Tips and varieties for an excellent flowery lawn

Among the various alternatives to the traditional lawn, you can set up a flowery lawn in your garden: it is a much more colorful and fragrant solution, thanks to the fact that the turf is dotted more or less abundantly of flowers. 

Creating a flowery lawn is extremely easy, as it is enough to sow one of the special seed mixtures that have appeared on the market for some years. While in Italy this creation of gardens is a fairly recent novelty, in Northern Europe it is a solution that has been widespread for decades.

The flowery lawn is put in place with DIY without problems: the only trick is to know how to choose the right plants that compose it in an appropriate and creative way. The factors on which the decision is based are many, first of all, the height that the plants have, once they have developed, and also their flowering period.

In addition, you have the possibility to choose between walkable flowery lawns and non walkable: the difference is given by the size of the plants: non walkable lawns are the most common and are characterized by the fact that the flowering species have a variable height of 30-70 cm. It is preferable to opt for native plants : in this way not only is the local biodiversity maintained, but it is necessary to irrigate only during the sprouting period and in case of any drought.

In fact, these plants survive alone and are suitable for any type of exposure, soil and climate.

Flowering usually occurs from early spring to mid-summer. A flowering lawn also lasts 5-6 years, then it is necessary to sow it again, so that the plants are of higher quality; it is cut 1-2 times a year.

How to grow a flowery lawn

To sow the flowery lawn it is first necessary to prepare the soil : first of all, a milling is carried out a few weeks before sowing.

Then all the weeds and debris present are eliminated: the tillage must be completed by August if we decide to develop an autumn sowing. In the case of a spring sowing, the soil must be ready by February. At this point it is necessary to fertilize the area destined to the flowery lawn, using products with a higher content of phosphorus than nitrogen and potassium, so as to favor the development of the seeds.

We recommend dark peat, mature manure or peat soil. Then with a roller the soil is compacted in such a way that the seeds cannot escape and then you move on to spreading the elements, following the instructions on the package regarding the quantities. Generally a seed spreading machine is used for large surfaces and manual distribution for small ones.

This phase is followed by the raking of the soil and a second rolling. To favor the development of the seedlings, the soil must be irrigated frequently with light jets until it enters the sprouting phase: in this way water stagnation and the accumulation of humidity are avoided. When the flowery lawn has reached a height of at least 10 cm, it can be cut for the first time.

Recommended varieties

A flowery lawn is composed of a mixture of seeds of different species : for example, graminaceae (the herbaceous plants that form the classic lawns and which have great resistance even to difficult climatic conditions) are joined by others species with dashing blooms

Amongst these, there are daisies, Aster dumosus, cornflower, poppies and Arundinaria japonica. On the market there are mixtures for flowery lawns more or less cheap: the most common and least expensive ones are made up of a mix of spontaneous flower species. Particularly, there can be cornflowers, Illyrian ambrette, zolfino rennet, meadow sage and common daisy, so as to have blooms distributed at different times always very colorful and spectacular.

Moreover, these spontaneous species create a truly welcoming environment capable of attracting many butterflies.

Alternatively, there are several companies in Italy that allow you to have customized mixtures of seeds: in this way you will have a flowery meadow that perfectly meets your needs and taste. It is also possible to use a service that allows you to vary the percentages of seeds contained.