(sahara) wrote in
om:

last
night that I exci (as suggested on this list
earlier last year) as well as some bee flowers mix from chiltern seeds
(for the bees that will hopefully be nesting in my new bee nest box).
Today, in the cold light of dawn I am having doubts. Will my
wildflowers be weedy thtedly ordered some meadow mix, primroses, red
campion and the like from www.wildflowersuk.comugs that will make my
neighbours hate me and rampage over my smallish terrace garden? Have I
done the wrong thing??

Well, it would be sad if everyone's garden was the same. :-)

It's unlikely that your neighbours will hate you for planting
wildflowers, though do be prepared for them to look down their noses:
some people just can't see beyond petunias - their loss!

If you bought teasels or ox-eye daisies, I would advise some caution.
Teasels are gorgeous, but they do seed like mad, get quite big, and not
everyone likes them (I do though!).

Ox-eyes can get to a couple of feet, and will muscle your grass out of
the way: I think they look sensational in long grass myself but don't
put them right on the edge where they will flop over and get in the way,
and don't expect to mow a lawn with ox-eye daisies in it more than a few
times a year. It won't be a lawn in the conventional sense.

If you're planting buttercups, it would be polite to make sure they
can't send runners through into any immaculate next-door lawns if you
can, because they do like to run and run.

I can't see anyone complaining about primroses or cowslips, and they do
well in lawns, though you will have to mow from time to time or they
will be lost. Campion is quite a tall plant for a lawn though - nice,
but it will shade out the primroses if you let the lawn grow that tall.

NB that you can't just sow meadow mix seed onto an established lawn -
only the biggest thugs will survive that.

Something I like to plant into longer grass that I think looks
sensational are camassia bulbs. They make long grass look really
special, and flower in midsummer when a lot of other things are going
over.

Oh, and I don't know if you got any tufted vetch, but that is well worth
the effort. I grow it in my flowerbeds: it's far too gorgeous for the
wild garden.

Victoria

--
gardening on a north-facing hill
in South-East Cornwall
--