wildflower lawn ?

[sarahkeast]

So my poor lawn is gradually recovering from winter and chickens, but is very patchy and only just starting to grow.

I chucked some left over clover seed around at the weekend, but would really love to incorporate some more wild flowers [good excuse not to cut too] I put some plug plants in last year, but suspect the chooks have had them as cant see any signs.

So should I get some more plugs, chuck more flower seeds from a lawn mix or something else?

Just want to check options before adding grass seed and feed.

[sarahkeast]

Sorry, should have said, chooks are now confined back to the run, they are a messy destructive team and trash the garden in winter only.

[Susiwaa]

Not able to offer any advice I'm afraid but love the idea! My front lawn is north facing so this could be ideal for me too!

[grahamhobbs]

So my poor lawn".........?

actually that is a very good start, the poorer the better. Wild flower meadows are best established on poor soils, so the hard work people talk of is mainly to do with removing any rich top soil. If you want an instant meadow you will need to strip away this rich topsoil, leaving a poorer sub-soil that will allow the wild flowers to compete with the grasses.

If you can wait longer you can mow the lawn regularly ensuring that you remove all the clippings. this will do 2 things over time (several years) deplete the soil of nutrients and encourage finer less vigorous grasses. Into this then you will be able to introduce your wild flowers as plugs, or, if you strip strip most of the grass, by sowing flower seed, allowing them to establish before the grass finds it's way back.

Sowing clover I would have thought was counter productive in that it will enrich the soil, unless you only want a clover / grass sward.