Wildflowers for Water Quality
Want to create an aesthetically pleasing landscape while improving the health of your watershed? Wildflower meadows are a great alternative to lawns. They also provide excellent opportunities for storm water management, promoting groundwater infiltration, water quality treatment and flood control. Using native plants in a meadow helps to preserve native species and biodiversity, creating a habitat for wildlife. Meadows allow you to spend less time mowing, less time applying fertilizers and chemicals, and less time watering. This low maintenance structure helps protect local water bodies from pollution and chemicals.
Viewer Tip: To create a wildflower meadow, follow these tips:
- Site Selection. Choose a site that has good air movement, is sunny atleast six hours every day and has few weeds.
- Plant Selection. Choose a variety of species. A mix of graminoides and forbs is recommended. If you don’t create your own, buy a good quality seed mix.
- Site Preparation. Make sure there are absolutely no weeds or weed seeds before you plant your wildflowers.
- Sowing or Planting. You can sow for larger areas. For smaller areas, you may want to buy germinated small plants in “trays.”
Visit www.wildflowerfarm.com/index.php?p=page&page_id=MSM for more information on creating a wildflower meadow and tips on long-term management.
Seasons: Spring, Summer
(Sources: Philadelphia Water Department, http://www.delawareestuary.org/pdf/HomeownersGuideSWMgmnt.pdf; Wildflower Farm. “Wildflower Meadow Seeding & Management Procedures. http://www.wildflowerfarm.com/index.php?p=page&page_id=MSM)
