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san grono istandconsultantin orticulture ha e eenin ol edin thehealthandprofitabilityofgrowing andnurturingplantssince 99 . ach onth will e ringingyouuseful andinterestingtopicsin relationtothe ardenseason. nterspersedwith uicy facts regardingsoillifeanditssy iotic relationshipwiththeplantswegrow.

InmyfirstarticlebackinNovember uningintothelife eneathourfeet discussedthefascinatingworldofsoil iologyandthesy iotic relationship etweensoilandplants. hereis uch e idenceindicatingthelossofournati e plantsinthe eingduetotheloss ofNativesoilbiology,andinturnweare losingournati epollinators.

tis asadfactthatournati epollinators areindecline asareournati e irds mothsandbutterflies.Thisisan e pandingecologicalcala ity. fyou ha eanylandunderyourcareperhaps weshouldconsider re wildingandgi ing so eofthatspace acktonature. anygardenersandindeed anyof y clientsha e recognised andunderstand theneedtoencouragewildlife ackinto theirho espaceandenhance theirgarden. n y ece erarticlewelookedat weedsanddiscussedthe anyways gardenersandgrowers iewthese wonderfulhealersofthesoil. heword weedca efro the nglo a on word eod which eans littleher ifher sareintendedforhealing we shouldlookatweedsashealersofthe soil. o eoftheseareco onlycalled weedsandothersarecalledwildflowers. Theymaybeweedsbyonedefinition and eauty yanother. oasweheadinto anewyearandif westandonourtiptoeswecanal ost seespring. etusdiscusswildflower eadowsandhowtoesta lisha eadowinyourgarden. rowinga wildflowermeadowinyourgarden areacan e atrulysatisfyingwayof attractingwildlife eautifultolookat andyoudon tnecessarilyneeda largegarden. s a lis i a ild o ado hilstautu nistheidealti etosow a eadow earlyspringisalso agreat ti e. irstlyit si portanttounderstand afewprinciples. n y anyyears e perience Ihavefoundwildflower andweedspecieslikepoorsoils soif youha e awellfertilisedorfertilesoil youwillstruggle. fyouha eanacid soilthiswillalso e apro le . any growerswilltellyouwildflowersdon’t likenitrogen. heydon tlikenitrogenin a oniu for roughta out yhigh fungicountsin oreacidicsoil. cid soilstendto e orefungaldo inant ildflowersandweedspecieslike nitratessoifyouha e achalkysoil you reinthe allpark. fyou read y ece erarticle discussedplant succession. ild lowerandweedtype plantsareearlysuccessionandprefer poorsoilthatis acterialdo inant. wildflowerstobecomeestablished.The estapproachwould eto re o ethe turfwith aturfcutteror yhand. hisis la ourintensi esoanalternati ewould etoscarifythewholeareaand re o e pocketsofturf a outones uare metreeach,sowaroundfivegramsper s uare etreandgraduallyesta lishthe eadow. ellow attle inanthus inor isthe agicingredientasitisparasitic to anycoursegrassspecies. o ake sureyouha ethisinyourseed i and thefreshertheseedsthe etter. nother trickistouse alittlesandorcheap catlitterinthepocketsofturfyou ha e re o ed. s ellow attle eco esesta lished thecoursegrasseswillthinoutallowing otherplantslike etches orn lower irds oottrefoil ye aisy ild arrot ady s edstrawand arrow totakehold. ouwill ea a edat allthespeciesdi ersitynow isiting yourgarden. easandbutterflies, grasshoppers,birdsandbatsflyingover onsu ere enings. fyou dliketolearn orea outsoil iology andhowwecanhelpyou establish awildflowermeadowbring thendocontactustofindoutaboutour uni ueapproachandser ices. A . simpsonhorticulture@gmail.com greatruleofthu istoworkout howwecancreate apoorsoil. y introducingthetypeof iologyinthe for of acterialco postteaisa greatwaytostart. fyoursoilisacidic asoiltestanda end enttosweeten thesoilandraisethepHisbeneficial. gain itisi portanttounderstand wildflowerslikepoorinfertilesoilsand anygrassedareasaretoofertilefor