Starting a wild flower meadow

The RSPB is urging people to plant a wild flower meadow in part of their garden to encourage wildlife.
This is the charity's recommended method...
1. Pick an area as large as possible and measure it to work out how much seed you will need.
2. If the top layer of soil is rich in nutrients, as most gardens are, remove the top 5-10 cm in August.
3. Let the bare ground rest for a few weeks, removing any weeds.
4. In September, sow a mixture of wildflower and meadow grass seeds evenly and rake them lightly into the soil. You can protect them from birds by hanging up shiny objects like CDs.
5. Mow your meadow the following spring with sharp blades to avoid uprooting the young plants, and then every 6-8 weeks during the first year.
6. In the second year, mow in early July to have a spring meadow, or in March and late September for a summer meadow.
7. Leave clippings on the ground for a few days to shed their seeds, and then remove and compost them.
I've missed the boat as far as clearing the ground in August, but I still plan to plant some seeds over the next weekend ready for the spring.

Wild gardens and rabbit-proof fences

When we first arrived at the new house, the garden was high with grasses and wild flowers. Consequently, it was a popular spot for butterflies, grasshoppers and rabbits.
While the butterflies are an absolute joy so see, the rabbits are a nuisance, scraping away the lawn and pooping everywhere, and with the first salad crops starting to emerge, I was concerned they might ruin those too.
One of the first tasks was to cut the grass (leaving a corner as a wild garden for the butterflies and insects), which seemed to discourage some of the less persistent bunnies.
But one in particular just wouldn't hop off. Banging on the window (me, not the rabbit) made no difference, and even when I ran outside, it would just hop beyond the back gate and peer back at me.
As unsightly as chicken and rabbit fences are, I had little choice but to protect my veg patch. Luckily I was donated some used chicken wire, which was already attached to fence posts (albeit broken ones) and, with the loan of a sledgehammer and some canny positioning of bamboo canes, I managed to hammer a rickety-looking fence around the vegetable patch.
To make sure the blighters didn't dig their way in, I pinned down the wire with tent pegs and laid old bricks around the edge. The only way those bunnies are getting in now is by pole vaulting.
The end result doesn't look the best, but it will suffice until I can decide on a better solution when I dig my additional vegetable beds.