BEAUTIFUL wildflower meadows have been admired by hundreds of people across Bournemouth, Poole, Christchurch and further afield this summer.

Vivid colours from the mass of blooms have all drawn comments from visitors and residents, with councils praised for their work on brightening up verges, roundabouts and roadsides.

Barry Webber, tree and landscape officer from Christchurch and East Dorset Councils has offered some advice to people wanting to recreate their own meadow.

1) Ground preparation - clear all weeds, best using a herbicide which you should be able to get from your local

garden centre and follow manufacturers instruction. Avoid wet and windy days for best results.

2) Clear surface of dead vegetation after allowing 10 days or what is recommended for herbicide to activate.

3) Turn over the soil, break down to fine tilth, choose a dry day for this, rake and create firm surface, lightly rake

4) Sow seed, only need low rates something like 3 to 10 grams a metre square should be more than adequate. You can mark out square meter area and weigh out the grams using a scale to give you a guide at the correct

quantity.

5) Let mother nature do her bit

All this should be planned prior to spring so that you can begin the process as soon as the early spring comes and weather is appropriate.

Sow April/May time so that as the soil begins to warm up the seed, rain will begin to germinate and beat those pesky weeds that are so competitive.

You may find that there are some unwelcome weeds within the display just pull these out and enjoy a summer of colour with the insect activity.

Choosing the seed mix can be simple enough with so many companies out there that do that work for you. The idea is to have a succession of flowering rather than one variety.

Annuals tend to have a brighter display but by including some perennials you can be sure that you will get some show the following year if the annuals don’t self seed.