Introduce a Splash of Wildflower to Your Green Space Areas - Pitchcare Have!

Loss of suitable habitat is the fundamental cause with more land being used to produce food and a burgeoning population there is very little room left for nature. Organisations such as the Royal Horticultural Society, Local Councils and environmental groups such as the Wildlife Trusts have realised how fragmented and degraded meadows have become and are encouraging the people to transform the UK countryside back to its roots by introducing native species.

Wildflower meadows are unique to our natural heritage, helping to support higher populations of important pollinators that rely on the diverse forms of nectar and pollen found in wildflower meadows to survive. We are only just coming to appreciate how delicate the balance of nature is.

The RHS establishes how easy it is to use wildflower meadows as an alternative to lawns and borders with many local authorities promoting wildflowers this year and meadows popping up all over the British countryside.

We at Pitchcare have recently taken the opportunity to refresh our roadside lawned areas at our Allscott Park HQ. With a wide range of wildflower seeds at our fingertips suitable for a range of soil types we have, for the second year running, introduced a meadow of colour to our premises.

The soil around our site is a free-draining, sandy-loam therefore it was decided the best mix for our site would be a mixture from our new range of Colour Splash seed, combined with our Memorial Poppy mix given it is the centenary year since the start of WWI.

The Colour Splash range includes two seed mixes- Jour de Fete and Douce France which are a combination of various colourful wildflower seeds. The seed mixes being adaptable to a majority of soil types and low maintenance it was an ideal choice for our patch.

Converting a regular lawn and/or border to a meadow is surprisingly easy, though it may take some time to establish a balanced meadow though, once established, it can sustain itself with little effort on your part over the coming years, certainly compared to weekly mowing.

The mixtures can be sown by hand, even in larger areas, rates can be found for individual seed mixtures on our product pages, however the average these mixtures wildflower should be sown at 1g/m².

However, a grass/wildflower seed mixture would generally be sown at 3g/sq/m. Rake in and water thoroughly leaving them to grow naturally. No weedkiller or feed is needed as the wildflower seeds will establish of their own accord.

Flowering varies with the different seed mixtures. Perennial mixtures are slow to start but offer consistent colour year after year from the second year, whereas an annual mixture provides more colour but requires sowing each spring.

For more information about wildflower mixes visit the Pitchcare Store.