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I've been trying to get some wildflower seeds to grow on the edge of my yard for a while, and am wondering when the best time to spread the seed kit is, and how I should do it. Think about broadcast spreading in a pasture.

black thumb
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1 Answers1

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For seeds to germinate they need firm contact with the soil and sunlight and frequent regular shallow watering until established. As well as low nitrogen fertilizer.

I would cut that grass with a line trimmer first. Grasses love to be mowed or eaten down. Not too far but regularly. Tall grass is wonderful once everything is growing vigorously. You have to chop that grass down first. Rake up the clippings, they do not have any fertilizer you should be interested in...allow sun to reach patches of your soil among the grasses where you are able to germinate wildflower seed.

Lightly rake bare soil patches. Sow your seed by hand, tamp the soil down with your hands to firm over the seed. Water those patches by hand for the next 2 weeks. By the time your wildflowers start growing vigorously, your tall grasses will not be so tall as to hide the flowers nor shade the flowering plants.

By the end of the season you should be able to mow, weed wack the entire patch down, grasses and wildflowers. This time, do not bag your clippings because there will be seeds you want to have back into your soil. Your patches of wildflowers.

In the spring, make sure you fertilize with a formula of even numbers. Remember to lightly water those patches to get the seeds germinated and established once again.

Patches of wild flowers look far more natural and breath taking done this way. If you spread wildflower seed now in your tall grass you are asking too much of the wild flower seed.

Have fun, let us know how it turns out...please send pictures of before and later.

stormy
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  • so under about 6 inches to 1 foot of snow should be fine for desired results? – black thumb Apr 29 '19 at 14:00
  • In the UK, a common reason why wild flowers die out is because growing conditions have been improved so that are too good, not too bad. They tend to do best when they are on the edge of survival but competitor plants are in an even worse state. The best *natural* flower displays in my part of the UK tend to be on 30 degree slopes cooked by full sun, with about two inches of cruddy soil on top of solid limestone hundreds of feet thick, not well fertilized and carefully tended grassland. – alephzero Apr 29 '19 at 22:02
  • Yeah, well I think that someone wasn't paying attention to what it was that helped the wildflowers...it most certainly wasn't planting them in the worst conditions. That is a sad bit of propaganda Aleph! Plants, as I say an awful lot are too good at surviving to be teaching us humans plant husbandry! Natural versus artificial displays,? Grins. Every time we humans decide to throw some seed around imaging flower display without our intervention is just ...well, lazy. Gee, gag me I know, but I've created flower displays, gorgeous pot gardens of flowers and Wild flowers are just like any – stormy Apr 30 '19 at 07:24
  • ...other plant planted by seed. To imagine brutalizing their environment and expecting even better display is seriously going to kill me! Natural flower displays are NOT meant to impress humans. They just happen because the plants want to procreate. I've never seen a natural flower display that could awe a crowd like my installation and maintenance flower beds. Especially when they see me cutting all the flowers off ! – stormy Apr 30 '19 at 07:27