Planting advice for gardens

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If you are planting in flower beds, we suggest that plants are planted in groups of 3-5. This will insure good pollination between plants and help to create blocks of colour through out your beds. For wildflower lawns, plant plugs at 30cm distances and mix species to give the lawn a more natural feel. Plugs can be planted in your garden at any time of the year. However, they will need watering during dry spells until they are well established.

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Planting advice for meadow creation/restoration

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If you are planting to create or restore a meadow, we recommend planting 6-8 plants of a single species within a meter square. It is up to you to decide how many meter square blocks you plant, but for a good coverage we would suggest planting 400-1,000 meter square blocks (2,400 - 8,000 plants) per acre. This will allow the plants to establish and then spread out through good management (a single cut each year when they have set seed, preferably followed by grazing). Keep in mind the position of the plants within your meadow. Late flowering species that won't have set seed before you take a hay cut, such as Devil's-bit scabious and betony, are best placed in field margins and cut once they have finished flowering. It is best to plant plugs in meadows in September-October to reduce the need for watering and other care. They will then flower the following year.

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There are a few core rules to restoring a meadow. Firstly, it is important that you consider what species would be present in your meadow historically (based on soil type and species in surrounding areas) and only plant those species. It is also key that you recognise spaces that are already good for wildlife and aim to maintain those areas as they are, rather than just adding in extra species. "The right plant in the right place" is something we should all strive for, rather than "more plants everywhere." If in doubt, please drop us a message for some advice or contact a local expert (your local Wildlife Trust, for example).