Top meadow lawn mistakes and problems + mini meadow lawn update

Joel Ashton of @WildYourGardenWithJoelAshton on what you need to know if you want to transform your lawn - or part of your lawn - into a wildflower meadow. The top meadow lawn mistakes and problems and how to deal with them.

00:00 Welcome
01:10 How to create a patch of mini meadow without stripping back turf
01:57 Plant individual 9cm potted plants instead of seed or plug plants
02:36 Scarify the lawn in late summer or early autumn
03:10 Treat the meadow as seasonal - mow until early summer then let the grass grow
04:19 Should we worry about disturbing existing wildlife when creating a meadow lawn?
05:42 How to deal with invasive perennial weeds in a wildflower lawn
06:18 If your meadow lawn is very green and floppy with few flowers...
06:36 Weaken the grasses by mowing till early summer, then let it grow
07:30 Should you choose native plants for meadow lawns?
09:00 Joel says many non-native plants offer lots for wildlife in a herbaceous border
09:24 How to maintain a wildflower meadow lawn
10:55 When can you plant plants in 9cm pots into a meadow lawn?
11:40 Put your mower away - or mow less often!

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[penelopehammerton]

Great video Alexandra, you always get such knowledgeable people to speak to us. I always feel better informed after one of your videos. Thank you.

[stevef]

Great to see Joel on your channel Alexandra you certainly picked the right guy for advice on wildlife meadows. I recommend his channel to everyone

[clarecollins]

The cornflowers and i believe they are buttercups really glow when they are together😍❤

[irairod]

FABULOUS! I love all of your videos, but this one--exulting the importance of planting natives--particularly appeals to my heart! The advice where I garden (east coast of the USA, mid-Atlantic, zone 7) is to aim for 70% natives. I have a very small townhouse backyard and it was all lawn with a skinny border of invasive species (nandina and liriope). I dug up those two and have been slowly replacing them with deeper borders of native perennials and shrubs, and I'm probably closer to 80% natives now, which leaves room for me to grow some non-natives that I love, like white-pink-red Cosmos, and the tall and airy Verbena bonariensis. They just make me smile, and attract birds and bees, so I feel it's a good compromise! I have space for 1 and only 1 small tree, so I'm planting an Eastern Redbud (Cercis canadensis) this fall. A serviceberry (Amelanchier canadensis) would've been a better selection (in terms of wildlife support) but since I only get the one tree and have to love it just as much as the birds and other pollinators do, I went with the one ***I*** find most appealing. I've also planted Carex pensylvanica to leave a patch of grass for a (future) dog to roll in. It gives the look of "lawn" but it's supportive of native insects and, as long as one can tolerate "tufts" rather than a completely flat and low grass, it rarely, if ever, needs mowing. I'm also growing the plant that attracts the highest diversity of pollinators in my area, Mountain Mint, in large pots because it is a garden thug and I don't have space for it to spread as much as it would love to. It brings insects I had never seen in my life! Gardening has saved me from falling into despair during these lockdown and social isolation times, and I'm so grateful to have a little patch of soil to work on. Planting is an act of hopefulness, isn't it? Thank you for yet another incredibly inspiring (and educational) video.

[emmalouie]

I think the answer of not disturbing the bees is pretty simple. Section out the lawn into areas, quadrants or zones and convert one section at a time that way the bees can keep moving around the yard. I would go out there and rip up sections of lawn by hand and plant it. It would take a while but it would convert eventually.

[conniekeshet]

I once watched a video on planting native plants. There was a statistic on how many more creatures are found using the natives compared to imported plants. The gardener had done a whole survey counting bugs... and i cannt remember but there was no comparison. Bugs and creatures love native plants!!

[lesliekendall]

I wonder what Joel would say about how I'm establishing a cottage garden over my front lawn and that was to lay down cardboard (then soaked with the hose) with mulch on top to kill the grass underneath. Then when I was ready to sow wildflower seeds I covered the area with compost first. Then planting the perennials I move away a bit of the compost and mulch, stab holes in the rotting cardboard, and plant the perennial in the compost and mulch hole. This technique is used alot in the US and can be an instant change of a lawn area. I learned the technique from the permaculture guy in Australia, Geoff something.

