These meadow mixtures overcome many of the problems that are often associated with creating meadows from seed, such as unreliable germination, short flowering season, untidy appearance and the need to sow on low-fertility soils. They create sumptuous visual effects; they are formulated primarily for their harmonious and impressionistic colour associations, rather than attempting to copy the species compositions of meadows that might be found in the wild.
They inject drama into large scale commercial landscapes and create sparkling, complex and intricate pictures at the very smallest of scales. Providing a colourful, wildlife-friendly replacement for mown grass; or more formally in beds; or to provide colour between shrubs, trees and perennials. The mixtures have been used successfully in urban parks, private gardens, school grounds, play areas, urban highways, verges and roundabouts. Leeds City Council included a meadow mixture in their magnificent Gold Medal winning garden at the Chelsea Flower Show 2010.
These meadow mixtures contain native wild flowers and non-native garden plants, and are a product of more than one country. Most are therefore not suitable for conservation mixes for use in rural areas outside garden boundaries.
Sow these annual seed mixes in the spring – March, April, May – and they will produce superb colour displays within 8 weeks or so of sowing. Unlike other annual meadow mixtures, these mixtures are formulated so that as one species in the mix starts to die back it is replaced by another to give continuous displays from mid-summer through to late autumn. The suggested sowing rate is 2 - 3g per square metre.
