Wildflowers.ie

Wildflowers on Golf Courses

Wildflowers on Golf Courses.

Growing Wildflowers on Golf Courses
A list of the main golf courses in Ireland who use our wildflower seeds or grow Wildflower meadows
A meadow changes colour with the seasons
What does a meadow look like?
Growing Instruction: Natural succession

Growing Wildflowers on Golf Courses:
The placement of flora can be designed for and influenced by; boundaries, existing natural vegetation, new planting schemes and the 'rough'. 

The cost can be reduced if DBN are contacted by email early and before works commence.
Get advice before the design stage, carry out a flora survey, and specify to the design team that you wish to keep existing native flora, thus reducing cost.

If wildflowers are to be introduced then sowing is cost effective. There is no need to till or turn the soil, just make level and kill off the existing vegetation. Then sow and roll the seed into the surface. See growers manual for details. 

An ideal time to sow wildflowers is during improvements, where bare soil is exposed.
Do not delay, spray weed germination off, and sow as if seed can be sown before the weeds germinate the flora will get off to a great start.
Wild flowers are more difficult to establish in existing grass, however on golf courses the regular cutting may help this process, seek our advice and specialist mixtures.

Survey:
As mentioned many golf courses have existing flora, managing this should be the first consideration, Protect it. 
Survey and look for existing species, they may not be flowering at the time of the survey so keep a notebook handy to record all the wildlife on the course, after one year you will be surprised how many species can be recorded.
Check in 'out of the way places' and see what the local ecology is, are the existing species stable or in retreat? Such as in the shaded areas.
Can these areas be increased by raising awareness, training of staff, notices and if required, fencing off these areas, especially if they need help. Simple ideas like covering nearby ground with cut grass mulch generated elsewhere on the course can create areas for the spread of many species.  

3 simple questions: 

1. Are existing places in danger of change, for example, are wetland species in danger of being drained? Are woodland soils sheltered and shaded? Are meadows with flora, cut at the right time and managed to protect the flora.
2. Many golf courses have native orchids and other rare species, is there a management plan for these?
3. Is there a plan for invasive weeds, as well as fertiliser and herbicide use, what safeguards are there to avoid chemical use in flora and fauna rich special areas? 

A meadow changes colour with the seasons.
A meadow should be green all summer (even in drought) until just before it finishes flowering in mid or late summer (depending on mixture). 
It will then become golden yellow in colour and need to be cut back and cleaned up after flowering. The seeds will fall out 3-6 weeks after flowers fade.
In autumn, a meadow will reflect the seasons change as it recovers from its final cut. 
In wintertime, your meadow should remain a grassy. 
In the first two years it will have some bare patches, where seeds will germinate. Give it time to improve, if you feel it is too bare you can over sow it with wild grass. Use bent but no ryegrass, if you like the blazing colours of the annuals that grew in the first year create island beds for them in the meadow and rotavate these every autumn. Use Annual Mix No EC07, (seek advice).

What does a meadow look like?

  In the early years when you first sow your meadow it should grow to an even height with a blaze of colour, especially if you sow extra annuals. 

New meadows tend to flower in high summer for 12 weeks or more. Over time the meadow will have more species, flower for longer and at different heights but not in a single blaze. 

Older meadows are better viewed from close up. In older meadow the flora will be far more complex and interesting due to the diversity of species and range of colourful flowers.
Create a wildflower path through the meadow so you can see the flowers close up, cut the grass with a lawn mower and keep it very short. So there is work after all!

Wildflowers are functional plants, they can be used to benefit wildlife & stop erosion. Meadows are more than pretty they are ecosystems.

Growing Instruction: Natural succession
In the wild, meadows take years to evolve.  Wildflowers usually follow a clear succession in becoming a meadow.
The wildflower grower aims to regularly cut a meadow at least one or twice per year to halt the succession and spread of grasses, shrubs or even trees.

The secret of growing a great meadow falls to halting its natural succession just before the taller tougher grasses take over and the 'meadow starts thinking it's a forest'.
In nature, Annual species grow first, then Biennials flower in the second year.
Perennial herbaceous plants and fine grasses then succeed these.
In time in an uncut meadow taller tougher grass species arrive & kill the flora.
We must cut to control the spread of these grasses, as they cannot survive regular cutting. Annuals and Biennials die off and do not reappear unless they are species suited to growing in grassland.
Where (grass dependent species) semi-parasitic annual species of old hay meadows occur such as Bartsia, Eyebright, Loosewort or Yellow Rattle.  Yellow Rattle reduces the growth of grass and is essential to most meadows, it can be over sown into existing grassland and needs low temperatures to germinate. All the above species are disappearing in the wild. (Such species are supplied in mixtures, often with a host grass at 0.5% of total seed quantity, and may also be included in pure 100% wildflower mixtures). 

Address : Design By Nature, Crettyard, Co Laois, Via Carlow PO, Ireland. 

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