ᐅ Topsoil or planting soil: which is better for a new garden?

Whether or not to mow depends on the overall concept. Wild carrot is quite versatile in this regard. It grows well in flower meadows (2-3 cuts per year), but also along edges (a single mowing in spring).

Pinkiponk schrieb:

Do you know of any plant that has the qualities/advantages of wild carrot but blooms yellow? By the way, I read in my app that wild carrot should not be mowed because it looks really good even in winter. Looking forward to your thoughts.

There are quite a few plants that bloom yellow, look great in winter, and provide plenty for insects.
I love the Lady's Bedstraw, Galium verum, but it prefers nutrient-poor soil (an important food plant for caterpillars) and smells wonderful like honey. However, you need several plants for the full effect.
For normal soil, definitely the Yellow Scabious (Scabiosa ochroleuca), which is an insect magnet and sways beautifully in the wind 🙂
Common Toadflax (Linaria vulgaris) looks like snapdragons and is really pretty, in my opinion!
The Goat’s Beard (Tragopogon dubius) makes up to 76 wild bee species happy, but it only blooms until midday. On the plus side, it produces lovely large seed heads.
Spring Cinquefoil (Potentilla neumanniana / verna) supports 17 caterpillar species and attracts many bees.
Coltsfoot (Tussilago farfara) is an important early bloomer, flowering from February and only developing leaves afterward. It prefers dry conditions and doesn’t need watering. I also find the leaves quite attractive, which is important since it blooms early until April and then just grows leaves.

All native Hawkweeds (Hieracium pilosella / piloselloides / lactucella, etc.) are rather inconspicuous but excellent for insects.

For later in the season, a Gold Hair Aster (Aster linosyris) might be interesting.

The Large-flowered Mullein (Verbascum densiflorum) and the Dark Mullein (Verbascum nigrum) prefer somewhat leaner soils.
Verbascum phlomoides and lychnitis tolerate richer soil and grow quite tall. Their flower spikes become insect hotels after blooming 🙂.
If you like herbs, dill blooms very charmingly; it’s not native but edible as well 🙂

In general, it’s good to ensure something blooms from February to September.

I read that you don’t like pink, purple, and blue that much, but I love the combination with yellow 🙂
For our insects, these are not unusual colors at all. For example, Bugloss (Anchusa officinalis), Viper’s Bugloss (Echium vulgare), Knapweeds (Centaurea scabiosa, montana, jacea, nigra) and Field Scabious (Knautia arvensis) come in pink, purple, and blue and are extremely important native wild plants.

For shrubs, depending on available space, I’d recommend Cornelian Cherry (blooms beautiful yellow, very early in the year), Hawthorn, Buckthorn, Goat Willow, and Serviceberry (very important, not the Copper Serviceberry, but the native Amelanchier ovalis).

I hope you find something nice!

Our garden is being designed according to the Hortus principle, which means a three-zone garden. There are great videos and information available about it.
Maybe that will give you some inspiration.
I can already see your Hortus "Flavum" 🙂 Almost all gardens have Latin names; ours is called Hortus Chiroptera because of the bats 😀

Holzhäuschen schrieb:

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Wow, what a treasure trove and what knowledge you have. I’ve already printed out your suggestions and will implement them step by step. Such great recommendations, thank you for that.

Oh, I’m getting all red. It’s my "special interest," and I’m really passionate about it. Just spent another two hours digging in the garden 🙂

Some plants you might only be able to get from seeds, and hawkweeds are considered "weeds" by many, but nowadays you can even buy them quite easily online. For me, many hawkweeds have self-seeded 🙂. There are always plenty of beetles and especially very small wild bees to be found there.

Oh! Not native, but absolutely wonderful and important for moths, the fragrant evening primrose (Oenothera odorata).
To me, it smells heavenly and the moths love it (and the bats love the moths 😉).