The garden revamp has taken most of my time and energy this year. It’s an unfolding project with lots to talk about. So I realised I need to split up and slowly write down the process of designing and creating it.
Let’s start with the wildflower lawn area. An area I was less fussed about, but has won me over for now with its pops of joyful colour.
Why we made a wildflower lawn
If it was purely my garden, I probably wouldn’t have bothered with a lawn honestly. But since this house belongs to Tom as well, his wants are part of the design too. The garden is our main entertaining space right now, and we like having friends and family round when we can. So, as well as a large patio area, we thought we’d include a small lawn space. A ‘just in case’ spillover space for larger gatherings.
A lawn was also the best option to give some flexibility near the house. We hope to extend one day, and the idea of digging up lawn feels easier somehow. Also, there is the ‘what if we wanted to sell up in future?’ thought that weighed into the decision a bit. While we’re designing for our lives, a lawn is a fairly common in British gardens. So it felt like I couldn’t really escape a lawn right now.
However, with my desire to cultivate a sustainable home as far as time and money allow, I wanted to find a way of creating lawn that would actually benefit nature. Lawns are often described as mini monocultures with their limited grass species. I definitely subscribe to diversity as nature’s default, and wanted our garden to follow this principle.
Queue some googling for eco-friendly lawn alternatives, some skeptical comments from family members, and enter an article by Alys Flowler on turning your lawn into a meadow.
Turns out there are lots of ways to create a lawn that isn’t only grass. I felt this was the route to go for our garden, because I wanted the lawn to:
- grow as a short lawn, rather than a long meadow
- stand up to some walking
- give us flex and be fairly easy to maintain
- have a mix of different plants for greater biodiversity.
We decided to go with a wildflower lawn. But I know some people have success with clover, camomile or thyme lawns. The low flowering lawn seed mix from Wild Flower Lawns and Meadows fit our criteria best.
Seeding the lawn
The seeding instructions for the low-flowering lawn mix were pretty simple:
- Prepare the selected area by removing existing plants from the ground.
- Sow seeds onto ground at a certain rate per square metre. Sow any time of year, but it germinates quicker when soil is warm and moist.
- Allow the seeds to germinate. Water to speed this up if you need. No need to protect from birds, but do protect from rabbits if they live nearby.
- Only start cutting when it reaches 7.5cm/3” high. It will look patchy to start.
Because we razed the garden late last year (I’d hoped to avoid this, but for various reasons, it was the best option for us) starting our wildflower lawn was pretty easy. Once the hard landscaping was finished in mid-May, we had bare earth to sow seeds onto.
After sowing, we were hit with about 6 weeks of no rain. We watered when we could, but didn’t see many signs of life. Unless you count the bindweed creeping in from nextdoor! I worried it hadn’t worked. But I also bought way too many seeds, so knew I had enough to do it again if needed. The UK’s rainy July was very welcomed by us, and the lawn finally got going.
By August, we had the first few flowers popping up. Now, in October, the lawn is pretty much as the instructions said. It’s filled out enough that, when a little longer, it looks like a lawn. When cut shorter, it’s still a bit patchy in places. I’m sure that will fill out over time. We let weeds grow a bit too, because:
- I mostly can’t really tell what we sowed and what’s weed
- I’m taking a lower effort hands off approach in this area.
So far I’m cutting it maybe monthly. I am inconsistent with maintenance when life gets busy. But the lawn doesn’t mind. It happily grows away and gifts us flowers.
Enjoying the wildflowers
Has this process convinced me about lawns?
No, not fully. My garden taste still prefers a cascade of planting that feels wild and painterly, and like a garden hug you can get lost in. But I can appreciate that a lawn works in some situations. It works for us and the garden right now.
Seeing the colour of the poppies, snapdragons, clover and grasses (and much more) is surprising and delightful. Our cat loves sitting in the lawn when it’s longer, and chases the butterflies. And it fits the mini brief I had for it.
I’m sure we’ll revise the lawn as our lives and needs change over time. Maybe one day I’ll cultivate a wild, painterly hug garden! But for right now, the wildflowers fit the bill.
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