Written by: Ashley Edwards
May is the garden’s turning point, the moment when borders are suddenly burgeoning with life. Fresh foliage unfurls in every shade of green, and early blooms fade, making way for bold, bright colours. Warmth is building, and with it comes a sense of promise. Pollinators return in earnest, birds become louder and busier, and the garden is a hive of activity. It’s a month that rewards attention, everyday there are changes afoot, so make sure to take a moment and delight in the changes.
Re-imagining your lawn
The traditional lawn, meticulously mown within an inch of its life, is labour intensive and a green desert for biodiversity. Reimagining our lawns, we can create habitat and food source for a broad range of creatures whilst introducing visual interest and diversity of plant species.
One of the simplest and most effective shifts you can make is introducing yellow rattle into the sward. Often called the ‘meadow maker’, this semi-parasitic annual feeds off vigorous grasses, weakening their dominance and creating space for wildflowers to establish. Sow it in early autumn, after cutting the grass short and scarifying to expose patches of soil. It needs contact with the earth to germinate. It can be a little fussy about where it likes to germinate, but come late spring, you’ll start to see its delicate yellow flowers threading through the grass, paving the way for a rich tapestry of wildflowers.
If you’re willing to be a little bolder, consider scraping away sections of turf entirely. You can start with small pockets in the lawn or strips next to pathways. These bare patches can be sown with annual wildflowers like cornflower, corn marigold, and field poppy. If sown in spring, you should have flowers the same year. Over time, you can collect seeds and expand your wildflower meadow. It’s worth keeping some areas of lawn bare, as this provides essential nesting sites for solitary bees.
There’s also room for your spent spring container bulbs. Planting crocus directly into the lawn is an investment in next spring’s awakening. Tuck them into the turf in autumn, naturalistically, in small drifts rather than neat rows, and come late winter, they’ll push through the grass. They flower before the lawn really gets going, so you can delay your first mow and allow them to die back before cutting.
For bees emerging from winter, these early blooms provide an essential nectar source. Once you’ve experienced the joy of seeing insects and birds visit your patch of vibrant wildflowers, you’ll never want to go back to those sad stripes.
