Take inspiration from a famous Cambridge lawn and develop a wildflower patch in your garden
You don’t need much outdoor space to develop a wildflower patch, which can make a real difference to wildlife in your garden.
Over the past few years, I’ve stopped mowing a small area around the plum tree near our chicken coop and have been sowing yellow rattle every autumn to weaken the grass.
A bale of meadow clippings from King's College Cambridge.
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Earlier this year, my parents went to a talk by the Head Gardener at King’s College Cambridge, Steve Coghill, about the wildflower meadow he has developed there.
They also came home with some treasure: two bales of meadow cuttings, full of wildflower seed. More on that later.
Pristine college lawn becomes wildflower meadow
In 2018, Head Gardener Steve convinced the King’s powers-that-be to turn over part of the immaculately mown lawn in front of the historic chapel (on the river side of the college) to a five-year programme of wildflower meadow.
Part of the Great Lawn became a meadow in 2020: the first time it hasn’t been mown since being laid in 1772.
I am always interested to hear what’s happening in the gardens and green spaces of the Cambridge colleges, and King’s in particular as I know Steve and the team there (I did my RHS Level 2 practical horticultural training at the King’s Fellows’ Garden back in 2018).
It has been great to witness this area’s transformation into a habitat that is beautiful and buzzing with diverse insect life.
Urban meadow gardens encourage bats
It’s not just insect species that have benefited. Dr Cicely Marshall has been monitoring the biodiversity of the meadow and has counted 8 species of bat there.
She says:
“We found that bats are foraging three times more often over the meadow than over the lawn. For species that might look for insects over several miles in a single evening, it’s incredible that our small meadow impacted their behaviour.”
Read more on the findings of the King’s meadow study.
Using Cambridge meadow hay in my own garden
Back in my more modest bit of meadow garden, my parents had delivered one of the bales of meadow cuttings from King’s.
So last weekend I dusted off my scythe to cut my meadow patch; the scythe was about as rusty as my technique. After cleaning, ‘peening’ and sharpening the blade I just about managed to cut that small area and was grateful that it wasn’t larger as my scything skills definitely need improvement.
Once the longer grass was cut, I was able to use the mower on it to get it really short and expose the soil for maximum seed germination (hopefully). With the grass cuttings raked off and composted, it was time to unroll Steve’s Cambridge meadow bale.
Unrolling the meadow bale.
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I could immediately spot plenty of wildflower heads full of seed, the cone-pick heads of wild carrot, the pepper-pot heads of poppies and the scaley seedheads of knapweed as well as the flat fat capsules of yellow rattle.
I’m going to leave the cuttings down for a while (I’m thinking 3-4 weeks to drop their seed but will keep an eye on them and may leave them longer if needed).
Our chickens were delighted with the new food source and are spending many happy hours pecking and scratching amongst the cuttings, and are doing a useful job of dispersing the seed in the process.
Thank you, Steve! I can’t wait to see what comes through next year…a little bit of King’s College, Cambridge in my own wildflower patch.
Use a meadow patch within your garden design
In late summer mow the grass as short as possible, removing all cuttings. Create gaps in the grass by raking (aiming for 50% bare soil). Remove perennial weeds like docks or thistles.
In Autumn sow a wildflower seed mixture, that is appropriate to your soil type and that contains yellow rattle. Yellow rattle is important as it is a semi-parasitic plant that will weaken the vigorous grasses and enable the more delicate wildflowers to emerge.
Continue to cut the patch once a year in late summer, using a scythe or strimmer. Leave the cuttings in place for 1-2 weeks to dry and shed seed and them remove them and compost.
My wildflower patch in its second year, yellow rattle flowering in the foreground.