WILDFLOWER MEADOW CREATION IN SURREY
Creating high quality wildflower spaces for our clients in Surrey.
Increasing biodiversity whilst adding low maintenance colour & contrast to your garden or space.
Why wildflower?
Wildflower spaces are a great solution to providing not only a habitat to support a diverse range of nature, including bees and butterflies, but also a low maintenance, contrasting blanket of colour to your lawn or green space, broadening garden design opportunities.
- Add colour and contrast
Driveways, under trees, borders, surrounding ponds, providing contrasting shapes to your mown lawn, or just that empty space in your garden; wildflowers are a versatile veil of colour suitable for most environments. - Biodiversity net gain
Proven to be one of the most efficient solutions for biodiversity net gain, a wildflower meadow will naturalise and change dependent on environment, weather conditions and cutting regime, attracting a vast array of insects throughout the years. - Drought and shade tolerant
Deep rooting, wildflower meadows require very little water if at all once established. - Low maintenance
Only requiring one cut a year in the autumn means wildflowers are great solution to achieving a low maintenance natural space.
We are an accredited partner of Wildflower Turf Ltd, the leading supplier of knowledge and products to create successful wildflower spaces in the UK.
Endorsed by Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Wildflower Turf Ltd have been involved in a number of high profile projects including:
London 2012 Olympics – view case study
Great crested newt mitigation strategy – view case study
Benefits of a wildflower meadow
From Autumn Hawkbit to Viper’s Bugloss there is a wide variety of species that can be part of a successful wildflower meadow whatever the objective.
Increases biodiversity
Biodiversity is our key resource and support system. It is critical for the
functioning of ecosystems which supply us with products and services;
oxygen, food, fresh water, medicines, and a stable climate to name a few.
It helps sustain the human existence and our quality of life.
A wildflower meadow naturally produces a biodiverse habitat, supporting birds, mammals, bees, butterflies and other invertebrate species.
Low maintenance and sustainable
A considerable benefit of a wildflower meadow is the very small amount of maintenance is usually required. Come autumn your meadow will just need to be cut down to 20-50 mm with the arising collected to prevent mulching and suppressing the newly dropped wild flower seeds.
Perennial wildflower meadows can last decades with just one cut a year.
Adds colour and contrast to a green space
A wildflower meadow is dynamic and will change year to year dependant on conditions and cutting regime as species thrive and establish.
The mix that we use for our wildflower meadows uses native perennial species, which produce a changing palette of colour throughout the seasons.
Additionally many species grow to 18 inches high creating a contrasting
visual display.
Drought and shade tolerant
Deep rooting, wildflower meadows require very little water once established and certain species do very well in dabbled shade.
Considerations of a wildflower meadow
Like most things it’s important to understand the limitations so you can make an informed decision whether a wildflower meadow is the right solution.
Can be challenging to create
Wildflower meadows can be regarded as difficult and time consuming to establish.
Success is down to knowledge, experience, preparation, and the use of the right materials at the right time in the right environment.
Not suitable for high traffic areas
A wildflower meadow is not a lawn, it can’t cope with the rough and tumble of regular traffic.
Not suitable for boggy low light areas
Although very hardy, a wildflower meadow won’t thrive in an environment that is regularly boggy and/or under constant shade.
Initial higher investment
The initial upfront investment can be more than the creation of a lawn, but with the reduction in maintenance required a wildflower meadow pays for itself in little time.
Wildflower meadow specifications
The wildflowers in the mixes we use below have been carefully developed to produce flowering plants from early in the spring through to early autumn.
Cornfield look
Annual specification
Suitable for creating eye-catching displays with a long flowering period from May to first frosts.
Ideal solution for that ‘corn field look’ but will need recreating annually – not sustainable therefore usually used for events and small pockets of vibrant colour. Not available as turf – only seed.
Cottage garden look
Native enriched specification
A mix of native and naturalised perennial and annual wild flowers suitable for a wide range of soil types.
An enhanced sustainable wildflower meadow that has been developed to provide a balance between creating contrasting colour and a sustainable biodiverse environment.
Delivers a more ‘cottage garden’ look and feel that will naturalise over time.
Large open areas
Landscape specification
An all UK native perennial wildflower meadow suitable for a wide range of soil types usually made up of over 30 species of UK native wild flowers with a minimum of 75% wild flowers.
Suitable for land owners, developers and estate managers to create dynamic and biodiverse wildflower spaces in a range of settings with very maintenance required.
Shade tolerant
For areas of little light
An all UK native perennial wild flower mix suitable for a wide range of soil types.
Designed to perform well around trees and lightly shaded areas as well as open meadow sites.
It is made up of over 30 species of UK native flowers.
Bespoke specification
Specific requirements
A highly flexible mix of your choice to match your needs and designs.
Typical use is for any geographical or sensitive regions requiring a native local provenance or rare species mix and to meet regulatory requirements such as BREEAM.
Can meet site specific requirements such as wet, dry, shaded, specific soil types etc.
SuDs specification
Sustainable Urban Drainage System
Assists in the breakup of pan or soil compaction for maximum water dispersal, whilst remaining established in times of drought or periodic flooding.
This solution remains aesthetically and environmentally pleasing, introducing improved biodiversity with very low maintenance required.
Wildflower creation approach
Following our assessment, taking into account your objectives and the area, we will provide a proposal with associated costs.
We create wildflower spaces by either seeding or turfing:
Meadowscape Pro
An enhanced growing medium for effective successful wildflower meadow creation from seed.
Launched after years of testing and development by Wild Flower Turf Ltd.
Approved and used by The Royal Botanic Gardens,Kew,
Extensively tested and enriched with Hydropor™, Meadowscape Pro is suitable for a number of different situations.
It delivers optimal seed germination leading to quick, healthy wildflower establishment.
Wildflower turf
Since 2003 Wildflower Turf Ltd. have been developing their wildflower turf to become recognised as the UK’s pioneering & leading supplier.
High quality, reliable and ready-made wildflower meadow from turf, which is fast to establish and can be installed year round.
Discuss your wildflower project further
mark@lawncrew.co.uk | 01932 918 868
