Flowering meadow
The diversity of plants in flowering meadows provides numerous pollinating insects such as butterflies and wild bees with food and pollen.
In our research on wild bees and other pollinators in community gardens we found that gardens with higher flower richness tend to have a higher diversity of pollinator groups such as wild bees, butterflies, flies and wasps, as well as more individuals and a higher species richness. With a flowering meadow, you can make an important contribution to the conservation of wild bees.
Step 1
Get material
To create a flowering meadow you need:
- Spade
- Sand (if required)
- Spading fork
- Power hoe, rotary plow or rotary harrow (if required)
- Rake
- Native seeds
- Bucket
- Seed spreader (if required)
- Lawn roller or board
- Water hose and sprinkler or watering can
When choosing the seeds, make sure that they come from your region. This promotes the local natural diversity and ensures that the plant species are ideally adapted to the climate and site conditions.
Tip:
- There are also species and seed mixtures for more nutrient-rich and damp locations. These consist of species such as common hogweed (Heracleum sphondylium), hemp-agrimony (Eupatorium cannabium), meadowsweet (Filipendula ulmaria), great burnet (Sanguisorba officinalis), common purple loosestrife (Lythrum salicaria) or purple loosestrife (Geranium pratense).
Step 2
Prepare soil
Weed-free soil with a fine crumb structure is required for sowing. To do this, the turf must first be removed. If the soil is rich in nutrients, you can remove the topsoil and replace it with nutrient-poor soil or work in sand. For areas that are already weed-free, it is sufficient to loosen the soil with a spading fork.
Small areas can be dug up manually using a spade, preferably two spades deep, turning over the clod of earth and digging under the turf. As this work is very strenuous, it is worth using machines (e.g. power hoe, rotary plow or rotary harrow) for larger areas. After tilling, plant and root residues are removed with a rake and the soil is leveled.
Good soil preparation takes time: ideally, leave the soil to rest for two to three weeks after tilling. During this time, the soil can settle and weed seeds present in the soil can germinate (false seedbed). Then use a rake to carry out fine leveling, which uproots the seedlings of weeds. In areas with heavy weed pressure and the associated competition, this process can be repeated after a further one to two weeks, which promotes successful establishment of the seed mixture sown later.
Step 3
Sowing
Once the seedbed has been prepared, you can start sowing the flowering meadows. The size of the area for which the seed should be sufficient is indicated on the packaging. Depending on the seed mixture, approx. 5-10 g/m² are required. For better metering, the seed can be mixed with sand. This is either thrown out by hand with a lot of feeling or spread evenly with a seed spreader. As most species are light-stimulted germinators, it is not necessary to cover the seeds with soil.
Step 4
Press down the seeds
To give the seeds the soil contact they need for rooting, lightly press down the seeds with a board or ideally a lawn roller.
Step 5
Water the seeds
Ideally, the seeds should be sown before a period of regular rainfall. If there is not enough rain, you will need to water the newly planted flowering meadow for approx. 5 weeks to ensure that the seeds germinate and grow. The best way to do this is to use a water hose with a sprinkler positioned in the middle of the area. If necessary, you can also use a watering can. However, if possible, try not to walk on the area until a closed plant cover has developed. Also, please do not water in the midday heat in the blazing sun, but in the morning or evening. The soil should be constantly moist, but not wet (avoid waterlogging at all costs).
Maintenance
In the first year, the newly established flowering meadow should be mowed regularly (about 2-4 times, no shorter than 6 cm) to reduce weeds. During the establishment phase, it may also be necessary to manually weed out invasive species (e.g. the annual fleabane (Erigeron annua), Canada goldenrod (Solidago canadensis), mugwort (Artemisia vulgaris), Indian-strawberry (Potentilla indica) or tree seedlings). If possible, only enter the area once a closed plant cover has developed. To ensure that a species-rich flowering meadow rather than a lawn develops, it is best to mow less frequently from the second year onwards. To encourage flowering plants, we recommend mowing twice a year (in July and September). To protect insects, we recommend mowing only once a year. Mow either in August, so that the meadow still has enough time to develop and provide shelter for insects over the winter, or in October, when larval development is complete. Some wild bee species use the dead, hollow stems from the previous year as nesting sites (e.g. mullein (Verbascum)), which are only preserved if there is no mowing. On the other hand, it is advisable to manually thin out fast-growing butterfly weeds such as sweet clover (Melilotus), alfalfa (Medicago sativa) or crownvetch (Securigera varia) when they are very vigorous, so that species with weak competitive ability are not overgrown.
Tip:
- In the case of existing meadows, you can also consider whether it is possible to convert the meadow into a species-rich flowering meadow by adapting the maintenance concept. This can be achieved by mowing less frequently, preferably once or twice a year. In this way, existing native populations and biocoenoses that are optimally adapted to the site can be preserved. This concept is also less costly and less expensive than creating a new flowering meadow.