Create Beautiful Landscapes with Wild Flower Mixture from DLF-TRIFOLIUM

The interest in establishing flowering fields comprising mixtures of wild, flowering herbs has grown in recent years. There can be many reasons for wanting to create flowering fields in existing cultivated landscapes. In any case, it is important to be aware in advance that a flowering field will not usually grow on its own accord but will, however, need careful cultivation.

Establishing New Flowering Fields

Soil treatment

When establishing a flowering field in cultivated soil, such as former agricultural soil, problems may arise due to an excessive content of nutrients in the soil and/or too large a quantity of root weeds, like couch grass and thistles. It may be necessary to combat these weeds with chemicals or possibly allow existing plants to wither and then remove the dead material. It is important not to add nutrients in the form of dead plants to the soil during the conversion process. In general, soil that is low in nutrients will provide the best conditions for a flowering field. The soil can then be ploughed and harrowed or turned with the help of a rotary cultivator to create a suitable bed for sowing. Alternatively, the soil can be allowed to remain fallow over the summer, i.e. to repeat harrowing to allow as many weed seeds to sprout as possible.

Flowering Fields in Existing Grass-Covered Areas

Soil treatment

Establishing a flowering field in an existing area covered by grass is often difficult. If the existing grass is fairly dense and well fertilised, the project is almost doomed to fail from the beginning. The grass will outstrip sprouting wild flowers. If the existing grass is more spread out, the chances of success are better.

Experience regarding the establishment of flowering fields in existing grass-covered areas shows that the best results can be achieved by means of the following procedure:

Make existing plants wither with the help of round-up during late summer
Remove any dead plant material
Sow during the same year
Topdress with 0.5 - 1 cm of sand

The herbs will then begin to sprout during the following spring – naturally dominated by the annuals during the first year.

For those who do not wish to use chemicals to cause the grass to wither prior to sowing, it may be necessary to remove entire sections of turf. In this case, a certain competition from unwanted species germinating must be expected.

Sowing

The best time to sow when establishing a permanent flowering field is autumn. This fits well with the natural seed dissemination of the herbs. Many species will sprout during the spring, after the cold of winter has broken the dormancy of the seeds and allowed germination to begin. Other species will sprout immediately and face the winter as small plants.

The method of sowing depends on the size of the area. Hand sowing can be used in small areas – possibly with the addition of filler material such as sand to the seeds. A sowing machine is recommended for large areas, as this also provides the most uniform sowing. The best solution is to use a special machine designed for lawn grasses. For most species sowing depth should not exceed 0.5 cm.

Caring for Flowering Fields

In general, flowering fields should only be mowed once a year during the late summer after the main flowering period. Mowing should be carried out with a rotary mowing machine or a finger mower and the cut material should be removed from the area. Fields of flowers should not be fertilised.

If large quantities of unwanted plants appear during the first year it may be necessary to mow the field twice – mowing for the first time before the unwanted species spread their seeds.

Wild Flower Mixture from DLF-TRIFOLIUM

The wild flower mixture offered by DLF-TRIFOLIUM consists of appx. 20 different wild flowers that differ in colours and growth and is a mix of annual and perennial species. Some of the species are:

Amaranthus retroflexus
Echium vulgare
Marrubium vulgare
Salvia nemorosa
Tanacetum vulgare
Centaurea cyanus blue
Verbascum phlomoides
Papaver rhoeas

The species can vary from year to year according to availability but will always show the very best diversity and can be used on most types of soils.

This wild flower mixture is rounded up with a mixture of accompanying low and non-aggressive grasses as follows:

25% Hard fescue – Festuca ovina duriuscula
15% Red fescue – Festuca rubra
10% Timothe-turf type – Phleum nodosum
10% Browntop – Agrotis tenuis
30% Meadow fescue – Festuca pratense

The content of wildflowers is 10% of the total mixture and 90% of the above grass mixture.

Quantity of sowing mixture: 1 kg per 100 m2.
Sowing time: Late summer/autumn.

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