Meadow plants
Meadow plants and how to grow them in your garden
Some plants are more welcomed and loved by butterflies than others. Below is represent list from an experienced gardener who grown a wild meadow in his garden. It took him about a decade or more to see all desired species well established and even some new plants which were not seeded but were brought by wind or insects, among them butterflies too.
These plants we can all see among other plants at the meadows but also as side plants in our gardens.
Recently it became very popular to support and seed wild plants because they enrich the soil and bring more pollinators to the land, besides the fact that they look magical, wild, and colorful together.
To grow such a variety wasn’t easy because the first layer of the soil has to be pulled up and all roots are taken out, after which seeding is done. The best time for this process is in the autumn or maybe in the early spring, but if the seeds have time to dominate and settle, they will flower in greater numbers the next flowering season. Because of od that, the best time would be to seed in the autumn.
Maintenance
“The simplest maintenance is to let everything grow naturally and to take a single cut in late August or September. All the 'meadow hay' needs to be removed, keeping the soil fertility low, which in turn helps the wildflowers to do well. When the hay is dry, it can be stored for winter animal fodder or re-cycled as garden compost.” (Martin Kalaher about the Wildlife Gardening and the Wildflower Meadow, within Butterfly Conservation)
On the Sussex Wildlife Trust website, it suggests trying different sward heights for different parts of the meadow. If one wants as much variety as possible there is certainly merit in doing this, although there is the practical difficulty of achieving this and at the same time not trampling down flowering plants? Inevitably, some plants do rather too well in the meadow and therefore some weeding is required. On bare sandy soil, Common Sorrel, Ribwort Plantain, Dandelion, Wild Carrot, Red Campion, and Ox-eye Daisy all proliferate too readily and must be kept in check. (sussex-butterflies.org.uk)
Martin Kalaher about the common meadow wild plants :
Betony
Not far behind Marjoram as a superb meadow flower with interesting basal leaves and a lovely, orchid-like flower head. Bumblebees and butterflies find it irresistible. Looks good in clumps of 6-12 plants.
Ground Cover
When establishing a new wildflower meadow there is no need to fret too much about the ground cover as the commercial seed mixes will contain all that is required, and the rest is likely to come through natural colonization. No bare soil stays bare for very long! The one essential flowering British native is Birdsfoot Trefoil. It has a delightful deep yellow/orange flower head, which transforms the meadow in May and June and provides nectar for so many of our native insects. I am very fond of Red Clover, which looks lovely in the meadow and both Lady's Bedstraw and Salad Burnet provide 'authenticity' to areas of the meadow where the sward is shorter. Otherwise, both Common Vetch and Tufted Vetch are very welcome and I would include Kidney Vetch as it has a fine yellow flower head and you never know a Small Blue might come along to investigate!
Biennials and annuals
In the early years of a wildflower meadow, both annuals and biennials flourish as there is plenty of bare soil available for the seeds to germinate. Once the grass and ground cover species become well-established and the soil is no longer disturbed, the biennials and annuals gradually disappear. As I have 20 small beds within the meadow to accommodate both Marjoram and Betony there is plenty of disturbing bare soil to keep other plants going, for another 2-3 years at least. After that, we shall see. My wife, Mary, likes annuals. So, there is a good chance that I will find a way to keep them going! A meadow purist may raise an eyebrow but my view is that since the whole exercise is completely artificial, one might as well have the plants that are enjoyed. Viper's Bugloss is a superb biennial much loved by bumblebees and Corn Cockle, Cornflower, Corn Marigold, Poppy, Scentless Mayweed all look good and attract a pleasing variety of insects.
Grass species
I have never troubled myself trying to identify all the grass species in my garden. That's an omission which I will try to rectify next year. Fortunately, when establishing a new meadow, it is easy to obtain a commercial seed mix, containing a varied selection of grass seeds suitable for different soils. The original fine grass species in my meadow have been added to over the years, recruiting some of the more vigorous species that are common enough in our immediate vicinity.
Field Scabious
Another lovely meadow plant, which looks good either scattered throughout the meadow or in small clumps. Both butterflies and bees find it irresistible. Will readily self-seed on any available bare soil.
Greater Knapweed
A staple plant for any meadow, it has a lovely, intricate flower head. The clumps gradually enlarge over the years and can be split in the autumn if more plants are required.
Ox-eye Daisy
Watching a few dozen big daisy heads wafting in the breeze is one of the joys of the English summer. Butterflies do visit the flower heads to nectar but if other alternatives are available in the garden, it can be largely ignored. It self-seeds prolifically and therefore can provide your meadow with lots of flowers but to the detriment of variety.(sussex-butterflies.org.uk)
We can notice these plants in almost every meadow at the European continent and many of them in North America, Canada, and Eurasia. It is possible to buy a mix of wild seeds containing these plants and start your garden meadow:)
The question is - do you prefer exotic plants for all of your garden or you are considering to seed some of the native plants and so help butterflies and bees and all the other creatures on their path of survival? One is for certain-final results will be breathtaking-seeing such diversity of creatures thriving in front of your eyes and knowing that you’ve done something good for someone.
