Soldato
- Joined
- 16 Aug 2009
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- 7,778
Thats certainly true for daffodils but bluebells don't plant too deep
Wild flower garden - first attempt
- Thread starter 413x
- Start date
Soldato
Bluebell bulbs are tiny, planted some last week, even planting them 3x deeper they were barely under the soil
Soldato
Makes it easier to plant them "in the green", then you get the depth right.
Soldato
2nd year for the Wildflower area and its already streaks ahead of last year in growth Snowdrops have been and gone but the Bluebells are still to flower:
Got a fair bit of self-heal (I think) growing mostly in that right hand front corner at the fence (purple cone type flowers when they come):
A couple of Cowslip have opened up. This one is in deep shade as well so its done well considering!!:
I kept some seed back from the overseeding I did in October with a view to putting them in seed trays inside and then using them to fill in any bare spots as there are a couple particularly towards the left hand side:
I have no idea what the ones with the bigger flat leaves are so that will be interesting
. The thinner long leaved ones are corn cockle.
The good news is very little grass has appeared which can crowd out wildflowers... That area of the garden always struggled with grass as its at the bottom of a South facing garden with a big fence so not huge amounts of light.
Be good to see how it develops in year 2... Not expecting full thick growth and variation throughout until about year 4 but its going well so far. I may move some of the self heal on the right over to the left as there is a fair bit of it in one area.
Got a fair bit of self-heal (I think) growing mostly in that right hand front corner at the fence (purple cone type flowers when they come):
A couple of Cowslip have opened up. This one is in deep shade as well so its done well considering!!:
I kept some seed back from the overseeding I did in October with a view to putting them in seed trays inside and then using them to fill in any bare spots as there are a couple particularly towards the left hand side:
I have no idea what the ones with the bigger flat leaves are so that will be interesting
. The thinner long leaved ones are corn cockle.The good news is very little grass has appeared which can crowd out wildflowers... That area of the garden always struggled with grass as its at the bottom of a South facing garden with a big fence so not huge amounts of light.
Be good to see how it develops in year 2... Not expecting full thick growth and variation throughout until about year 4 but its going well so far. I may move some of the self heal on the right over to the left as there is a fair bit of it in one area.
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Associate
Love a bluebell. All looks lovely. A true credit to your hard work
Soldato
Cheers. It's still a work in progress... Should hopefully be well established by year 4 (Summer 2026).
It's certainly educated me to the fact that gardens need time to properly develop and establish to the point of being self sufficient (with some minor pruning/care) rather than the "I want it to look like an Instagram image now!!" attitude.
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Soldato
So I went ahead and transplanted the seedlings from a couple of posts up (the size difference is amazing). These were all grown from seed in my kitchen.
This Wildflower area is only in its 2nd year now and was planted purely from seed (well apart from the Kilmarnock Willow tree). I had some bare patches in the Wildflower area where seed, for some reason or another, didn't really take last year so the new seedlings were planted in the areas where it was a little bare (see bottom pic showing right hand side which is DEFINTELY not bare)
Corn Cockle (looking a little sorry for themselves during transplant and watering in but should hopefully recover) - about 5 different locations of a couple of plants each
THIS - 2 of these which I have no idea what they are as I didn't label anything
.... Will need to see what flowers come out
Bluebells are coming out... I planted about 5 bundles spread around last year so they can spread over the next few years. Also planted that seedling at the bottom of the first bluebell pic... Again, I have no idea what it is
So it turns out that the large amount of plants I thought might be Self Heal is actually Red Campion... I forgot I sowed it as it didn't come out last year.... Its certainly making up for it this year though
All in, I planted about 24 seedlings. Some were individual and others were in small groups of 2 or 3. Fingers crossed they will settle in and continue growing
It will also be interesting to see what else comes out this year given that the Red Campion took a full year before it started showing.... Some Wildflowers are like that though.
This Wildflower area is only in its 2nd year now and was planted purely from seed (well apart from the Kilmarnock Willow tree). I had some bare patches in the Wildflower area where seed, for some reason or another, didn't really take last year so the new seedlings were planted in the areas where it was a little bare (see bottom pic showing right hand side which is DEFINTELY not bare
)Corn Cockle (looking a little sorry for themselves during transplant and watering in but should hopefully recover) - about 5 different locations of a couple of plants each
THIS - 2 of these which I have no idea what they are as I didn't label anything
.... Will need to see what flowers come out
Bluebells are coming out... I planted about 5 bundles spread around last year so they can spread over the next few years. Also planted that seedling at the bottom of the first bluebell pic... Again, I have no idea what it is
So it turns out that the large amount of plants I thought might be Self Heal is actually Red Campion... I forgot I sowed it as it didn't come out last year.... Its certainly making up for it this year though
All in, I planted about 24 seedlings. Some were individual and others were in small groups of 2 or 3. Fingers crossed they will settle in and continue growing
It will also be interesting to see what else comes out this year given that the Red Campion took a full year before it started showing.... Some Wildflowers are like that though.
