Natural looking plants to put in un-mown grass

[ElspethTassione]

Hello Gardeners of Mumsnet

I'm an experienced gardener but have recently moved into a new build and have much less time for gardening due to job and aged parents.

Instead of having what you might think of as the standard 'herbaceous border' I'm planning to just let the grass grow long round the edges of the garden to soften it and encourage some insects and birds.

My question is, what herbaceous plants can I grow within the long grass without it looking silly? For example you might have a patch of nettles and that would look 'right' in a wild kind of grass area. However, though I'd like some nettles I don't want them to spread to my neighbours. What sort of things could I plant instead that might look at home in longish grass with a wild-y kind of feel?

I've already got some ox eye daisies and some salad burnett but looking for other suggestions. I've got areas in full sun and some in dappled shade. I'm gardening on dryish soil which is a little chalky.

I'd love to hear your thoughts!

Might sound silly but some more grass? Ornamental ones, spiky, different heights, that kind of thing.

Rudbeckia? I had some in a wilder part of my allotment.

Foxgloves, add some yellow rattle to weaken the grass a bit, cow parsley,

Clover, buttercup, dandelion - though these may appear on their own!
Id suggest checking the wild flower seed or plant section of your local garden centres.
Options could be lady’s bedstraw, yellow rattle, poppy, borage, cowslips, primrose, campion, dead-nettle, thyme & sage.

Are there any nature reserves near you with a wildflower guide/walk for inspiration? Native orchids, marjoram, vetch, birds foot trefoil, cowslip, and scabious can all be more natural looking rather than a basic wildlife friendly garden seed mix. They all do well on chalky dry soil.

As it's a new build, is the soil actually decent quality - not just a thin top layer with rubble underneath?

We have a lot of fleabane, self-heal, bird's foot trefoil as well as celendine, primrose, violet etc. DH is a butterfly nutter, so it only gets paths mown in it until the autumn. I have been trying to get yellow rattle to grow - no luck so far but it's known to be difficult to get started.
However our soil is heavy clay!

I think you may find wildflower meadows and 'prairie planting' suits this style you're after with longer grass. Gaura, stipa grass, carex, echinacea, sidalcea, hakonechloa macra, pennisetum, pampas grass are some examples.

The soil in new builds is notoriously poor quality so you may have to add some decent compost and manure before planting anything into it, and the amount of sun your garden gets will also have an impact on what will grow well.

Fox and cubs

Poppies, ox-eye daisies, purple toadflax.

I've never had much luck growing wild flowers where there is already grass, because the grass just drowns everything else out and it doesn't establish. Do you already have grass? Might be best to start with bare soil and sow a mix of meadow stuff, with ornamental grasses around it?

Mind you, might just be me/bad luck on my part!

Does this video on Veddw House Garden give you ideas? They are wet Wales, in contrast to your dry chalk, but thug-plants tend to flourish in a lot of different locations.

Camassia