Plants to consider

So now you should have figured out what your garden does through the year for sunshine and shade, AND you know the type of soil which you have. Unless you invest heavily in infrastructural changes, then you are going to have to work with what you have. This is yet another great thing about native plants. They already have this place sussed out!

Do not worry if you have only concrete – you can still have a garden that attracts wildlife. I’ll talk about that right at the end.

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A field of common wildflowers

Rethink the lawn

I really want you to rethink the lawn. The idea of the lawn came from the 18th century when people had too much money and time – made from usually very questionable sources (think sugar plantations in the Caribbean, just sayin’). The time for the lawn is now past. It is a green desert, a waste of space. It is also full of chemicals, sprayed on to keep plants which are good for bees, spiders, butterflies, away. WHY???!!! There is no reason apart from it is ‘tidy’.

If you do have a lawn, and cannot bear to let the entire thing go, then you could do it in small spaces and create ‘artistically wild’ spaces. So let it grow out in patches. You can now see this in the more enlightened councils where they let the grass verges grow out to host a plethora of grasses and wildflowers such as cuckoo’s flower and corn marigolds.

The flowers we have in them are so important for wildlife – dandelions and nettles are also edible for us and really good for us too (although if you are planning to do this, make sure your land has been free of chemicals for a few years.) But there is nothing lovelier than seeing the once barren and tired lawn now covered in clover, buttercups and daisies buzzing with bees.

Also, they are way easier to maintain. Just cut it two or three times during the growing season. Put a sign in your lawn saying it is an Ark.

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Wildflower meadow

Bees & Butterflies Wildflower Seed Mix No Grass
Beautiful and costly but well worth it

If you really want to go the whole hog, then you could replant the laws as a wildflower meadow. Or you could do just the edges, or again in patches.

Before I get into this, you must know that the time for planting wildflower meadows is past. You need to do this either in late winter but I much prefer doing it in early spring. Around March. This is because I once planted it in the autumn and we had such a rotten spring that all the seeds rotted and we had next to nothing.

So, plant it around March/April. Nothing later.

Here is how you get a foolproof wildlife garden.

  1. Rotivate the soil. This is the hard part. You can dig it with kids as well. I have found that if you don’t do this, then you don’t get nice seeds. If you are a no dig philosophy, then wildflower gardens will have to come naturally for you.
  2. Get a good wildflower mix. Ecoseeds is a great place to go to. Make sure they send you native Irish mixes. They are expensive because they are tedious to collect, but Eco Seeds’ mixes are more or less foolproof. However, once you have put them in, you don’t mow the lawn for the entire season. Think about that. It pays for itself and it is so very very pretty. Whatever you do, do NOT buy them from those cheap discount stores. They are mostly sawdust.
  3. Make sure you have the right soil. Many wildflowers are for arable soil – that’s how they started anyway. If you have wet, clayey soil, it is not going to work. Much better you think about having a pond instead. how do you find out what kind of soil you have? Walk out into the garden on a dry day. If you socks start filling with water, you have clayey soil. Grass does badly in clayey soil anyway. You cannot get it to grow.
  4. Make sure you have loads of sunlight. You cannot plant a wildflower garden in a dark shady place. Opt for plants which thrive in the shade e.g. comfrey, borage and alkanet. I’ll talk more about these tomorrow.

How to put in a wildlife garden

  1. Between mid March and April, rotivate (till) the soil.
  2. Remove all the grass and weeds. The soil needs to be nice and clean. Yes, it is a real hassle, but if you have an army of children, or even one or two, they will enjoy doing this.
  3. Make sure the soil’s texture is nice and crumbly – you may need to sift the soil. Mulch it, etc.
  4. Scatter seeds. They will come with instructions about how much per sq metre. Then, using a straight rake (borrow one, or buy one, it is a worth while investment), gently rake the seeds into the soil. It should only go down like a little less than an inch. Do not rake them in too deeply… they will struggle to get out.
  5. Get a board out – like an old plank and place it on top of the soil and step over it. Or you could let the kids jump on the plank – they love this bit. This helps the seeds to bed in and stops them from flying away. Or eaten by birds.
  6. Water it. Keep it moist, but not soaking. Never let seeds dry out when they are growing. Once they are established, they are a little hardier.
  7. Now, you just WAIT. The first shoots should be out in two weeks time and in a month’s time you should see them come up about three inches or so. They will grow like the proverbial weeds over May and by June you should have some flowers.

If you want to mix out own mix of wildflower here are some you can get in a garden centre and DIY it yourself.

Cornflower, nastursium, sunflowers, calendula, poppies, foxgloves (these are poisonous, so be careful).

Nettles

So I have to say something for the nettle. It gets so much of bad press but it is hands down one of the best plants to grow for the garden. You just need to keep it in check. You can also use the leaves for mulch. It is full of great good things for the garden. plants like the nettle bring up the nutrients in the soil to the surface where you can reuse them.

Plus all kinds of insects love them. If you have them growing in your garden, consider yourself lucky. Just create a good corner for them – they love the shade. Let them live there. Sure what were you going to do with it anyways?

Red Admirals, an endangered species of butterflies, loves them.

OK, that’s how to destablish a lawn, grow a wildflower meadow and become an advocate for nettles.

You can then do flower ID, and insect ID with the kids. Press flowers, make pictures, create presents using resin, etc…

Enjoy!