Planting a Wildflower Garden

The first question is probably why would anyone want to plant wildflowers in their garden? Wildflowers not only bring magical and varying colour, but they attract insects and therefore birds, so must be a welcome addition to any garden.

Wildflowers Will Attract Insects and Birds

Wildflowers are seeing a comeback in the domestic garden. Up until fairly recently, wild flowers and grasses were seen as weeds and destroyed. Now these colourful meadow flowers are being sown by enthusiastic gardeners as a way to encourage more insects back into the garden. These flowers can only add to the natural beauty of any garden.

For best results, set aside a specific area of the garden that will not be mown or where the plants will not clog up established flowering plants and shrubs. Ideal areas are steep banks that are difficult to mow, shady areas of the garden, or perhaps beside a natural or ornamental pond.

The Best Time to Sow

The ideal time to sow seed is Spring and Autumn, but depending on location could be sown at any time after the frosts have finished.

If space is limited, an unusual idea is to plant the wildflowers in pots. They can then be moved around the garden and placed in suitable places as desired. A simple and easy way to do this is to purchase or make a seed mat. The seeds are already sown and spaced out, so the plants will not choke each other, and the seeds will not be eaten or birds, or blow away on a windy day.

For those who do not have a garden, pots of wildflowers can be placed on a patio or even a windowsill.

Wildflowers give a wonderful array of colour, from the bright scarlet poppy and red campion to the blue cornflower, the wild carrot, or the white campion.

Unfortunately, the common practice of using weed killers and pesticides has resulted in wildflowers diminishing in the countryside. How nice to play a part in re-introducing these natural flowers and grasses and hopefully attract back the insects and birds that used to frequent the garden on a regular basis.

For those who do not have gardens or patios or any outside space, why not sprinkle a few seeds on verges and in public woodland. The seeds will grow and re-seed naturally to flower again the following year. Obviously, care must be taken to plant only where wild flowers are able to grow and not in areas where mowing takes place.

Let’s hope that the Field Poppy, the Corn Marigold and the Cornflower, to name just a few, will be a familiar sight on roadside verges again.