Flower meadows are usually species-rich meadows on which a variety of flowers and grasses in different colors and growth heights thrive. When creating such valuable biotopes, a lot of patience is required, because it takes time to develop.
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planning
In addition to the soil and site conditions, the type of later use also plays a role in the planning, should the flower meadow have more of an optical aspect, should perhaps children be able to play on it and should it only take up a certain area of the garden or the entire garden. This also determines whether and how often this meadow has to be mowed later.
Prevailing site and soil conditions
Before you start to create a flower meadow, you should familiarize yourself with the prevailing site and soil conditions, because they play a decisive role in creating such a meadow. The main thing is whether the area in question is sunny or in semi-shade and whether the soil is nutrient-rich or rather lean, with the latter being ideal. Areas in full shade are completely unsuitable for planting a flower meadow.
soil condition
- A flower meadow can only develop on emaciated, low-nitrogen and dry soil.
- Nitrogen rich soils would encourage the growth of clover and grasses.
- Nutrient-rich soils can be thinned out with sand if necessary.
- To do this, spread out a layer of sand about 7-8 cm thick and work it into the ground.
- This is best done with a suitable milling machine.
- Compacted soils should be ripped up and the top 20-25 cm layer of soil filled with topsoil.
- Algae lime can be used to improve soils with a pH below 6.5.
- Any other natural lime that contains magnesium and trace elements is also suitable for this.
Create a flower meadow on unfertilized soil
The best time to create a flower meadow is from April to May. First of all, it is important to prepare the soil for the demands of such a meadow. A sunlit area that is not used intensively is best.
Most soils contain seeds of various grasses or so-called weeds such as couch grass, thistles or sorrel, which usually grow faster than, for example, wild flowers and would then possibly displace them.
As a result, such weeds as well as stones and root residues should first be removed as far as possible. If the area is relatively small, it is sufficient to cut out these unwanted growths. If it is a larger area, it makes sense to use a milling machine, which you can also borrow for a small fee.
The area is then dug up and leveled with a garden rake or rake. The soil should be loose and finely crumbly. Now you can sow a commercially available meadow flower mixture or a mixture you have put together yourself by hand and by hand. 5-10 g of seed per square meter are sufficient.
The surface should then be rolled so that the seeds have contact with the ground and the seeds cannot be carried away by the wind or birds or washed away during the subsequent irrigation. You should refrain from raking in, as these plants usually germinate in the light. Watering or sprinkling should be done regularly until germination. The soil must now be kept moist for 4-6 weeks, it must not dry out. After that, artificial irrigation is usually not required, or only slightly so.
If the flower way is planted in summer, it makes sense to cover the area in question with a shading fleece so that the soil does not dry out. When using such a shading fleece, you should always check the germination process from time to time so that the seedlings do not grow through the fleece and are then possibly torn out when you cover them. When sowing in mid or late March or when sowing in autumn from September, permanent watering is usually not necessary.
Create a flower meadow on a lawn
If the flower meadow is to be created on a former lawn, there are two options, both of which should be completely stopped fertilizing.
1st option – covering with foil
- Cover the lawn in question with black foil and weigh it down with stones
- leave for about 3-4 weeks
- After that, the grass under the foil should have died.
- then roughen the entire area with a rake
- Now spread the seed on it and roll the surface.
2nd option – reduce mowing to twice a year
Another option is to only mow the area 1-2 times a year. The area should be scarified in spring or autumn. This serves to gradually reduce the nutrient content of the soil and thus make it easier for meadow-typical plants to settle.
In the spring, the turf is then removed and, above all, particularly stubborn weeds are removed. A few centimeters of sand is worked into the still nutrient-rich soil, the surface is leveled, the seed is sown and rolled. In the next 4-6 weeks the surface should be kept permanently moist.
Care of a flower meadow
For a relatively species-rich flower meadow, the right care is important, especially in the first few years. In the first year after sowing, in addition to the sown plants, numerous weeds usually appear that were brought to the surface by the tilling and have sprouted. These weeds are exclusively annual, fast-growing accompanying vegetation.
If these weeds are about 20-30 cm high, i.e. after about 10 weeks, you should mow the meadow for the first time. The species sown are not affected by mowing, since these are usually still very low. Even if they should also be shortened a bit, they will then grow back all the more densely. Then all clippings are removed from the surface.
