Most of us dream of a splash of bright colour
in the garden through the summer but does this have to involve
a trip to the Garden Centre or growing your own bedding
plants? The answer to that question is ‘no’! Carefully
chosen annuals, sown in spring or autumn, can produce a
colourful wildlife-friendly patch with little work or
maintenance. Use a mixture of the annual wildflowers that
used to grace the edges of our arable fields in years gone by,
and you will please your local wildlife as well as yourself.
These annuals can be sown in the spring or in September - an
autumn sowing producing an early display of jewel-bright
intensity. They attract a huge range of beneficial insects,
some small mammals and a few of our seed eating birds as
well. In all, they enhance the wildlife garden greatly.
A cornfield area is not a meadow – a
common misconception - as it does not contain the range of
native grasses and perennial wildflowers that make up a meadow
habitat. However the seed can be sown in the same way -
scattered onto bare, weed-free soil and pressed in with the
feet. From an autumn sowing, flowering will begin in May and
will continue until August culminating in a sea of contrasting
golden seed heads in September. A mix of seeds can be
purchased from specialist growers, and will generally contain
field poppy, cornflower, corncockle, corn marigold and corn
chamomile. Some may have one or two other species including
heartsease or pheasants eye. Sown together in September they
provide a wonderfully colourful patch of wildflowers that will
bring many species of hoverfly and bumblebee, common blue
butterflies and even goldfinches into your garden.
Preparing for sowing
Prepare
an area of soil in full sun for these seeds. Unlike a
wildflower meadow, a cornfield area will be quite happy in
good soil, as there is no competition with grass. The plants
may flourish and achieve a greater size than they would in the
wild, but bigger brighter flowers in this instance look
fantastic. Sun however is important. Although some of the
species will grow in a little shade, they tend to flop and
make a less attractive feature and fewer insects will visit
them. The soil should be turned over, raked to a reasonable
tilth and perennial plants such as thistle, dandelions or
couch grass should be removed. All these ‘weeds’ are valuable
wildlife plants in their own right, but would be better
incorporated into a wilder patch elsewhere in the garden.
Annual weed seedlings will probably germinate, but this does
not really affect the finished result. The odd annual weed
here or there will probably provide seeds for a finch or two
and will not be noticed amongst the sea of colour your
cornfield will provide.
The seed should be mixed well before sowing as
the smaller of the seeds, especially the poppies, will have
dropped to the bottom of the packet. Sow at a rate of about
2g per square meter. This does not have to be exact; just
scatter the seed as evenly as possible over the area. It may
help to add a handful of silver sand to the seeds as this
makes it easier to distribute evenly. For a really
interesting effect, you could add a handful of an
old-fashioned barley or wheat variety at this stage. After
scattering walk over the area, carefully pushing the seeds
into the soil. This is important – you do not want to cover
the seed with soil, as many wildflowers need light to trigger
germination, so resist the temptation to rake the seed in. To
deter finches and sparrows (and there will be plenty of seeds
for them next summer) make sure your bird feeders are kept
well filled and hang a few old CDs if you still have some, tied to canes around the
area. These twist in the slightest breeze and the shiny
surfaces reflect light, making them effective
birdscarers. Once germination has begun the CDs can be
removed. Not all the species will germinate straight away.
Corncockle and cornflower will soon produce leaves, but poppy
and corn marigold will not usually appear until the following
spring. They require a period of cold weather before
germination can occur. By March the area will be full of tiny
seedlings and by June you will have a mass of red, blue, pink
and yellow to enjoy right through the summer.
Keeping your cornfield going
Maintenance
of this area could not be easier. Next September or October
when the seeds have set, pull out the dead stalks, and give
them a shake to ensure that the seeds fall back to the soil.
This not only distributes the seed, but also disturbs the soil
in much the same way as the plough would have done in the
past. Seeds that have fallen into cracks and crevices in the
soil will be brought up to the surface and exposed to the
light they need to trigger their germination, either
immediately or in a few months time. Any unwelcome weeds can
be removed at this time, but make sure you don’t fork over the
soil too much, as this will only bury the seeds again. These
wildflower species will continue to perform for an indefinite
period, but over time corncockle, an autumn germinator, may
come to dominate. By getting ahead in the autumn, it can
sometimes crowd out the spring germinators. This can be
remedied by selectively weeding out or hoeing corncockle
seedlings in small areas in October or February to give the
other species a chance.
Sowing an area of these native annuals now will
provide a colourful wildlife-attracting focal point for next
summer. The added bonus comes in future years as they
self-seed. Their continued presence allows populations of
dependant invertebrates to build up, greatly increasing the
numbers of invertebrates in your garden, as well as
providing you with a colourful focal point all through the
summer.
The
star line-up
Poppy - the
bright red corn poppy is familiar to all of us as it still
sometimes crops up in wheat fields, providing a welcome splash of colour
in the countryside. This usually happens when ploughing has
been deeper than usual, bringing long forgotten seeds to the
surface of the soil, where they burst into life in the
springtime. Poppies are excellent providers of pollen and
this flower attracts hoverflies and bees.
Corn Marigold -
The corn marigold is golden yellow and flowers right through
the summer well into September. It attracts solitary bees,
the smaller bumblebee species, pollen beetles and skipper
butterflies.
Cornflower -
Rarely seen in our countryside now, the pure bright blue
cornflower is the only plant to have a colour named after it.
Its old country name of ‘hurt-sickle’ implied that it was
thought to blunt the scythe during harvest. Smaller
butterflies, including the common blue, will visit the
cornflower for its nectar. When the seeds have set, they are
a favourite with goldfinches and greenfinches, providing
natural food for them through the autumn.
Corncockle -
Corncockle was eradicated from our fields as the seed is
poisonous. Never the less, it is a beautiful flower with
bright pink petals that fold up like an umbrella in low
light. Bees and the occasional butterfly will visit the
flowers.
Corn chamomile
- This little plant has tiny white daisy flowers which provide
the perfect backdrop to the other more colourful flowers in
the mix. It is a good pollen producer, attracting solitary
bees and hoverflies. |
