Wildflower patch

[Placestogo]

Hello, ive been trying for a couple of years to create a wildflower patch in my garden. Actially two…
1st one in semi-shade and very little water (because the sycamore is greedy!)
2nd one roughly in the middle of my garden, full sun and no water intensive trees nearby.

i keep buying those “pollinators friendly wildflower seeds” packets (amazon, ocado) but i am having no luck - what do you recommend? Im after a romantic “cottage” look for 2nd spot. I dont mind about 1st spot, i just want some flowers instead of long grass

Personally, I've never had any luck with the wild seed boxes. I'm sure someone in the know will be able to advise.

If it was me I'd be looking to plant perinnials such as lavender, various flowering sage, marguerites, alpines and suchlike. It'll look pretty and have a wild vibe to it as well. The bees and butterflies will love it. Have you got a B&M near you? Sometimes they have good bargains.

Are you starting off with grass or earth @Placestogo ? Sowing seed onto earth should give you a good display for the first year but it takes a bit of work to keep that going.

If starting on grass I would highly recommend getting some fresh (it'll work much better fresh than the prepacked generic seed companies) yellow rattle seed. Cut your grass as short as you can and rake the hell out of it to expose some earth. Scatter the rattle seed and leave it to do its magic. It germinated and has established well on my ground but not everyone finds it so easy. It needs some grass roots to feed off. It will eventually weaken the grass to make it easier for other plants to live.

As far as flowers go, I have found transplanting already established plants to be most successful. And bulbs.

Silene dioica has worked very (too!) well for me at the bottom of a sycamore. Also feverfew.

These guys sell seed and turf. We have boight seed before a couple of times and it worked really well.

I planted wildflower seeds a couple of years ago and the flowers are everywhere. I just left them to it and they have thrived . They seem to grow in the tiniest scrubbiest bit of soil .

OP, do you specifically want wildflowers, or just easy to grow plants that will attract insects and pollinators. I feel that a lot of people think wildflowers are easy, and it's not necessarily so.

You might be better off just putting in a few easy grow plants, ones with nice open flowers so that insects can get to the pollen. I good guide is at the supermarket or garden centre see which plants have insects buzzing round them and choose those.