The Wildflower Meadow

Haven's Junk Yard has become the jewel of this gardens crown.

Fondly known as 'The Junk Yard', so named because all my left over seedlings from the Country Garden have been planted willy nilly here. Its a hot mix of perennials, annuals and weeds.

Death to all weeds

Getting up there with the weed eater was suicide.

This garden is located up on a hard to access steep slope next to the garage. Hard to get to and even harder to actively garden. Because of these impediments I confess I left this little bit of wildness to well, go wild. The grass went crazy and the weeds had a botanic orgy. Getting up there with the weed eater was suicide.

I knew I just couldn't leave it. It is in full view of the house and driveway. Like leaving a wound to fester, it would just get worse. Leaving weeds to just reproduce without intervention will allow them to spread to other areas of the garden. I had to do something and soon. In the spring of 2017 I got my weed spray on and killed everything. Then came the arduous task of ripping up all the dead waste. Initially I planned for it to be a beautiful wild flower meadow which would complement the country garden as they are in view of each other. So I diligently prepared the area according to my seed packet. Let the weeds germinate, killed those, sowed my wild flower seed mix and waited patiently. Soon little greens shoots appeared and I rejoiced for the coming spectacular. But not for long, very soon I identified exactly four, and only four, wild flower seedlings. The rest were bloody weeds! I tell you its times like these you want to toss your gumboots into the garden shed and give up.

Im a Fake

Perhaps I should have mentioned earlier that this, my friends, was my fourth attempt to grow a wild flower meadow. Ive only had very patchy success. The problem this time is that this site had generations of dormant weed seeds just waiting for this unsuspecting gardener to give them a chance at life. That and with the site been so steep most of the wild flower seeds were washed away with the spring rain. But I am determined if not stubborn to at least achieve the look of a quintessential meadow. So back to the drawing board. In the mean time I planted all my left overs from the country garden. This faux wild flower meadow is now a combination of perennials and annuals with a heavy sprinkling of weeds. Their days are numbered mind. The garden does have a lovely wild feeling about it. Its design is loose, carefree and not at all contrived. Something that the country garden lacks at the moment. Who knew that this would become my favorite spot. I should not be surprised they grow like mad here, it has all day sun, excellent drainage and the best soil of the entire garden.

Confessions

But for now I am more than happy to just fake it.

I am okay that this ended in failure. A true wild flower meadow is a mixture of annuals and grass which once it has flowered the show is over and you would still need to risk your neck trying to cut the grass up there. In truth, this type of garden would not suit this steep site. Access is just to tricky, wild flowers need to be resowed annually to achieve best results. One day I will for fill my girlish fantasy and have the quintessential meadow. But for now I am more than happy to just fake it.