he’s my lad and I really like to help him out if I can.

I know some of you have made meadow areas, so may I seek your wisdom. Where do I start? flatten the trenches? Did in gravel? roller it? and then once level, how do you get a good start for the flowers to establish?

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Complete Seed Mixtures - Emorsgate Seeds

Complete Seed Mixtures Created and Wild Harvested Mixtures comprising Wild Flowers and Grasses Search Complete MixturesSearch Keyword Categories All categories Complete Mixtures Brush Harvested Meadow Mixtures Cornfield Annuals General Purpose Meadow Mixtures Meadow Mixtures for...

wildseed.co.uk

EC1 Standard Cornfield Mixture - Emorsgate Seeds

£ / 100g : £14.00 £ / 1,000g : £80.00 £ / 10,000g : £736.00 £ / 100,000g : £6,770.00 For larger quantities please Contact Us

wildseed.co.uk

Weststander said:

The good news if he agrees to the meadow idea, is that in the scenario you describe there’ll be far less work than changing from an established lawn.

Remove all perennial weeds including their roots eg brambles, also docks, dandelions, ground elder. Till the surface to an extent and seed with a mix suitable for the soil type. You want to see at least 50% soil before seeding. Gently tread down to give soil contact.

Complete Seed Mixtures - Emorsgate Seeds

Complete Seed Mixtures Created and Wild Harvested Mixtures comprising Wild Flowers and Grasses Search Complete MixturesSearch Keyword Categories All categories Complete Mixtures Brush Harvested Meadow Mixtures Cornfield Annuals General Purpose Meadow Mixtures Meadow Mixtures for...

wildseed.co.uk

You might want to add this at the same time for some colour from annuals such as cornflowers and poppies for the first summer.

EC1 Standard Cornfield Mixture - Emorsgate Seeds

£ / 100g : £14.00 £ / 1,000g : £80.00 £ / 10,000g : £736.00 £ / 100,000g : £6,770.00 For larger quantities please Contact Us

wildseed.co.uk

Maintenance - mow or scythe down to ground level by August at the latest, allow the debris to sit for a week, then completely remove it all.

If grasses end up dominating, next November seed with Yellow-rattle.

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A mex eyecan said:

My son has just bought himself a new built house which comes with a 50-60 foot long and 15 foot wide Somme mud clay pit rear garden. A gardener my lad isn’t! He’s now skint having shelled out every last £ he had.

Patio, well 9 slabs outside back door are going to need to be extended. If he will decide to go for decking I can build it for him as I’m half handy with stuff like that, whereas if he opts for slabs I’m the last person suited to getting them laying anywhere near flat.

He was saying about grassing the rest. I’ve suggested an area of formal lawn leading into a rather large area of meadow/wild flowers.

I haven’t got much of a clue about where to suggest starting. I dare say the labourer will be me whilst he’s out working and earning a living, so it will take me sometime to do allowing for my old ticker and shot knees Still he’s my lad and I really like to help him out if I can.

I know some of you have made meadow areas, so may I seek your wisdom. Where do I start? flatten the trenches? Did in gravel? roller it? and then once level, how do you get a good start for the flowers to establish?

Click to expand...

A mex eyecan said:

My son has just bought himself a new built house which comes with a 50-60 foot long and 15 foot wide Somme mud clay pit rear garden. A gardener my lad isn’t! He’s now skint having shelled out every last £ he had.

Patio, well 9 slabs outside back door are going to need to be extended. If he will decide to go for decking I can build it for him as I’m half handy with stuff like that, whereas if he opts for slabs I’m the last person suited to getting them laying anywhere near flat.

He was saying about grassing the rest. I’ve suggested an area of formal lawn leading into a rather large area of meadow/wild flowers.

I haven’t got much of a clue about where to suggest starting. I dare say the labourer will be me whilst he’s out working and earning a living, so it will take me sometime to do allowing for my old ticker and shot knees Still he’s my lad and I really like to help him out if I can.

I know some of you have made meadow areas, so may I seek your wisdom. Where do I start? flatten the trenches? Did in gravel? roller it? and then once level, how do you get a good start for the flowers to establish?

Click to expand...

Couldn't Be Hyypia said:

Anyone know how to get rid of Lords and Ladies? It seems bomb proof.

The only advantage i have is that there are no other plants yet. Just a lot of leathery weeds!!

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Lords-and-ladies / RHS

With conspicuous orange-red berries in autumn, lords-and-ladies is a valuable perennial for shady areas. However, as it spreads easily, it can become too abundant in gardens. Here we help you decide whether to keep or remove it from your garden.

www.rhs.org.uk