On Sat, 14 May 2005 17:28:10 +0000 (UTC), "Steve -
www.ukspeedtraps.co.uk" wrote:

Hi

A word of advice wanted please.

I have just re-laid a lawn with turf and part of the area is a partly
created and partly natural bank. We have decided to allow the bank to go to
meadow for ease of mowing and also because we have added a 8ft sleeper
sticking out of the ground where we have covered it in bird feeders etc.

We have planted in seed trays, foxglove, poppy, ox eye daisy, cowslip,
primrose and other natural flowers that we plan to plant as plugs later in
the year.

One thing I want to also add is buttercup and the smaller daisy you see in
lawns and also another area towards the bottom of the garden we would like
to add nettles and doc.

The question is would we be breaking the any laws if we wereto find a spot
by the side of the road where nettles, daisy and buttercups grow and dig up
some of the plants to transplant into our bank and the patch at the bottom
of the garden to give it a head start.

Any advice welcome please.

Thanks
Steve

You might need to consider location and growing conditions for these
wild plants. It's better if you can reproduce, as far as possible,
the natural habitat - and they'll grow better. Foxgloves are a
woodland plant and like damp soil with some shade. Poppies like it
fairly hot and dry. Buttercups prefer it quite wet and can be rampant,
spreading via rootlets and being difficult to control. Nettles like a
rich deep soil and plenty of moisture - hence their liking for ditches
and stream banks - for the proper lush growth. If conditions aren't
suitable they'll be scrawny without the deep green colour. Docks tend
to grow in thin poor soils. Although by repute you'll find them near
nettles (as the antidote for the stings!) they don't grow in intimate
association with them.

I think you can buy meadow seed mixtures for direct sowing which
include grasses and the common wild flowers.