Associate
All that hard work is definitely paying off as it's looking lovely.
Soldato
What a difference a week makes... I may have to thin out the Red Campion at some point. It certainly loves this location 
Left side is a little sparse in comparison so concentrating any transplanting into this area. I am thinking that next year it will be pretty dense all over. The difference between year 1 and year 2 (this year) is crazy.
You should be able to make out:
Red Campion
Bluebells
Bulbous Buttercup (I remove any creeping I find)
Common Sorrell
Cowslip (yellow plant right at the back in the centre)
There are others but I dont know what they are yet
CLICK on the images and you can zoom right in and scroll around
Left side is a little sparse in comparison so concentrating any transplanting into this area. I am thinking that next year it will be pretty dense all over. The difference between year 1 and year 2 (this year) is crazy.
You should be able to make out:
Red Campion
Bluebells
Bulbous Buttercup (I remove any creeping I find)
Common Sorrell
Cowslip (yellow plant right at the back in the centre)
There are others but I dont know what they are yet
CLICK on the images and you can zoom right in and scroll around
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Soldato
- Joined
- 16 Aug 2009
- Posts
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Campion loves damp slightly shady places it grows naturally in damp woodland and is quite prolific where it grows but never a nuisance, lovely plant. Cowslips too they'll thread themselves through the lawn given a chance
In case you'd rather wait till they come out:
THIS - 2 of these which I have no idea what they are as I didn't label anything.... Will need to see what flowers come out
In case you'd rather wait till they come out:
Common Mallow Malva Sylvestris
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Man of Honour
- Joined
- 21 Nov 2004
- Posts
- 45,168
Yup, used to have loads of it growing in our woodland as a kid. Lovely plant.
Soldato
This will be the reason then. That's a damp shady area there although gets sun a little which is why I chose the are as grass just died all the time as it was just a very wet bit.
Its why the Kilmarnock Willow has done so well and it has also helped the surrounding ground by sucking up all the water
Only see a couple of cowslips but they are at the very back so quite a bit away from the lawn. If I spot any "weeds" in the lawn (and by that I mean wildflowers I want, not weeds I dont e.g. dock etc), I now dig them out and transplant them into the wildflower area.
Cheers for that. I looked at my wildflower seeds last year just now and I did order some. Should give a nice little bit of purple in there when they come out... They grow some big leaves and are quick growing as well once they get going
2nd year for the Wildflower area and its already streaks ahead of last year in growth Snowdrops have been and gone but the Bluebells are still to flower:
Got a fair bit of self-heal (I think) growing mostly in that right hand front corner at the fence (purple cone type flowers when they come):
What kind of tree is that?
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Soldato
Kilmarnock Willow - its a dwarf weeping willow.
Started out like this a couple of years ago (ignore the fact its planted in the pot, I was just trying it out in places before planting it properly):
But, as you can see, it loves that area and has grown a fair bit
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Soldato
Anyone want to help identify this... I am sure (hoping) it's not Mares Tail ... It's not r.growing vertically, more kind of low growing out the way
@Blackjack Davy ?
... It's not r.growing vertically, more kind of low growing out the way@Blackjack Davy ?
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Soldato
I read the rhizomes of Mares Tail can be upto 2m deep!! Hell of a stuff albeit I seem to see it isolated to pushing through tarmac paths around here
Soldato
- Joined
- 16 Aug 2009
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- 7,778
Thin seed pods that explode when they're full grown? Rosettes of tiny leaves? Hairy bittercress it seeds itself prolifically its not a pernicious weed like ground elder or mares tail though its more a bit of a nuisance than a nightmare, another name for it is pingweed because of its habit of ripe seed pods pinging seeds in all directions up to a metre away!Anyone want to help identify this... I am sure (hoping) it's not Mares Tail
@Blackjack Davy ?
Bittercress / RHS Gardening
Hairy bittercress and wavy bittercress are low-growing plants native to the UK. They provide food for garden wildlife but, because bittercresses self-seed prolifically, there are times when you may want to remove them from areas of your garden.
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