I recently read an interesting article by Frank Ronan in Gardens Illustrated (May 2010) called ‘Live and Let Grow’ which has inspired me to write another lawn related blog. It is something that I really like the idea of and have recently seen some great examples. Some people can be quite obsessed about their lawns ensuring they are highly manicured, if you recognise yourself the following may be quite a scary concept for you!
Consider letting your lawn or an area within your lawn just grow long and wild. The grasses will eventually flower and other flowers will self seed and look beautiful and natural as they sway in the breeze. Not just good for aesthetic reasons alone it also encourages a whole new level of bio-diversity into your garden.
The best way to do this is to mow an edge around the proposed meadow area for two reasons, one is for ease of maintaining and keeping pathways clear. The other is to provide a ‘frame’ for the meadow area making a feature of it so that it can be admired by your friends and family members. In the example pictured you can see a pathway mowed through the meadow which gives it that bit of added interest. This picture was taken in May 2010 at Pershore Horticultural College where I attend.
How? Well simply just leave an area not mowed in the springtime and as it all begins to grow it will provide an area for small insects and as the flowers set seed the birds will have a feast! Leave the grass long over winter as it can provide a useful habitat for small creatures to hibernate. Next spring just cut it back and let it grow all over again!
Wild areas in the garden whether it is the lawn or a pile of logs need not look messy – get creative as insects, animals and birds don’t really mind as long as they can access the nectar, seeds or simply take shelter in longer grasses so make it look chic! Why not plant some bulbs too to add to the look?
If this is something that you’re interested in and live in Coventry we’d love to help you create that meadow look either with or for you. If you have already tried why not email us your photos and we’ll keep updating this article and hopefully inspire others to give it a try!