Romantic or Realist - Establishing A Wildflower Lawn or Meadow

But hang on there; White is too shrewd to be trapped by fantasy. She implicitly understands what former first lady Lady Bird Johnson meant when she gave the wildflower romantics a look, and said, "You can't just scatter the seeds around as if you were feeding chickens."

White went about creating her wildflower meadow the way tacticians achieve their goals - she made plans, settled on priorities, and set small rewards for herself along the way. White was determined to have her wildflower lawn. Goading her onward was the vision of leisurely strolling, clad in a white linen dress, through a seemingly endless wildflower meadow. Were White's plans accurate? Did White achieve her vision of a wildflower lawn?

I will reveal that White achieved her goal of a seemingly perfect wildflower lawn, but I will not divulge what else she gained from that experience. I will caution you that White did meticulous research homework to achieve her goal, but will not reveal the pithy observations she made along the way or what she reaped at the end of the journey. You'll need to read the book to take advantage of White's final interpretations.

A homeowner doesn't necessarily save time or even money by deciding to cover bare soil with wildflowers instead of turf grasses or other ground covers. My own experience is that scattering flower seeds from a can doesn't usually result in a wonderful finished product. Preparation, installation and early maintenance of a wildflower meadow or lawn is about the same as for a new lawn. The payoff comes months and years later when wildlife, including songbirds, move into the area and mowing or cutting shrinks to once per season.

Once you've discerned that a wildflower lawn or meadow will really suit you and your lifestyle, your very next question should be, Where and how do I begin?

Seeding should be done in the spring, as soon as the surface area is prepared, so there will be blossoms on the annual flowers by midsummer. Biennials and perennials do not add to the display until the second and following growing seasons.

Without doubt, the most important part of the process is preparation of the proposed wildflower area. The following progression of steps has worked for me because they are in small increments - there is no rush to accomplish everything at once - and the likelihood of aggressive undesirables taking over the area is minimal.

Begin work the autumn before the first seed is sown.

• Measure and mark out the area the same as you would for a turfgrass lawn.
• Till or turn over by hand existing sod. It is not necessary to dig deeply. This will uproot vegetation already there, allow some weed seeds to germinate and then die off, and reduce the need for herbicides.
• Cover with black plastic over winter. This will continue to kill existing plants and prevent new ones from taking hold.

Continue the groundwork as soon as the soil is dry and warm in the spring.

• Remove chunks of dead vegetation by hand. The best use for these is probably fodder for the compost pile.
• Use a steel-tined landscape, level head, or bow rake to break up clods of soil and smooth the surface to make a uniform seedbed.
• Either hand pick or spray a contact herbicide such as one containing glyphosate to control any emerging undesirable seedlings.
• At this point, some sort of weed-suppressing barrier can then be laid on the soil. Research at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst shows that this barrier can be a thickness of four newspaper sheets (those with black and white print, not the colored sections) or one sheet of Kraft paper (strong wrapping paper made from pulp). The study also suggests landscaping fabric (spunbonded polyester) and other root-permeable surfaces. However, I've tried these and didn't like them. Even though the roots penetrated these fabrics, they are not biodegradable, and therefore, add nothing to the soil.
• Spread a layer of sterilized compost from about one-half to 2-inches deep over the entire area. Composts can be cooked up from biosolids (solid or semisolid material obtained from treated wastewater), woodchips and other woody trimmings, farm manures or yard wastes. Be aware though that farm manure and yard waste compost will usually contain weed seeds - more work to suppress - and also require some balanced fertilization. Research your region to see if biosolid or other heat-treated compost can be obtained locally.

Sow the wildflower seed.

• Seed should be scattered thickly and evenly;
• Use a hand-held spreader; or alternatively spread by hand;
• Walk back and forth over the area in a grid pattern to make sure all sections are covered.

Tamp or roll the surface to make sure that seed has made contact with compost or soil.

Mulch lightly using straw (not hay!), or alternatively spread a thin layer of compost or sandy soil over the seed. This covering prevents washing from rain or damage from birds.

Water lightly - not more than fifteen minutes at a time- and often- several times a day. This prevents the germinating wildflower seed from drying out.

First year maintenance will be light. You'll have a chance to marvel at the beauty of all those blooming annual plants and there should be enough for plenty of bouquets of cut flowers. The main chore during the second year and beyond is to keep undesirables out of the wildflowers. This can be done by:

• Careful use of a glyphosate contact herbicide; or
• Hand pulling and composting.

There are two options having to do with mowing and/or cutting at the end of the growing season.

• The first option, somewhat messy, is to leave dried flower heads standing through the winter so birds and other wildlife can enjoy the seeds.

• The second option, somewhat neater, is to wait until a heavy or killing frost or until the plants have dispersed most of their seed. Use a heavy-duty lawnmower or string trimmer to cut all plants at their bases and let them lay in place over winter to ensure seed dispersal.

There needs to be an opportunity for all plants, each autumn, to develop and naturally disperse their seeds over a long period of time. This action ensures reseeding and new growth for future years. However, even with this precaution, rejuvenating is necessary after a period of years.

Typically, perennials will dominate a three-year planting. However, beginning about that time there is a tendency for ox-eye daisies and golden rod to take over the area. Rototilling or scratching small furrows in the meadow soil and then sowing a mixture of fresh seed easily accomplishes a renovation and keeps the patch from becoming a monoculture of one dominant plant. Watering lightly and often is, of course, necessary for proper germination of the newly sown seed.

You should be able, with good maintenance and upkeep, to enjoy your wildflowers and the wildlife it brings into your landscape for many years.

Specifics about amount of seed and types to use, as well as sources for information will be found in Part II of Establishing Wildflower Lawns and Meadows, coming soon to a monitor screen near you.