NEW STYLE FLOWER MEADOWS…

The picture of fields full of blooming cornflowers, poppies, yellow marigolds and cockles is almost permanently lost from our memory or just kept in the box with photos from our childhood.  What we (used to) see in the nature or our wider environment we always want to bring to our own garden. Here and there, you can still find gardeners who year after year transform a bare piece of land into a 'blooming' lawn full of poppies, cornflowers, etc... 

If you have carefully chosen a spot in your garden, sowing can get started:

- with a long round stick (broomstick, bamboo stick,...) make couple of shallow trenches in the ground with a distance of ± 30 cm. You can decide on direction depending on the size and shape of your plot. 

- now you can start sowing thinly in the prepared trenches. Mix course sand with the seeds beforehand in 3:1 ratio (three times more sand than seed).  It is important that you do not sow too close, otherwise you'll have to pull out too many plants later on.

- cover the seed, not with the soil, but a layer of course sand (washed Rhine sand), ± 1 cm thick: it is necessary to:

- during the first weeks the rows remain visible, so you can  easily walk between the rows to do weeding and thinning (keep 10 cm distance between plants)

 - after sowing you can water the soil, but afterwards you do not need to give any more water. The soil is still wet enough during spring time so seed should be able to germinate easily.

            Although, it seems a bit artificial to sow in rows, you have to remember that over time rows will become invisible.  As plants are becoming bigger and bigger and start growing closer to each other, the lines are becoming less and less visible. In a month time, the end result looks much more natural. As there are many different species in the seed mix, not all of them  grow at the same speed nor all of them bloom at the same time. The result is a succession of blossoming flowers. The flowering period starts in May and depending on the weather conditions, it can last until the late autumn.

            You can discover new species every day in your mixture and the results are very fascinating with ever-changing spectacle of known and unknown annuals. And because all these plants are botanical species, that are not cultivated nor sterile, you will create a very attractive place for bees, bumblebees, butterflies and other insects...