Making meadows

Date: 

Tuesday, 12 May, 2020

An increasing number of land parcels across Woking Borough are being left to go wild, to reap the associated biodiversity benefits.

Woking Borough Council teamed up with experts from Royal Horticultural Society (RHS) Wisley in November 2019, to run a workshop for members of the community who are involved with maintaining wildflowers in Woking. A wide range of organisations were represented, from  Woking Borough Council colleagues and its environmental partners Serco, to groups and volunteers involved in local environmental projects, such as Surrey Wildlife Trust.

Senior Horticultural Advisor Helen Bostock gave an excellent presentation about the main wildflower meadow types and methods of cultivation. Here are her top tips:

  • Wildflowers can be grown from seed, laid in turf mats or planted as bulbs.
  • Mowing regimes can be decreased and adapted to allow ‘flowering lawns’ with lower growing plant species such as common bird's-foot-trefoil and clover to flourish in between cuts.
  • Sometimes simply clearing an area of soil is all it takes to encourage native wildflowers to grow.

If you would like to create a wildflower meadow or border in your garden, here are some useful resources:

  • Be inspired by Plantlife’s connected meadows project.
  • RHS Grass Roots magazine has lots of useful tips including an article on page 10 of the autumn 2019 edition on wild verges by Helen Bostock.