On the other half of our new meadow we are laying our latest product - Wildflower Turf. You may have seen Monty and the whole Gardeners World Team laying 12 metres of it on Gardeners World in September. Incidentally someone has written that they thought it was expensive in this weeks Radio Times, well all things are relative in my opinion. For example seeding the area is a fraction of the cost of turfing it, but on the other hand if you were to plant all the individual plants as plugs then that would be more expensive than turfing the area. Its horses for courses, turfing is so easy and so quick, and so....instant, I think its fantastic. In our area we will add some plugs of our favourite plants which aren't in the turf mix. At Berryfields on BBC Gardeners World they have planted lots of bulbs underneath, which not only will give early colour but will be a great Spring nectar source for Queen Bumblebees out of hibernation.
Laying the turf is easy, lay it staggered (like bricks) so that there are no visible lines and fold the edges into each other so that they butt up, not overlap and thats about it, except to make sure you water well.
The Wildflower Turf is completely sustainable, not only is it soiless so there is no damage to the fields but also the farmer has a system to recycle all the water run-off and reuse it.
This product has been used in a commercial setting for a couple of years now, motorway banks etc and we've now made it available in tiny quantities. We've used 12 rolls here at Blakemere and I'll update you on which side of the Wildflower Meadow is doing what and when here on this blog.