We deliver measurable nature-positive impacts in urban landscapes
We create beautiful native wildflower meadows,
using species from endangered grassy ecosystems
About Melbourne Meadows
Our Philosophy
Our Philosophy
Our Philosophy
We believe native wildflower meadows provide beauty and biodiversity, resilient landscapes and the best resources for butterflies, birds and bees.
Our Vision
Our Philosophy
Our Philosophy
We imagine a future where dense carpets of wildflowers spread across urban landscapes, bringing nature back to parks and city streets.
Our Purpose
Our Philosophy
Our Purpose
We create beautiful low-maintenance landscapes, restore habitat and showcase our magnificent native flora. We bend the curve of biodiversity loss at the local level.
Start your very own Melbourne Meadow
So you have seed for your very own Melbourne Meadow? Here's what to do...
Find a pot
Your pot should be at least as wide as a dinner plate and more than 10 cm deep. It doesn't need to be fancy - even a recycled polystyrene box could work (and you can paint them too!)
Fill the pot
Seed raising mix provides an ideal environment for your seeds to germinate. Either fill your pot with seed raising mix, or use an ordinary potting mix and top with a five centimetre deep layer of seed raising mix
Sow your mini meadow
Simply sprinkle your seeds across the surface of your sowing media and lightly 'rake' them in with your fingertips. Some of these seeds are tiny and don't want to be buried too deeply, so it's best to be gentle
Press the seeds in
Place a piece of cardboard or wood over the soil surface and gently press the seeds into the seed raising mix. This will ensure the seeds are in good contact with the mix and won't fly away
Water in the seed
Water with a watering can or a hose set to a gentle sprinkle, not a torrent. Aim to water your meadow every day, with at least enough water to keep the top layer of the mix from drying out
Wait for the magic to happen
The beauty of a meadow is something Forrest Gump could appreciate. You never know what you're going to get!
Put your pot in a sunny sheltered spot and you should see some germination within three weeks. Keep watering your meadow as the seedlings get bigger and nature will take care of the rest.
You might find some of the species below in your meadow!
What's in your meadow mix?
Use this guide to spot the species in your Melbourne Meadow mix
It can be tricky to identify species when they're tiny seedlings. If in doubt, let it sprout and pretty soon you'll be seeing some of the plants below!
Craspedia variabilis
From a rosette of silky, soft silver-green leaves, yellow globular flowerheads emerge on long stalks. Flowers spring-summer.
Wahlenbergia capillaris
Spreading perennial with narrow green leaves on erect stems. Bears masses of blue, bell shaped flowers from spring to autumn.
Brachyscome diversifolia
Leaves are soft, hairy and bright green and lobed at the edges. White daisy-like flowers on hairy stalks from spring to summer.
Goodenia paradoxa
Growing from a rosette of slightly fleshy green leaves, yellow flowers will emerge on thin stalks from spring to autumn.
Calocephalus citreus
With striking silver-grey foliage, this plant bears masses of lemon-yellow flowerheads in spring and summer.
Coronidium scorpioides
Everlasting daisy with soft green leaves with fine hairs. Bright yellow button-like flowerheads in spring and summer
Chrysocephalum apiculatum
Dense, spreading daisy with woolly grey foliage and terminal clusters of golden flowers most of the year. Butterfly attracting.
Glycine clandestina
Twining legume with delicate dark green foliage and many small mauve pea flowers over spring and summer.
Podolepis linearifolia
Large yellow flowerheads on slender stems rising from a basal rosette of dark green leaves. Flowers spring-early summer.
Vittadinia cuneata
Upright plant with small lilac flowers with a yellow centre in spring and summer, followed by large fluffy seed heads.
Chrysocephalum semipapposum
Upright plant with woolly grey green foliage and clusters of golden yellow flowers
Eryngium ovinum
An impressively structured plant with bright green leaves and globe-like prickly steel blue flowers in summer.
All photos copyright © Matthew Stanton 2023 / © Katherine Horsfall 2023
Melbourne Meadows in the media
Sophia Blosfelds (left) and Katherine Horsfall amid their Parkville plantings, photo by Megan Backhouse
We were lucky enough to welcome Megan Backhouse from The Age to one of our meadows. Here's a taste of what she wrote:
How flower-filled grasslands are finding their way into Melbourne’s CBD
"In April 2020, in the full throes of the pandemic, Katherine Horsfall began an experiment.
She wanted to see whether she could turn a barren ribbon of land in Parkville into loose, lively drifts of wildness...
The natural temperate grasslands that once spread from the Yarra River in Melbourne to the South Australian border were what Horsfall, a researcher at the University of Melbourne, had in mind when she scraped back the pure, unadulterated woodchips weaving around River Red Gums down one side of Gatehouse Street.
In place of the chips she sowed about one million seeds of 27 indigenous grasses and wildflowers.
Go to the site now and...you will find almost no areas of open soil. Instead, complex mixes of grasses and flowers sway in the wind and change colour with the seasons. They look elegant and dynamic and, crucially for a public landscape, they are also relatively low care."
Read the full article here
The flowers and grasses look like wild nature but are just 3km from the CBD. CREDIT: JASON SOUTH
There are almost no areas of open soil.
CREDIT:JASON SOUTH
Contact Us
Melbourne Meadows has big plans to grow more seed, to bring a meadow to a street or park near you.
Get in touch if you'd like to know more.
