Getting started

Last year, I had sown some seeds around the edge of the meadow. By the summer, a few modest flowers had got going including, to my delight,a single cornflower. A start,I thought. Unfortunately, the contractor who mows the verges got a little carried away and mowed the entire meadow, including the wonderful thistles and nettles, and that little cornflower. I was devastated, as was the meadow which looked brown and dead for the rest of the summer.

So the Conservators agreed to my request that I might be able to manage it, but where to start? I knew nothing about making a flower meadow and my research told me it is very difficult. If the soil is rich, you should remove the top soil, you need to know what will grow in that area, etc. I had some useful correspondence with a nice chap at the Grasslands Trust, who helped me decide to keep some of the brambles because they provide food and shelter for wildlife. I was overawed and inspired by watching Alan Titchmarsh interview Prince Charles about Highgrove. The wild flower meadow there is wonderful, but has been created with massive resources and by experts. However, I did learn that one plant you need is yellow rattle. Apparently it is semi parasitic and thins out the grass thus leaving space for the flowers to come through.

So I gathered bits of information here and there. But the first thing I had to do was sort out some basics.