Native Meadow Grass Seed Only Mix

Our Native Meadow Grass Seed Only Mix are native wild grasses brush harvested from wild sites. This seed mix is suitable for hay meadows, orchards, open areas, verges, coastal area or gardens where the management regime is similar to that of a hay meadow or the grass can be mown occasionally or lightly grazed. This mix is can be sown as a starting mix before other wildflowers are sown or planted later. These seeds are to be sown in Spring to achieve a baseline of wild grass seed but can be sown from March to September. We recommend sowing yellow rattle in the Autumn if you wish to establish other wildflowers later.

All our seeds are true UK native British wildflowers harvested from sites across the UK, most within Cumbria and some from our own meadows. We work with several Wildlife Organisations and take wild seed from their Nature Reserves and other wildlife site, under a DEFRA permit.

By buying our plants/seeds you are supporting British based growers and suppliers who often work with local farmers-businesses. Please be aware some suppliers on the internet bring in plants/seed which are non-native imports and may not be true UK native plants/seeds. Whilst these may be cheaper, they may not be true UK native plants and may not be suited to our environment.

This product is priced per unit (1 gram of seed), and we have a minimum order of 10 units (10 grams) for this seed mix.

Our seed mix contains the following:

Wild Grasses - Sweet Vernal Grass-30%, Crested Dog's-tail-32.5%, Common Bent-12.5%, Meadow Foxtail-5%, Meadow Fescue-7.5%, Red Fescue-10% and Cock's foot-2.5%.

Native Wild Grass Seed Mix Seed - Suggested sowing rate in to bare soil 8g-15g per m2 and existing grassland 4g-8g per m2. This will depend on site conditions, example sowing onto bare soil would require higher sowing rate. This seed mix will do well on Neutral pH Soils from about 5.5 to 7. These grasses are all perennial and so will come back year on year. It takes time to establish a new species rich meadow and we suggest that you allow 3-5 years of time to put time in to manage the transition from a species poor sward to a species rich area.

Collecting 'Wild' Seed - Our seed is harvested straight from meadows across Cumbria/North England. We obtain permission from the landowner to harvest and these sites are usually SSSIs or wildlife sites. We use a brush harvester to collect the seed. Once the harvester is full, we turn out the seed on to sheets in the field to allow insects/invertebrates to leave to collected material. After this, the harvested material is bagged up and sent to our drying polytunnels. We air/sun dry the seed for 3-4 days in a polytunnel, turning the 'seed' twice a day. Once the seed is fully dried it is taken to the First Sieve Process. We use a Plot Combine/Thresher to take out 80% of the husk and stem. The 'seed' is then put through a Sieve Tumbler (2nd Sieve Process). Once at this stage the seed is ready for separation using our special seed separating machines. After this process the seed is about ready for sale/use. Please note this is a natural product and as such we do have a small amount of chaff (very small) in with the seed, but this in no way effects the seed quality or seed sowing. 

Management: These grasses form the baseline plants in a grassland that is managed as a hay meadow. The meadow needs at least one cut and clear of all the vegetation in the year, usually just after the plants have dropped their seed. With ALL orders we provide advice on soil preparation, sowing and after management. We can also provide specialist advice on a 3-5 year management plan.

Non-Native Grass Seed - If you are comparing seed prices, please note that if you find grass meadow seed much cheaper than our product it MAY have non-native grasses in the meadow mix. We recommend you check with the supplier because these grasses often have the same Latin Name BUT the non-native grasses are always agricultural varieties and these often grow much bigger than our native species. This could affect your restoration scheme in that these grasses are usually more aggressive and 'smoother' the colourful wildflowers.  

For orders over 5kg please contact us.