Forest of flowers..?

As the farmers are sowing next season’s crops, we’re busy sowing seeds too, but grass and wild flower seed rather than wheat and barley. At Heartwood we’re establishing a thick grass sward to help keep weeds down when the trees are planted. And in some of the open areas we’d like to establish wild flower meadows. There are different options, but this year we’re sowing over 20 species of wild flower – Kidney vetch and Black medic to name but two. They’re notoriously difficult to establish, but we’ll give it a go. Cornfield annuals such as Corn cockle and Poppy are also in the mix; hopefully a bit more guaranteed. The bees and butterflies should love them, and if they take to the chalky soils we might just be in for a display of colour at Heartwood that for once isn’t from the wood anemones or bluebells in Langley. So watch out for them in early summer, and keep your fingers crossed.