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Grow Meadows of Wildflowers
by Rachel Webb
Description: Tips for planting wildflowers in your garden.
If you like the charm of a natural
flowering meadow with a mismatch of
blooms, you should try growing your own
wildflower garden.
Wildflower seeds are widely available at
most all nursery or garden centers but
you will want to choose packets that
have flowers that are grouped according
to the area or zone that you live in for
the best results.
As with any kind of gardening, soil
preparation is one of the most important
steps to successful flowers. Without a
good soil base, the roots will not be able
to find nutrients to insure a healthy plant.
You will want to remove any existing
vegetation and weeds by breaking up the
soil and adding organic materials that are
rich in oxygen. You are trying to create
an airy soil that can drain well also.
Compacted soil has few air and water
pores. Ideally, you want your soil to drain
the water in 10 to 30 minutes. Less than
10 minutes means that your soil will dry
out to quickly. Over 30 minutes of
drainage time means that you will have to
water slowly to avoid runoff. Wildflowers
will not require a perfect soil combination
but you should strive for the best soil
conditions you can.
You can make your own wildflower mix by
gathering seeds from plants that you
know are native to your area or region.
Take into consideration where you will be
planting the seeds and determine if it will
be a shady or sunny location as well. You
will want to try and choose wildflower
seeds that are the best suited for your
particular use.
Generally speaking, 1/4 pound of
wildflower seed will cover 1,000 square
feet of space. Reduce the square footage
coverage if you prefer a thick coverage
of flowers. Lightly scatter your seeds by
hand on the prepared soil. If the seeds
are too small to handle easily, you can
mix them with sand to aid in sowing.
Mix one part seed to four parts clean sand.
You can lightly rake the seeds into the soil
when you are finished. If you are expecting
heavy winds, you may want to cover the
area with straw to keep it moist to protect
the seeds from blowing away.
I suggest that you purchase extra seed so
that you can lightly re-seed each year.
Wildflowers are often a mixture of annuals
and perennials and so many of the flowers
should come back each year. Re-seeding
lightly can help keep the flowers at their
best.
You will need to do some weeding of
course. At first, it may be difficult to
distinguish the wildflowers from flowering
weeds but the weeds will tend to grow the
fastest and will try to choke out other
plantings.
To aid in the natural seeding process, leave
your dead wildflowers alone at the end of
the season until the mature blossom has
gone to seed. Then you can mow down the
dying crop to help scatter the new seeds
and keep your garden looking neat and
tidy.
If you live in a dry climate, the best time to
plant is when you are expecting a rainy
season. The rain will assist you in watering
wildflowers that you may be planting in a
area without a sprinkling system installed.
In cold winter climates, you will need to
plan on planting in the spring or early
summer to avoid frost. Ideally, the
rainwater will sprout your seeds and make
your gardening job much easier but if not,
you may need to hand water daily until the
seeds are up and growing strong.
Reprinted with permission.
