Creating a new wildflower meadow in Totnes
Creating a New Wildflower Meadow in Totnes
Written by Kevin | Totnes Gardening
"A society grows great when old men plant trees in whose shade they shall never sit."
This week in Totnes, we are doing something special. We aren't just gardening; we are restoring a lost landscape. We are creating a brand new Wildflower Meadow.
Did you know that 97% of wildflower meadows have disappeared in Britain since 1945? That is a staggering loss of habitat for our pollinators, birds, and mammals. But the good news is, we can put them back—one garden at a time.
🚜 The Process: How we turn a field into a haven
Creating a meadow isn't just about throwing some seeds on the grass. As any horticulturalist will tell you, preparation is everything. If you just scatter seed onto a lawn, the aggressive grass will choke the flowers before they even germinate.
Here is how we are doing it properly on this project:
The Reset: We strip back the existing grass and weeds to create a clean, low-nutrient seedbed. (Wildflowers actually hate fertile soil—they thrive where life is tough!).
The Sowing: We hand-sow a bespoke mix of native seeds suited specifically to the South Devon climate, including Yellow Rattle (Rhinanthus minor) which helps suppress grass naturally.
The Tread: We rake the seed in and tread it down. Good soil contact is vital.
🤫 The "Quiet" Maintenance Secret
A lot of clients ask me: "Kevin, won't a meadow look messy? And how do we cut it?"
This is where my Quiet Gardening approach shines. A meadow only needs cutting once or twice a year (the "Hay Cut"). Because I use professional battery-powered tools, I can come in and perform this maintenance without the roar of a tractor or a petrol strimmer.
Wildlife Friendly: My quiet tools allow me to hear and see wildlife (like hedgehogs and slow worms) so I can work around them.
Neighbour Friendly: We get the job done without disturbing the peace of the valley.
🦋 Why Rewild Your Garden?
Rewilding is about more than just letting things go. It is an active, skilled process of Ecological Restoration. By turning even a small patch of your garden into a meadow, you are creating a "corridor" that links up with the wider Totnes countryside, allowing bees and butterflies to travel and feed.
Want to see the results?
Ready to bring the buzz back to your garden?
You don't need a large field to make a difference. I create mini-meadows in gardens of all sizes. Explore My Rewilding Services
