Typically wildflowers in an area are synonymous with weeds. They shouldn't have any trouble growing if you break the current grass monopoly even a little. Most people have a hard time getting them to NOT grow in their yard. I had good luck including Jerusalem artichokes (sunchokes) in my yard. They are HUGE when fully grown and you will basically need a flame thrower to get rid of them but the birds and bees love them. They also spread risomatically by sending out root runners, so they break up compacted soil. A combination of those and sunflowers would basically be a 2 meter tall flower bed. I don't think you would even need the cardboard.
this post was submitted on 18 Mar 2025
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But Jerusalem artichokes are also very invasive in many places and take over environments and choke out native species. This affects the entire environment in the area. From the plants to the bugs to the animals and the people, the water, soil nutrients, so many things. Why not plant native species. Include a few low native bushes to help the birds. Plant according to the soils and environment. It could be just about the pretty flowers or it could be about establishing a diverse ecosystem supported by your choice of plants at the beginning.
That is considered non-native here and it is very difficult to get rid of it.
The following links are in Slovak, but there are latin names of the plants.
- The list of invasive species in Slovakia: https://invaznedruhy.sopsr.sk/invazne-druhy-sr/invazne-druhy-rastlin-sr/
- Non-natives: https://invaznedruhy.sopsr.sk/nepovodne-invazne-sa-spravajuce-druhy-na-uzemi-sr/nepovodne-invazne-sa-spravajuce-druhy-rastlin/
- And EU list: https://invaznedruhy.sopsr.sk/invazne-druhy-eu/invazne-nepovodne-druhy-rastlin-vzbudzujuce-obavy-unie/
I have found a seed mix that appears to not have any invasive plants (site in German): https://www.bloomling.de/samen-maier/bio-nuetzlingsweide-summ-summ-wiese, and it is also available in my country.
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".
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.
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.
Know what species are natural and which are invasive to your area. Make sure you plant only native wildflowers. This may mean learning about plants this season, collecting seed and planting next year. Know your plants and seeds and watch for plants you do not want to add if you are using pre-mixed seed. If you are starting plants vs seeding the area, know what type of environment each likes best and grow them accordingly.
You will have to somehow deal with the grass or it will just choke the plants before they even establish. You can remove it, till it and remove the larger clumps or cover it for a period of time to kill the root structure. Depending on if you are building an amended bed in that area for the flowers would also depend on if you could use a hugelculture or lasagna method of smothering the existing grass.
What are your soils like? Where we live we have very heavy clay predominantly. Where we lived previously, we had meters and meters of beautiful loam and topsoil. Knowing your soils would also help us narrow down practices that are best suited for your location.