Nature and Gardening

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Tips for starting a wildflower meadow? (self.greenspace)

submitted 1 week ago by JohnDumpling to c/greenspace

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Hey people! I'm located in western Slovakia (Central Europe) and would like to start a wildflower meadow sometime during the end of March or even the start of April. It is going to replace the lawn in the middle of our plot. It is in a sunny place and no chemicals have been used for ~3 years, although the ground is not super ideal for it (not nutrient-poor). My question is: will the seeds be able to germinate if I just go over the space with a verticutter? Should I try to remove the lawn fully (i. e. using a hoe)? Cover it with cardboard to let the lawn die? I have read the excellent Wild Your Garden book by The Butterfly Brothers, and they recommend rotovating. But that seems like a lot of work. What was your experience or what species would be suitable? I'm all ears!

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[–] Mastema@infosec.pub 4 points 1 week ago (1 children)

While studying permaculture and regenerative agriculture I came across this thread on native species and it stuck with me. I'm now in the camp of, "the world is changing and what grew in an area before night not be the right thing to grow there now".

[–] protist@mander.xyz 3 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago) (1 children)

While I've largely given up on the invasive species fight, I still think it's important to not plant virulently invasive plants. Jerusalem artichoke is one of those plants that'll take over your whole garden and beyond, and you probably shouldn't plant it in-ground in an area where it's invasive. Even native plants can sometimes be the wrong thing to plant if they're not in the right place. I'm dealive with some willow-leaf aster that's native to my area that I just can't eliminate from a raised bed. I thought it'd look pretty in there, but turns out it sends up shoots everywhere and the tiniest bit of root creates a new plant

All that said, I've been planting things native to hotter and dryer areas to the south and west of where I live. I also look around at invasive species and realize the fight is hopeless. Chinabarry, ligustrum, and paper mulberry are everywhere, crowding out our native oaks. I did a volunteer project where we cleared ligustrum from a creek bed, and two years later it's all back, new growth from seed. The manpower required to stop it is not realistic for most places.

[–] Mastema@infosec.pub 2 points 1 week ago

This is a great take on the subject. In my area the Jerusalem artichoke would mostly be competing with Asian honeysuckle and Bradford pear trees which have already escaped captivity and killed everything else, but I completely agree that releasing virulent species into any kind of intact ecosystem can be very damaging.