Need help :)

[darcyvuqua]

Right I want to create a nature area at the bottom of my plot I was letting everything overgrow to produce cover for my pond however I hate the look of it and removed a lot last week as they showed signs of seeding

I want an array of colours but don't want to plant up every year apart from planting bulbs I have no idea with flowers

Please can someone recommend what I can buy that will reg row year upon year please

[shepp726]

sorry, but if you want a nature area surely you shouldn't be planning but letting nature get on with it.

[shepp726]

''build it they will come''.

[darcyvuqua]

sorry, but if you want a nature area surely you shouldn't be planning but letting nature get on with it.

Yeah I know but over run in brambles bind weed and docs!

I don't mind a few weeds but would rather wild looking flowers seed

[WendyC]

Is it a meadow type effect you want to create?

[darcyvuqua]

Yeah kind of I don't really mind just low maintenance bee butterfly friendly so not to bothered but need to get rid of the docs there a nightmare I will leave a few for the frogs by the pond but the rest will have to ge

[shepp726]

to me, ponds are beautiful, so many ponds are pretty.
clear what you need and cast wildflower seed, nature will do the rest.

[WendyC]

I think you need to get rid of the plants you don't want first, e.g. docks, brambles, as if you were preparing for any other "crop". Meadow flowers like quite a poor soil, so allotment soils are not the best. We have been trying to establish one at school for a few years but the grass keeps taking over. To reduce the vigour of the grass we have planted yellow rattle. Too early for results. Could you mix together some annuals you like the look of and plant these? Poppies, cornflowers, corncockle, calendula. If you planted them in rows you would be able to tell what's wanted and what's weeds, over time the rows won't show as the plants grow up. These will self seed so won't need replanting every year. I have planted cosmos on my plot before and it still appear in odd places. Rake off the plants once they have set seed and hopefully the cycle continues. Or you could try Two Sheds method of letting the plants rot down where they fall. Lots of websites sell meadow mixes which can be tailored to your soil type.
Could you plant a buddleia or two?

[binley100]

By my lottie pond I have a log pile a grassy bit, and a boggy bit.......there is planted Bergenia, fern, bergamot, hosta ,astible , and another boggy plant I can't remember (might be ligularia) . Purple loostrife is another good one . Anything really that provides cover for the frogs plus has bee friendly flowers ie. not doubles....

[darcyvuqua]

I think you need to get rid of the plants you don't want first, e.g. docks, brambles, as if you were preparing for any other "crop". Meadow flowers like quite a poor soil, so allotment soils are not the best. We have been trying to establish one at school for a few years but the grass keeps taking over. To reduce the vigour of the grass we have planted yellow rattle. Too early for results. Could you mix together some annuals you like the look of and plant these? Poppies, cornflowers, corncockle, calendula. If you planted them in rows you would be able to tell what's wanted and what's weeds, over time the rows won't show as the plants grow up. These will self seed so won't need replanting every year. I have planted cosmos on my plot before and it still appear in odd places. Rake off the plants once they have set seed and hopefully the cycle continues. Or you could try Two Sheds method of letting the plants rot down where they fall. Lots of websites sell meadow mixes which can be tailored to your soil type.
Could you plant a buddleia or two?

Yes the area is quite big there is no other use for the ground stone and rock crops are out of the question I have 3 raised beds in there with strawberries and one of rhubarb so still loads of room

[marchogaeth]

The natural way to create a wild flower meadow is to cut the area once a year after the first week of July and preferably before the end of August and cart the cut grass away. It will take between 5 and 10 years depending on how well fertilized the area was previously.

When we turned the whole of our hay area into meadows, one of the things that really helped speed things up was spreading the hay from the fields that were very wild flowery over the ones that weren't so it can be worth broadcasting seed but you will have to accept that many meadow flowers are annuals so it's worth letting your chopped crop die so that the seeds fall out. Also provenance can be quite important (specific) with wild flowers.

Yellow rattle will parasatise grass roots and reduce their vigour but it is a slow process especially if the grass is vigourous in the first place. You can buy plugs which have a better chance of survival but check your acidity (I think it likes acid.) (Or you could speak very nicely to the grape who lives in the Preselis and have a day trip to dig your own.)

Like Wendy says, you will need to tackle the weeds you don't want. These are best done by repeated cutting.

[tamsin]

You could just pick cultivated plants that have a bit of a relaxed look to them. Hardy geraniums for example. Is it actually a boggy area or just next to a lined pond?