Wildflower Meadows
(Harrowden’s SuDS Wildflower Turf - link below in blog)
A low maintenance solution for those hard-to-reach places in your garden
We’ve seen a recent surge in the application of wildflower meadows in garden design - and it’s easy to see why. Planet friendly planting that attracts a plethora of wildlife to your garden, with minimal maintenance… what’s not to like?!
Hello - Joe here, talking about how we have recently used wildflower meadow planting to not only enhance a design, but also solve a tricky issue with the site itself.
North Norfolk is known for many things, but in this instance, it’s the ‘distinctive and unusual’ black organic soil that has given a unique advantage to the growers of one of our favourite wildflower turf products. In this example, we turned to our expert growers in order to find a solution that would both satisfy the needs of the site whilst also bringing harmony and beauty to the garden itself.
A beautiful cottage garden project in Little Barningham, only a few miles inland from the coast of North Norfolk. This garden has a beck running alongside, which created a beautifully serene atmosphere within the space.
However, as excavations began, we noticed that much of the beck’s existing banks were increasingly unstable. The site boasted some magnificent willow trees that did a good job of drinking up much of the water. However, record breaking rainfall and unseasonal weather (for Britain’s driest county!) meant that the site soon became a very muddy and unnavigable space. The sloping banks of the beck were losing their definition as men and machinery began to traipse through the garden on a daily basis.
We knew the site was wet, and we had planned for this by increasing the drainage and dealing with any compaction issues from the previous building projects at the property. It had always been the plan to stabilise the bank with some clever planting - however, we needed first to consolidate the natural shape and form of the slope. This required something really rather clever, and thankfully - we had just the right product in mind.
Harrowed Turf have developed something called ‘Meadowmat®’ which is a range of wildflower turf products available from Turfonline. In particular, they produce a ‘SuDS and Slopes’ range which combines a clever layer of biodegradable geotextile (coir based) which allows fast “planting” and establishment of a diverse mix of plant species.
This particular blend of wildflowers is perfect for those wet and sloping areas in a garden with plenty of water around. The turf matting not only gave us an instant structure to the bank, it also allowed us to mirror the wildlife-friendly planting that had already established over many years on the opposite side of the stream. The boundary line for this property ran technically through the centre of the water flow. This meant that we were unable to touch anything on the other side of the bank (even though this is the side most visible to you when in the garden).
The wildflower turf meant we could instantly establish native grasses such as Sheep’s FescueSlender, Creeping Red Fescue, Crested Dogstail and Small Leaved Timothy. The meadow matting also contains around 50% wildflowers - including:
Autumn Hawkbitv
Bladder Campion
Common St Johns Wort
Field Scabious
Ragged Robin
Red Campion
Tufted Vetch
Wild Marjoram
Yellow Rattle
(Some of these names would also make great Shakespearian insults, but anyway!)
Our brilliant contractor used biodegradable pegs to pin the turf down. This allowed it to get established without any movement - but also means the pegs will disappear as the meadow takes root. All in all, a very clever and low impact way of solving a common issue when working alongside waterways.
What’s more, the flowering plants in the meadow mix will bring colour and vibrancy throughout the year. Wildlife will love it and our orchard style meadow planting on the opposite side of the garden is balanced out by its new twin on the banks of the stream.
We are waiting for the garden to fully mature before we publish images of the finished article - however, as a little treat for reading this far - here is a sneak preview of the turf after it has just been laid. You can see the incredible potential in what is there on day one. Not at all sparse, and raring to get rooting and grow into a stunning wildflower meadow.
On the left, the SuDS wildflower turf - a few days after being unrolled.
Maintenance? I hear you ask…
Well, it’s really rather simple - mow once a year and remove all of the clippings. The species in the turf are non-toxic so if you happen to have any sheep, goats or geese, this product lends itself to grazing (although a lawn mower will suffice if not).
