The Accidental Smallholder Forum
Smallholding => Land Management => Topic started by: rikkib on July 30, 2012, 09:21:32 pm
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I grow vegetables and herbs in a third of acre plot and realise now that it's just to big even with three people helping and sharing produce. I would like to grow wild flowers to encourage bees etc - and am considering doing this with a third of the plot. Has anybody else done this? I've searched the Internet and see that march is a good time to sow annuals . Any advise please.
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I have planted a small area (about 20sq m) with wildflower seed for the same reason. You can sow seeds from march to june and spread the flowering season. I bought my seeds from the internet as a wildflower mix with a few selected annuals and sowed at the end of may - so far lots of green but no flowers - I wanted flowers during august.
Its a good idea to encourage the bees onto your plot this way.
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Maybe I just have a greater weed problem than others ::) but I have found that sowing seeds on a large scale simply means a huge area of weeds appear, and hardly any of the flowers can compete with them. A way round this is to sow the flower seeds in plug trays then plant them out into clean ground when they have a couple of pairs of true leaves. This is more work but more likely to succeed.
Another option is to include rows of flowers in with your vegetable rows, so you are keeping the weeds down as you work the veggies. Or if you have a bed system, you could devote some beds completely to flowers. There are lots of possibilities, but the end result if you are successful will be splendid and will encourage all sorts of wildlife.
You can purchase seed mixes for various different target fauna, such as butterflies, bees, moths and hoverflies, or birds both flying and ground species like partridges. Some will be annuals and some perennials.
I just want to make the point that sowing wild flowers isn't necessarily an easy option as you still have to keep the weeds away, but it is well worth the effort.
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fleecewife - that was a consideration for me when I designated the area- the recommendation was to prepare the soil by hoeing (not digging) and allowing time for weed to come back 3 times just to minimise the weed impact. Also best to remove any sign of grass because that will take over too.
That was ok for me for 20sqm but a bigger patch could have a problem.
I still have a few weeds but they are easily identifiable.
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Last year we set aside a bed in the veg garden and sowed crimson clover and sunflowers. This photo was taken on July 17th - the clover choked out almost all weeds, and by this time the sunflowers were well clear of the clover. It moved with bees for the whole summer, and the birds loved the sunflowers later in the year.
At the end of the year we dug in the clover, which of course was nitrogen-fixing itself. It worked so well we're adding an extra bed into the rotation to do this every year.
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AND it looks pretty :thumbsup: ;D
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Once you are happy that you have suppressed the weeds sufficiently you can by a biodegradable sheet which is impegnated with wild frower seeds. It can be cut to the size and shape that you require and should help to ensure that you get the flowers not the weeds.
:bouquet:
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I saw those Buffy - seemed a bit 'spensive compared to the seed to cover the space I had. They are a good Idea for a smaller patch.
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Try growing Phacelia - the bees and insects love it and it is very pretty - lilac/puple flowers and grows to about 2' tall. You can grow it as a green manure or leave it to self-seed. The seed is easy to obtain and quite cheap if you buy a large packet. Sorry no photos - not mastered that yet :-[
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Sorry no photos - not mastered that yet :-[
Don't apologise, I haven't met anyone yet who was born knowing how to do it. :)
Sally did a good guide here: http://www.accidentalsmallholder.net/forum/index.php?topic=18691.0 (http://www.accidentalsmallholder.net/forum/index.php?topic=18691.0)