Meadow of flowers: Tips for laying out and designing

More and more people are choosing not to have a lawn or a flower meadow. Here we show the advantages of a flower meadow and how to create it.

Well-groomed, almost meticulously trimmed race was found in almost every garden for a long time. Gardeners with a large plot of land, in particular, could hardly avoid creating large lawns if they did not want to fall back on gravel beds or paved areas. But there is now an alternative that is becoming increasingly popular: actually decide More and more gardening enthusiasts are against the standardized, short-cut lawn and for a colorful one Flower meadow. This not only looks good, but also has numerous advantages over a normal lawn. Here you can find out what is behind it and how you can create a flower meadow in your own garden.

Accurate, green lawn or a wild, colorful sea of ​​flowers? Meadows of flowers have recently been found in more and more gardens and they are not only causing enthusiasm because of their appearance.

What are the advantages of flower meadows?

Mowing, ventilating, scarifying - a lawn like this is a lot of work if it should still look nice and green after years. In fact, the amount of work and time required to maintain lawns is one of the most common reasons gardeners switch to a flower meadow. In contrast to the lawn, this is namely particularly easy to care for: Once a year (preferably from the end of July to mid-August) the flower meadow must be mowed so that the annual wild plants can distribute their ripe seeds over the area. Otherwise, the flower meadow hardly needs any maintenance.

But that's not their only advantage - almost as important as the reduced workload is the fact that a flower meadow is a much better biotope than a simple lawn. Particularly rare Wild bees, but also Bumblebees, Butterflies or the hedgehog find a suitable home in a flower meadow and are thus protected. But also native wildflowers, which often find no living space between gardens and agriculture, can thrive on the flower meadow. A simple flower meadow contributes to the preservation of biodiversity - on the other hand, only a few insects can survive on the lawn and even wild herbs have almost no chance here.

Last but not least, the flower meadow also convinces with its optical charms: Against the romantic charm and the magical play of colors of the blooming wildflowers comes from simple lawn simply not on.

How to create a flower meadow

Even if a flower meadow is easy to care for, the creation of such a natural space in the garden is unfortunately not child's play. In fact, it is not enough just to sprinkle a few wild flower seeds and stop mowing the lawn if you want to see a sea of ​​flowers as early as next year. The reason for this is the soil in particular: while green, healthy lawns need nutrient-rich soil, the popular poor grassland in particular is dependent on sandy, nutrient-poor soil. A little time and patience are therefore required for the flower meadow project to succeed. There are a total of three ways to transform a lawn into a flower paradise, which we would like to briefly introduce to you below.

Variant 1: slowly create a poor meadow

With the slow but less laborious variant, you stop and fertilize the lawn changes the pruning to a few times a year (the clippings should always be carefully removed will). Over the years, the nutrient content in the soil decreases and there is an immigration of herbs and flowers typical of the meadows from the immediate vicinity. Those who cannot hope for seeds to fly from wild plants due to a more urban environment or who want certain flowering plants on their meadow can also "vaccinate" the lawn. The lawn is removed selectively and flowering plants are sown in these areas or herbs that have been grown earlier are planted. Over time, these spread over the entire lawn, creating a flower meadow. It is a little faster if the lawn is scarified very vigorously in autumn or early spring and a mixture of wild plants is sown under instead of new grass seeds. However, here, too, the development to a complete, healthy flower meadow can be several Takes years and is particularly successful in gardens that already have sandy soil crowned.

Option 2: create a poor meadow quickly

The second method, on the other hand, is faster, but at the same time more complex. The entire sward is removed here. Now the top 10 to 20 centimeters of the soil (depending on the type of soil) are either removed and replaced by sandy ones Soil replaced or loosened and mixed with sand, creating a nutrient-poor, well-drained soil generated. Additional drainage can be useful in particularly wet locations. This allows the soil to settle for about two days before you can start sowing the flower mixture. The best time to create a flower meadow is spring or autumn. Be careful not to sprinkle too many seeds in one area (one to a maximum of five grams of seed per square meter) and then carefully rake the seeds flat. The seeds are also gently pressed to the ground with a lawn roller. After sowing, the meadow should be watered regularly. In addition, once the first plants have germinated, you should not enter the meadow, as wildflowers can be sensitive to it.

Variant 3: Create a flower meadow to match the location

Even if the poor meadow is probably the best-known and most diverse type of meadow, it is by far not the only flower meadow that can be created in a garden. In fact, there are wildflowers and herbs that match almost every type of soil and can be used to create a wildflower meadow. A soil analysis, which you can commission from various institutions, provides information about the type of soil. On the basis of this soil analysis, the meadow mixtures or individual flowers can now be selected that should thrive on the natural soil type. But garden owners don't have to be ashamed if they "only" sow a fat meadow that has been adapted to their soil instead of a poor meadow - also this form of flower meadow has become rather rare in Germany and has a special one with its blooming inhabitants Charm.

The best plants for your flower meadow

Depending on whether you want to create a poor meadow or a fat meadow in your garden, different plants are best suited.

The best plants for a poor meadow

Colorful and rich in species - this is how rough meadows present themselves in nature. But which plants are the best fit for the newly created flower meadow? Showy flowering plants such as meadow sage (Salvia pratensis) and the carnation (Armeria maritima) or well-tried classics like the Cornflower (Centaurea cyanus) and the Corn poppy (Papaver rhoeas). But also rather unknown wild plants like the black mullein (Verbascum nigrum) or the pigeon scabiosis (Scabiosa columbaria) impressively exude their charm. In addition, grasses such as the common trembling grass (Brizamedia) and Sedums-Species (Sedum) for a coherent overall picture.

The best plants for a fat meadow

If you want to create a fat meadow, on the other hand, you should rely on other plants. The grasses that thrive particularly well on a fat meadow include the common ball of grass (Dactylis glomerata), but also oat (Arrhenaterum elatius) and comb grass (Cynosurus cristatus). In addition to the numerous types of grass, however, three types are particularly typical of a fat meadow: daisies (Bellis perennis), dandelion (Taraxacum) and clover (Trifolium). In addition, other plants such as the yarrow (Achillea) with its numerous small flowers and the buttercup known as buttercup (Ranunculus) gladly represented on the Fettwiese. But also other colorful bloomers like the meadow marguerite (Leucanthemum vulgare), the scabious (Knautia) or the pigeon catchfly (Silene vulgaris) impress in the Fettwiese with their splendor of flowers and transform your garden into a feast for the eyes.

tip: A good option for creating flower meadows are ready-made seed mixtures, as these are all contain the required plant seeds and thus the customer the laborious search for the different plants save. Meanwhile, numerous traders offer such meadow mixtures, which contain native species with similar site conditions for the different meadow types. But be careful: so-called “show mixes” that are offered for flower meadows are often special abundant in flowers, but contain exotic flowers that cannot prevail in our garden in the long term.

If you are further interested in near-natural and environmentally friendly gardening, you will find our article on the Natural garden. An alternative to protecting beneficial insects is also offered by beneficial insect hotels such as Butterfly houses.