How much does a wildflower meadow cost?

2 min read

wildflowers on a slope

There is something truly beautiful about a wildflower meadow. Whether it is in full bloom, gone to seed or covered in a crispy white haw frost, the beauty of Meadowmat wildflower turf is undeniable. Public parks, roundabouts, gardens and rooftops alike choose to sport Meadowmat Wildflower Turf or Enviromat Sedum Matting to help offset carbon and to support biodiversity.

But how do you plant wildflower turf? And how much does it cost to plant a wildflower meadow? Establishing one can be done in one of three ways. Each carries a different set of costs. We explain each of them in detail here so you can be well-informed when you start planting.

Three ways to grow a wildflower meadow

The first method of growing a wildflower meadow is by sowing wildflower seed. This is the cheapest way but is by far the most time-consuming and frustrating. Sometimes, it even leads to disappointing results, too.

Alternatively, setting plug plants gives you good control of the species used. But, depending on the species, buying individual plants may not come cheap. Plus, there is the extra time spent setting them one at a time and managing weeds until the plants are fully established. Plug plants may also come complete with pots and packaging that will need to be disposed of or recycled.

 

Buy wildflower seed Buy wildflower turf Wildflower_Plugs_Plants
Buy wildflower seed mixes Buy wildflower plugs and plants

 

While wildflower matting is admittedly more costly than seed and probably on a par with plug plants. But, you pay for the guarantee of getting plenty of plants per square metre. You are unrolling rather than planting too. So that should involve less time and an instant transformation. Not only that, but with low-nutrient soil any annual weed seeds lying dormant in the soil will be discouraged from germinating. So, provided you’ve prepared the ground properly, Meadowmat will require very little weeding.

 

Laying Meadowmat wildflower turf

Laying wildflower matting is easy and instant

Wildflower matting saves money in the long run

ProLandscaper Magazine has compared the cost of wildflower seed and wildflower turf in the past. They looked at the first 3 years of the life of a wildflower meadow. They based their costs on those that would apply to a large area cultivated and managed by professional landscapers. This meant the experiment would involve specialist equipment and access to selective herbicides to help them with weed control.

After 3 years, the cost of establishing and maintaining a seeded meadow was £21.20 per square metre, with an abysmal failure rate of 50%. The equivalent meadow, created using wildflower turf, totalled £15.10 per square metre and with a failure rate so small they didn’t bother with calculating it.

In your garden, you can decide whether to spend a little money or a lot of time establishing a wildflower meadow. But the option is there to let someone else do the initial seeding and weeding or for you or buy the pre-grown wildflower mats.

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