[emkn]

We have a huge expanse of weedy, rough grass that was used for pasture briefly decades ago, but is never used otherwise, being on a slight slope. Last year we decided not to mow everything but a path around the exterior. So many asters and other wildflowers were already there, just waiting to come into bloom. It was lovely watching the grasses sway and seeing all the wildlife visit. I’ve been weeding out any invasive thugs I see while also planting spring bulbs and scarifying areas for seed sowing. This past fall I put down a bucket full of collected and purchased wildflower seeds in an effort to diversify what’s there. It’s far from picture perfect but it brings us joy, cuts down on needless mowing, and will be an enjoyable experimental project for years to come. I listened to a podcast by Margaret Roach (A Way To Garden) and was inspired to do as she did, and just stop mowing and let areas grow. We are in a rural area so even when our field looks a bit tattered, it’s right at home.

[paulinewqi]

Love a meadow of wildlife etc....am not a fan of manicured lawn...
Thanks so much to your guest J.Ashton, he shares very valuable and exciting information on starting a meadow....
Thanks so much for this video...enjoyed every minute of it.

[bredear]

I have always ignored your channel because I thought it was about boring roses and hostas. Then I saw your videos about meadow gardens, native plants, insects and I just love it! Thank you!

[joycee]

I’m so happy to hear that he does not advocate for chemical use. I love the idea of Using plants that are somewhat larger than plugs. Once those plants are established, they’ll spread and produce their own seed. Great video. Thanks for sharing.

[Bow-to-the-absurd]

Top tips for wildflower meadow.
As much sunlight as possible, open area, No shade

[debradykstra]

Love how your questions always get right to the heart of the matter for those of us learning new garden skills. 💚🌞🌱

[sherrybrown]

Thank you so much. I’ve been planning to turn over most of our woodland “lawn” to a wildflower meadow.

[chamrongnature]

Thanks you !!!
Great to see your channel, and thats really important your sharing.

[yvonnehall]

Real professional advice...that's what set you apart...So we can become more knowledgeable in this gardening skill we love so much. ...Think i'm going to try the container wild life. Something new for my brain and happiness...love your video . Thanks always

[coolwater]

Thank you so much Alexandra!
A topic so needed! Lots of Wildflower and native plants abound in our area. However, a lawn is also full of beneficial bugs, insects, worms etc.. we get lots of birds enjoying our lawned areas. Not big lawn. But critical for the children and grandchildren to run barefoot! Playing games, a kiddie pool and safe for feet.
It’s hard to play soccer with children in a wildflower meadow. So some lawn in necessary.
However, so agree that every yard big or small, should incorporate native/wildflowers in any area if possible- pots or corners of the yard.

We’re currently helping our grown children develop their 3 acres. First it was quite wooded, so leaving sufficient healthy trees a must! Then ridding of the alders that grow like 50’ weeds out here.

A family of Elk, deer, coyote, a few bears also traipse through often. Pictures can be provided!

They’ve got a good size meadow area, but heavy with dandelion/and tons of broom/blackberries!

We have our work cut out, but the guys do the big work, daughter and I starting veggie garden and hope to get wildflower area going too.
We’ve had unusually cold Spring weather, but it’s coming around now.

[Lyndseyde]

I used to feel so sad when the gardeners would mow away all the lovely flowers in the lawn at my flat. Thankfully I have my own little garden now so I can let them grow 🙂

[charlottalindgren]

I did just as you did and let my lawn grow up into a meadow. Now, after three years, it's one of the best things I've done. Large numbers of butterflies, bumblebees and not least birds love the meadow. What I also noticed is that the meadow is lush even in dry summers when the neighbors' lawns are brown and desert like. Good tips for planting slightly larger plants.

[DeborahChapin]

I've been using two other ideas over the past two or three years that have worked really well. I let my grasses grow long, but then I set pots into the area and leave the pots in place the pots then make the area below it baren and you can then plant into it a good size plant a gallon size plant and that plant will thrive. You can also put a large pot in a place then move the pot the following year and you've created a nice barren spot and you can move it around. It doesn't disturb all of the other things around it and it is a slow process, but I do think it works really well. For an area that I wanted to build a new border I lay a black plastic down and let that over winter. The wildlife use it as cover for a warm spot in the sun during the winter but then in the spring, the grass is completely killed in those spots. It hasn't disturbed anything around it, and I can dig into it and the earth worms have had a heyday.