A lush green lawn is a beautiful sight because if it is well maintained, it makes the entire garden look neat. But it's no secret that the ornamental lawn also needs a lot of care in order to really look as beautiful as it needs to look. And if you value a natural-looking garden anyway, you can also opt for a wildflower meadow instead of lawn. And this also comes with a number of advantages. We explain why a flower meadow is a great alternative to an ornamental lawn.
The advantages of a flower meadow over an ornamental lawn
A colorful flower meadow in your own garden not only looks fantastically beautiful and makes you dream of leisurely summer walks. It also brings with it a number of advantages that we would like to list for you.
- The meadowis insect friendly. Because of the many different flowers that overlap in time, insects, including bees, have an almost constant supply of food. An ornamental lawn can only do this to a limited extent and only if there are areas of clover. Hedgehogs also benefit from the colorful meadow.
- It is easy to maintain. In principle, you can leave the meadow to its own devices once you have sown it - just like in the great outdoors. Meadow flowers are quite drought-resistant and can cope well with a longer dry phase (in contrast to ornamental lawns).
- You also don't have to mow every one or two weeks, just twice a season, in some cases even just once.
- A wildflower meadow is also useful for you, especially if you sow one or two medicinal plants. You can then use them for your health.
- No special soil is necessary. The undemanding wildflowers grow wonderfully even in poor soil.
Which seeds for the wildflower meadow?
To get the most out of ease of care, it's best to choose native flower varieties. They are more robust because they are used to our climate. There are special mixtures available in stores that you can use. In any case, these should be seed-proof. In addition, you could also collect seeds (capsules) from meadow flowers in your area (preferably away from roads so that they are not contaminated by gases) from time to time in the previous year and mix them in next year.
When choosing your flower mix, be sure to take a look at the flowering times. So that you can enjoy the colorful flowers all season long and the insects are also supplied with food, the flowering phases should of course overlap and complement each other. Take mixtures thatGuarantee flowering phases from spring to autumn.
Another fact is also important that many people do not consider or even suspect. As you probably know, flower meadows consist not only of flowers, but also of grasses. These are also included in the finished meadow mixtures, which in itself is not a bad thing, because they create a denser “meadow carpet”. It is important that you make sure that the proportion of grass in the mixture is as low as possible. Otherwise the flowers will be smaller, which not only looks duller, but also means fewer food sources for the insects.
Creating a wildflower meadow instead of a lawn – tips on location and preparation
The wild meadow flowers love the blazing sun, which is why the flower meadow will not thrive in the shade. Partial shade, but where the flowers still receive enough hours of sunshine, should not be a problem. Also measure the area where you want to plant the wildflower meadow and then follow the information on the seed packaging. It is noted there what area the content is sufficient for. After all, you don't want to in the endbald spotsin the meadow because there wasn't enough.
When is the best time to sow?
Wildflowers are cold germinators and therefore need the winter cold to germinate. For this reason, late summer is the optimal time to sow a wildflower meadow. In autumn the seeds can get used to the environment, so to speak, and in winter they receive itnecessary cold phaseand in spring everything can sprout wonderfully.
Wildflower meadow instead of lawn in the garden – prepare the ground
Depending on whether you already have a lawn that you would like to replace or have bare ground, the preparation of the ground will vary and the effort involved will vary. What should you do in advance if you want to create a wildflower meadow instead of lawn?
- You first have to mow the lawn.
- You then have to dig up the area orat least scarify, to ensure good aeration of the soil and better conditions for the germination of new seeds.
- As already mentioned, the flowers do not like it too rich in nutrients, but rather lean. We therefore recommend that you mix a little sand into the soil.
- Then ensure the surface is as fine as possible. The best way to get this is to use a rake.
- You can then sow the seeds for your future wildflower meadow. This works more evenly if you mix the seeds with sand beforehand and the more evenly you sow, the more evenly the flowers will grow afterwards.
- Just press the seeds lightly (e.g. with your foot), but do not cover them with soil.
- The flower seeds do have one thing in common with the lawn seeds: they now have to be kept moist so that they germinate.
You can find out which flowers are suitable for the wildflower meadowread here. There you will also find out when and how often you should mow them.
