I have a question about meadow gardening. First though, I enjoy your newsletters so very much! I’m in Zone 4, central Wisconsin. Here’s my question (situation): We built a home in the middle of a woods (5 acres), we have a really nice lawn, but the stuff outside of the lawn is something else — burdock 7 ft. tall, grass about the same height, and some stinging nettle just to make things interesting.

I’d like to clear out some of this and throw in some wildflower seeds. I’ve read that I can put plastic on top of the grass to kill it, but I dont want to wait until next year to start planting. Is there a “quicker” way to do this, maybe till the area first? Or should I just sow the seeds and hope for the best? The area in question gets a few hours of sun a day.
Keep your newsletters coming, they’re wonderful!
Sandy

Doug says

Sounds like you want to take over nature out there. OK.

The best way is to do it slowly and get rid of the existing foliage.

Other “quicker” ways are really short term solutions and you’re going to have the same weedy looking area in a few years and you won’t be happy. Having said that…

The only way you’ll get it faster is to mow the area or whippersnip the bigger plants down. I’d overseed with a heavy dose of whatever it is you want to establish.

Then control the other plants this year with the armstrong method (your strong arms) to stop them from shading the others.

If you have a wildflower area, then you have “wild” flowers and this means a home for all the plants such as stinging nettle that provides a home for some great beneficial insects and is used herbally.

That’s kind of what you have now with some invading species.

Note that these established plants are going to be much tougher and will out-compete any small seeds you toss in over there unless they are controlled.

My best guess is you won’t be happy with the results of overseeding – tossing seed on top of existing plants.

If you want a wildflower meadow – another form of gardening – then you have to get rid of the plants that are there now to introduce your meadow plants. These established plants (natives and invasives) will always out crowd the flowering introductions you want to bring in.

So you can have a few of each by overseeding but if you want to do meadow gardening, you’ll have to kill off the existing plants first.

Potential issues and Summary

You can plow up the entire area and keep it tilled all summer.

You can use clear plastic to solarize the soil and kill off existing weeds.

Some folks recommend using herbicides – I don’t.

But you do have to keep it clean if you want a fully formed meadow garden in a year or two.

There is no “short form” you’re going to be happy with – without controlling existing plants, they will “eat” the newcomers.

And finally – ongoing maintenance is needed to keep the meadow full of the plants you want eliminating wind-delivered seeds such as thistle.

Join in and write your own page! It’s easy to do. How?
Simply click here to return to Questions Designs

Similar Posts:

Share