Koenrad van Merbeek, professor of ecology and nature conservation (KU Leuven), says May was not an ideal flower month. This is also the main reason why so few flowers are left in our lawns. “After all, plants need a certain amount of heat for the x number of days to bloom.”
Shear management can play a role as well. “Repeated mowing in any case produces very few flowers in the lawn, regardless of the temperature in May. There is a very simple reason for this: Grass is the only plant that can handle high mowing frequencies.
This is why Frederick Hussain, environmental gardening contractor and president of Vzw The Ministry of Nature, says grass is not a fair competitor to flowers in lawn. After all, for years people have strived to have the most dense grassy area possible, where it is impossible for weeds to thrive. Fertilizing gives lawn an unfair advantage, because weeds and flowers will always lose against grass in rich soil. Often times this will be caused by a limited supply of flowers.
Cold temperatures will one day be gone, Van Merbeek Paintings. “Don’t worry, the plants will still bloom anyway. In anticipation of a better rest, leave your lawn a bit undisturbed, it will be fine for the flowers that are there but haven’t yet bloomed.”
Houssin: It may of course be the case that flower seeds and herbs are simply not in your soil. Then you have to take care of it yourself, by planting the species-rich grass, or letting the wind and the birds do their job. Also, take care of your soil. Soil life plays an important role. Ants, for example, are a true seed dispersal. If you have healthy soil in which insects lay seeds and spread them all over the lawn, this will provide plenty of flowers.
Greet Tijskens, employee of Velt (Environmental Life & Horticulture Association) says it’s not hard to have a flower-filled garden. You have to do two things Not Do: fertilize and spray pesticides. Composting ensures the soil is very rich, which is detrimental to the flowers, Frederick says. You may not be polluting or spraying yourself, but it has often been done by the previous owners of your garden. You bear the consequences of that for a while.
Many people do not fertilize with additional fertilizers, but leave the lawn clippings. This also makes your soil rich, says Tijskens. “Very rich for flowers. You get the most beautiful flower meadows on very poor soil. There will always be five different types of flowers growing in rich soil. Compare that to poor soils, as they quickly grow to twenty.”
Tijskens says anyone who stops composting and spraying now is doing a good thing, and it might not notice much this year. You won’t record an actual flower meadow this year, but you will actually see a number of flowers appear. But be careful to cut fewer and get rid of your scraps. Your garden could be a lot hotter next year.
Koenrad van Merbeek, professor of ecology and nature conservation (KU Leuven), says May was not an ideal flower month. This is also the main reason why there are so few flowers on our lawns. “After all, plants need a certain amount of heat for x number of days to bloom.” Shear management can play a role as well. “Repeated mowing in any case produces very few flowers in the lawn, regardless of the temperature in May. There is a very simple reason for this: grass is the only plant that can handle high repeat mowing.” That’s why Frederick Hussain, contractor Ecological gardeners and the head of the non-profit organization Ministry of Nature, lawn is not a fair competitor for flowers in the garden. After all, people have sought for years to have the largest lawn area as dense as possible, where it is impossible for weeds to thrive. Fertilization gives grass an unfair advantage, because Grasses and flowers will always lose against grass in rich soil. Often times, this will be the reason why there is a limited supply of flowers. ”Cold temperatures will one day disappear, Van Meerbeek console. “Don’t worry, the plants will still bloom anyway. In anticipation of better comfort, leave your lawn a bit undisturbed, this will be fine for flowers that are present but not yet blooming. Houssin: It may be the case of course that flower seeds and herbs are simply not in your soil.” Then you have to take care of it yourself, by planting species-rich grass, or letting the wind and birds do their job. Also take care of your soil. Soil life plays an important role. Ants, for example, are a true seed dispersant. If you have healthy soils laying You have the insects seeds and you spread them all over the whole lawn, it will save a lot of flowers. ” It’s not hard to have a garden full of flowers, says Gret Tejskins, an employee at Velt. You don’t have to do two things: fertilize and spray pesticides. This composting results in very rich soil, which, Frederick says, harms the flowers. You may not be polluting or spraying yourself, but it has been done a lot by the previous owners of your garden. You bear the consequences for a while. With additional fertilizers, they leave mowed grass. This also makes your soil rich, says Tijskens. “Very rich for flowers. You get the most beautiful flower meadows on very poor soil. In rich soil, five different types of flowers will always grow. Compare that to poor soil, as it increases quickly to twenty. Anyone who stops fertilizing and spraying now does something.” Well, you might not notice a lot this year.You won’t record a true flower meadow this year, but you will actually see a number of flowers developing.But make sure you cut less and get rid of your cuttings.Your garden could be a lot hotter next year.
