Creating wildflower meadows / RHS Gardening (2024)

Wildflower meadows can be any size– even a small patch of ground or part of a border can be transformed into an attractive and valuable pollinator-friendly mix of grasses and wildflowers. Thiscan be fitted easily intomost gardens and is a good starting option. But if you have the space, a large wildflower meadow can look spectacular.

Wildflower meadows usually flower between May and September,and attract a wide range of pollinators. You can also buy seed mixes tailored for specific wildlife, such as butterflies, bees or seed-eating birds.

Some wildflower meadow mixes combine both annuals andperennials. Some meadowmixesalso include non-native and cultivated species, which can be equally attractive and just as beneficial to wildlife.

For inspiration, see our guide to five easy annual wildflowers and our top 10 British wildflowers.

If you don’t want to create a new meadow from scratch, you can instead convert your lawn or simply encourage more diversity of wild plants within a mown lawn – see How to transform an existinglawn, below, for these options.
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You can buy standard wildflower meadow seed mixes in most garden centres and from online seed suppliers, ideal for sowing small areas. There are also many specialist wildflower seed merchants selling a wider choice of wildflower and grass mixes suitable for larger areas and for various soil types and locations.

Choose a seed mix that suits your conditions. Where possible, buy seed of British origin, especially for native wildflowers, and always from reputable suppliers.

Most meadow seed mixes can be sown in early to mid-spring (March/April) or early autumn(September), but check packets for details. On lighter soil, autumn-sown seeds generally germinate and establish quickly, although some won’t come up until the following spring. If you have heavy soil, which tends to stay wet and cold over winter, it’s betterto wait until spring to sow.

Most meadow plants need full sun and well-drained soil. However, tailored seed mixes for other locations, such as semi-shade, dampor dry soil, and coastal sites, are available from specialist suppliers.

To create a wildflower meadow from seed, you need to start with bare, weed-free ground. Sowing seeds directly into a lawn is rarely successful – even if they germinate, the resulting seedlings willhave to compete with the existing dense turf and are unlikely to survive. (If you want to add wildflowers to your lawn, see How to transform an existing lawn, below.)

There is no need to fertilise the area, whether your soil is fertile or poor – just make sure you’ve selected a meadow seed mix that suits your soil type.

For advice on cutting your new meadow, see our guide:

An easier, although more expensive, way to create a wildflower meadow from scratch is to lay wildflower-rich turf onto prepared ground. This isincreasingly available from specialist turf and wildflower suppliers,and comes on short rolls in the same way as conventional lawn turf.

It’s a useful alternative to sowingseed, especially if you want fast results or ifthe site contains high levels of weed seeds (as they’re less likely to germinate through a layer of turf). The higher costusually means it’s only suitable for smallwildflower areas, and the choice of different wildflower mixes is also more limited.

If you simply stop mowing your lawn, ideally in spring, then plants that were traditionally considered lawn weeds, such as buttercups, dandelionsand yarrow, will get the chance to flower among the grass.

You can get a surprisingly diverse array of wildflowers appearing and attract lots of pollinating insects, althoughthe area will still be predominantly grass.The grasses themselves will also flower and produce seedheads, which can be very attractive and provide nutritious food for wildlife, as well as sheltered habitats.

You can leave your whole lawn to grow long, or just certain areas that aren’t often used. You can mow paths through the long grass too, to make the area more accessible.And thelong grass can be returned to lawn whenever you like, by strimming and then reinstating a regular mowing routine.

No Mow May is an ideal way to try this out.Stop mowing for the whole of May and the wild plantsalready in your lawn will grow up and flower, adding colour and attracting pollinating insects and other wildlife. You can leave your whole lawn uncut or just a section.

Then either re-start mowing in June or leave the grass uncut until August to encourage a greater diversity of plants.Find out more about No Mow Mayfrom the campaign organiser, Plantlife.

If you find this works well, you can go on to properly convert your lawn, or certain areas of it, into a more well-balanced meadow – see Converta lawn into a wildflower meadow, below.

To boost the flowers in a regularly mown lawn, you can add young plants of low-growing native species such as daisies, ajuga, selfheal, dogvioletsand clover, which can either cope with mowing or duck below the blades. Let the grass grow a little longer than a traditional lawn to ensure they thrive.

Shade-tolerant primroses can also be added to thinner areas of grass under trees.