Are you attracted to the idea of giving over part of your lawn to a more naturalistic meadow, but not sure about going the whole hog? Chris Baines has a very attractive proposition: create a short term wildflower meadow for a month in late spring.
In his book
How To Make a Wildlife Garden, Chris Baines describes how you can create a short-term meadow. Simply cease to mow the grass in the selected area sometime between the middle and the end of May and see what grows there. You may find that all sorts of plants that have been prevented from flowering for years by the mower have actually survived and will flower when you leave them for a few weeks.
The degree of success you have will depend upon what has survived in your sward - so it helps to select an area which is rather 'weedy'. You will need to return to close mowing within four weeks or so, because without a more positive management regime, tall grasses will soon grow and overtake your wildflowers. But you can enjoy a break from mowing for a month or so and, if you're lucky, the wildflowers will be able to cut loose - at least for a short while.
I intend to try this myself this year in my front garden. I'll document the results in features section.