If there are a particularly large number of weeds, a second care cut makes sense. If sown in spring, it may be necessary to mow 2-3 times in the first year. This is mainly to remove the weeds.
A year after sowing, the meadow usually blooms for the first time. Now two cuts per year are sufficient. You should mow for the first time in the 1st or 2nd week of June, even if many flowering plants have to take part, but this cut is necessary to avoid seeding of the grass. Otherwise, too little light would reach the lower areas of the meadow, so that light-hungry species such as the daisy would wither away. About 4-5 weeks after mowing, it will bloom again.
The second cut should then take place at the end of August to mid-September. If the clippings are left to dry out, the seeds will fall out and the meadow will have even more flowers next year. You can also remove the clippings and compost them. In the case of particularly nutrient-rich soil, a third mowing process is usually necessary, which means that more and more nutrients are withdrawn from the soil.
Selection of meadow flowers
The trade offers a variety of seed mixtures for designing a flower meadow. However, not every mixture is suitable for every soil and location. It is therefore good to know whether the soil is moist, dry or alkaline and whether it is sunny or partially shaded. A ready-made seed mix should contain the seeds of at least 30 different types of flowers. Klee should not be there if possible.
Of course, you can also create your own mixtures, for example with meadow daisies, meadow cranesbill or blood cranesbill, cuckoo flower, loosestrife, bellflower, dyer’s chamomile, daisies, thrift, crown vetch, burnet burnet, clustered bellflower, small prunella, cuckoo campion, white campion, silver thistle, knapweed, meadow sage, cow parsley, knotweed or tufted vetch.
Field flower mixtures are particularly colorful. These include seeds of cornflowers, poppies, daisies or red flax. For those who prefer a butterfly meadow, among other things, fragrant nettle, scabious, calendula and dost are suitable. Typical cottage garden flowers such as silk poppies and candytufts or spring bloomers such as crocuses, tulips or grape hyacinths are also suitable.
In the case of self-composed mixtures, however, one should bear in mind that some plants are cold germinators, ie they must be subjected to a cold treatment before sowing in order to break the dormancy. Others are light germinators and must not be covered with soil.
If you want to integrate grasses into the flower meadow, you should only use clump-forming and weak-growing species such as red fescue, quivering grass, crested grass, golden oat or meadow meadow grass.
Problems creating a flower meadow
The biggest problem, which occurs very often, is soil that is too rich or too rich in nutrients, which also contains the seeds of numerous weeds such as thistles or sorrel. Particularly lean, nutrient-poor soils, which would normally be ideal for a flower meadow, can be found in very few home gardens. Accordingly, creating a flower meadow can sometimes be quite difficult.
Weeds grow faster than wildflowers, which then die off due to lack of light. In order for meadow flowers to be able to withstand grass and weeds, the soil should be nutrient-poor.
In order to extract nutrients from the soil or to thin it out, you can work a 5-10 cm thick layer of sand or gravel about 20 cm deep into the soil. However, if the soil is too nutrient-rich, this measure is usually not sufficient. As a result, before you create a flower meadow, you can remove the top layer of soil at least 30 cm deep. The whole thing is then filled with gravel.
In order to extract nutrients from a former lawn and thereby thin the soil, you can first dig up the lawn or tear it up completely with a tiller. This destroys the old vegetation. The area is then covered with clippings (mulch layer), which was mowed before flowering. The clippings are left there until they start to rot, and only then are they removed.
Now sand with a little compost is raked in on the surface and potatoes are grown on the surface. Then comes the mulch layer again. The potatoes remove excess nutrients from the soil, loosen it and reduce the growth of weeds. Incidentally, this also works with sunflowers that you sow on the area in question.
Conclusion
A flower meadow is an enrichment for every garden. She changes her face from year to year. Some flowers die and new ones appear. However, a pure flower meadow has the disadvantage that it should not be walked on for most of the year. The most important prerequisite for creating a flower meadow is optimal soil conditions, whereby the soil should be lean and not rich in nutrients. Nutrients would destroy this unique biotope, which is a flower meadow, in a very short time. Otherwise, such a meadow is very easy to care for.