Italian gardens are known for their formality and symmetry and therefore wild flower meadows have been largely ignored by garden designers in Italy. However, beyond the Italian formal gardens, so typical of Renaissance Italy, one can find areas of long grass that hold the secret to ecological gardening in Italy.
Poppies, cornflowers, wild onions and garlic can be found growing happily alongside culinary and medicinal plants like thyme and helichrysum in the glorious italian wild flower meadow.
Any grass that is allowed to grow longer will yield some amazing treasures but grassland that has been treated with the ecologica garden system, like the wild flower meadows in this series of photographs, will explode into an array of spectacular colours that sustain an incredible biodiversity and all without having to apply seed, fertiliser or water!
Italian wild flower meadows were first developed to create fodder for farm animals and the richer the varieties of wild flowers, the richer the nutrient value of the fodder. Therefore, to this day, some incredible wild flower meadows can still be found on the edges of cornfields and other uncultivated areas. However, wild flower meadows can now be re-created in large gardens in order to reduce maintenance, increase colour and benefit the environment.
Many varieties of bird, butterfly and mammals depend on these rich ecosystems to find food and shelter and by creating an italian wild flower meadow we can not only help nature but also ourselves.
The hay can be harvested just three, twice or even just once a year to create top quality compost or can be applied as a natural mulch that can help reduce water consumption by a massive 80% while reducing labor costs at the same time.