Restoration planting

[88V8]

I intend to replant about half a mile of grass / wildflower verge and bank in our lane that has been butchered by cable laying.

Apart from the ruined visuals, during winter, water pours down the lane and the bare earth will be washed away.

I am thinking to use a foundation of grass plugs, plus grass seed and some odd wild flowers, plus some spring bulbs. Eventually, the usual weeds can take over.

Anyone done this?

As a starter, where could I get 5,000 grass plugs? They seem generally available in the US, but not over here.
Calls to local garden centres are not currently answered.

V8

[vrdiver]

I've seen a few gardeners / landscape gardeners locally laying turf. You could see if any local to you have any turf available (or a recommended supplier) and then cut it with a spade to suit your desired plug dimensions (yes, a bit more effort, so don't know whether that's feasible for your project).
We did some restorative planting 15 years ago (roughly) around the edges of a woodland pond. Despite selecting supposedly appropriate species and getting local expertise in, nothing remains and everything has reverted back to the more vigorous "weeds". If you go ahead, be prepared for the annual Maintenance that it might require to ensure your chosen plants establish themselves properly before having to compete with the locals!

VRD

[sg31]

Might I ask why you don't just go for seed?

It's got more chance of getting going than turf and much cheaper than plugs if they are available.

You can buy wildflower seeds and grass/wildflower seed mixes from various companies. This one will give you an idea of what is available.

https://www.bostonseeds.com/products/wi ... tures-100/

[tikunetih]

As per sg31, just use seed. I've seeded a bunch of grassy areas from scratch over the past few years, including some verge that had been wrecked in the manner described by the OP. It's a doddle to do, inexpensive, and delivers results pretty fast.

Probably wait until late August/September-ish now, unless you are able to manually water the seeded area in case of lack of rain.

A neighbour is sowing a bit of meadow using seed mixes from this place:
https://www.meadowmania.co.uk/

They've a bunch of guides for sewing various stuff, so perhaps worth a look.

For larger quantities of grass seed, this place may be useful - I had good service from them just recently:
https://www.amenity.co.uk/shop/grass-seed/index.html

[88V8]

Thankyou.
Seeding does look a better bet.
ALS have a grass/flower shade mix that could be ideal. https://www.amenity.co.uk/shop/hedgerow ... shade.html

Just the watering to deal with. May need to buy a bowser.

V8

[sg31]

You might be better waiting for August before seeding. In theory we are comming up to the drier,hotter moinths of the year, you may find the newly sprouted grass shrivels up and dies.

It really is difficult to water new sown grass in dry weather. If you water heavily you might disturb the germinated seeds and kill them, ungerminated seed gets washed into some areas and out of others. On the other hand you water lightly and the water evaporates off the surface.

You might get lucky and get away with it but just be aware of the risk. I've got to seed a new lawn area which will take 40-60kg of seed, I'm going to wait.