One man went to mow

A crucial element in wild garden design is grass - think of meadows filled with summer flowers like cornflowers, poppies and wild orchids. There is nothing lovelier than a flower-filled meadow of long grass, with a simple mown path meandering through it. But again it's hard work: you can't leave the flowers to re-seed every year (they will re-seed, of course, but not in the right place or in sufficient numbers). The only guaranteed way of achieving flower-filled meadows is to rotavate the ground annually and re-sow with flower seeds. You can buy grasses and wild flower seeds from Exhibition Seeds. For rare and unusual flower seeds - particularly wild orchids - go to Plant World.

Once your meadow's established, you can mow it into wonderful geometric shapes. If you've the space, make an orchard. Plant fruit trees an even distance apart and mow the grass in a grid system, producing 'squares' of grass and flowers around each tree and mown 'paths' between. With smaller gardens, mow the grass into a spiral shape, creating a feeling of a maze.