"zxcvbob" wrote in message
...
Vox Humana wrote:

"David Hill" wrote in message
...

Turn this patch into a wild flower meadow, then just cut it once a year
after your flowers have set and dropped their seed.


Have you actually done this? I haven't seen anyone successfully turn an
area into a wild flower meadow. It seems that in a year or two you have
a
weed infested area that is dominated by one or two species. The
man-made
meadows that I have seen in botanical gardens seem to require a periodic
burn - something that most people can't or won't do. Without the burn,
the
meadow is just a stop on the way to reforestation. Weed trees, brush,
pokeweed, etc. all take their turn in the succession back to forest.



My employer, [deep pockets] put in a meadow, and it looked nice as long
as they burned it every 3 years. Now it looks like sh!t. It woulda
been better if they just left it mowed fescue and bluegrass and weeds.


That's exactly my point. The OP who now has weeds, berries, brush, etc, will
most likely have the same thing in a few years if he goes the wildflower
route. The same thing will happen with a well planned perennial bed. You
start with a nice mix of plants. If you don't manage the bed, you end up
with the entire thing choked with one or two aggressive plants. Then nasty
weeds like thistles will get established, and in my area, maple and locust
saplings will appear.