Wildflower seed and when to sow

Would next week or week after be ok, to start sowing wildflower seed into garden?
its the LIDL wildflower mix

thanks

Harry Palmr

Leave it till May, do you have a dedicated wildflower area in the garden? You can't just throw them into the grass and expect a meadow. The correct conditions need to be created.

S_D

Harry Palmr wrote: »

Leave it till May, do you have a dedicated wildflower area in the garden? You can't just throw them into the grass and expect a meadow. The correct conditions need to be created.

what conditions would you need?

Harry Palmr

Well wild flowers cannot compete with grass so you have to select an area and then kill the grass or remove the top layer of lawn - killing is easier! Cover area with something you may have like a tarpaulin or two or buy some plastic sheeting fix it down for 6 weeks and the grass will be dead. Remove cover and rake and till and hoe and whatever you need to have a pretty bare surface and then agitate soil so you have a loose/crumbly top layer then sow in dry conditions, walk seeds into soil and water or time it for rain in next 24 hours.

Harry Palmr

Harry Palmr wrote: »

Well wild flowers cannot compete with grass so you have to select an area and then kill the grass or remove the top layer of lawn - killing is easier! Cover area with something you may have like a tarpaulin or two or buy some plastic sheeting fix it down for 6 weeks and the grass will be dead. Remove cover and rake and till and hoe and whatever you need to have a pretty bare surface and then agitate soil so you have a loose/crumbly top layer then sow in dry conditions, walk seeds into soil and water or time it for rain in next 24 hours.

Thanks for that
Was just going to sow along a wide border ,no grass there, just soil

whelzer

OP - I am assuming your desire to grow "wildflowers" is to help insects in some way, if not apologies for hijacking your thread....

Stumbled across this article earlier.

https://pollinators.ie/spreading-seeds-of-doubt-fake-wildflower-mixes/

The pollinator site is simply superb for all things...pollinator related!

The article is interesting, I have bought numerous packets and boxes of these seeds over the years, for me they never seem to quite work out as the pictures show. For this year I have pledged to make my garden pollinator friendly, ie not mow the lawn or use weed killer. See the site. I have also increased and added to my pollinator friendly plant list. Have added by way of cuttings to my lavender and catmint, have borage, viper bugloss, comfrey, foxgloves and a few others good to go in when this poxy weather turns.

Basically trying to get as many plants from the pollinator site going....

bytheglass

Thanks for sharing!
That made for some v interesting reading. I was on the brink of buying a box but I will just leave the area un-mowed instead.

wildwillow

I have been persuading friends not to use these seeds which are available everywhere. They look so pretty and the feel good factor that they are helping nature is hard to dismiss.

It also bugs me that more road verges are planted with garden flowers, rather than let the native plants thrive.

I wish there ws some legislation to stop the sale of such mixes.

SnowyMuckish

I’ve always been dubious about ‘wildflowers mixes’ or indeed, ‘pollinator friendly’ plants in garden shops. What chemicals were used to grow them? As far as I can I grow organic pollinator friendly plants. I came across https://www.caherhurleynursery.com/ on another thread here, they have a huge selection of organic plants.

Anyone who does want to go down the mildflower seed mix route I use wildflowers.ie, they’re 100% certified native flowers and the website gives good advice about rewilding.

‘Grow don’t mow’ is a great idea. We started it for this first time last year. To look at it you’d think there were very little species in the grass but it was actually full of different things. Spotted some amazing creatures, never seen an elephant hawk moth until then!
For anyone with kids it was a great pastime looking to see what they could spot!

So this year we have dual meadows for interest sake, one ‘grow don’t mow’ and one with seeds from wildflowers.ie. Looking forward to the experiment!

Dempo1

Have to agree with others re these seeds competing with grass, it won't happen. I use these seeds and they are excellent but need to used in either freshly prepared free soil and or pots. I use a mix of soil and compost. If potting, be careful not to over do it, only a small amount for each pot and use large pots that can drain. Some of the seeds are perennial but some not and obviously you can't separate so if potting it's likely you'll get a season out of them.

They are ideal for smaller gardens or indeed balconies in pots but do not spread on a lawn or grass area, all you'll do is feed to birds (actually not a bad thing) but pointless if trying to grow wild flowers. These seeds are extremely fine/Tiny and require a light raking into soil /compost.

Thanks for all the replies


I wont be growing them on grass, just along a soil based border. Hopefully they will entice bees

Will be looking into one of those meadow mixes too, in the future for another spot in the garden, this will be a no mow zone.

Thud

Criticising wildflower mixes seems to be the cool thing to do on the internet lately.

I've tried both methods, the results from the "wildflower mix" were to my mind better than the no mow method.
Pollinators didn't reject the non local flowers and yes some of them were annuals so didn't come back.

The no mow method will get you long grass, dock leaves, nettles, ribwort and a lot of other green and brown stuff.

most peoples gardens will make up a tiny percentage of the country's land cover and planting something that's a bit more pleasing on the eye rather and good for pollinators instead of the wasteland look isn't the worst thing in the world.
As to the non native plant or seed argument most peoples gardens are full of non native plants already anyway.

Suckit

Thud wrote: »

Criticising wildflower mixes seems to be the cool thing to do on the internet lately.

I've tried both methods, the results from the "wildflower mix" were to my mind better than the no mow method.
Pollinators didn't reject the non local flowers and yes some of them were annuals so didn't come back.

The no mow method will get you long grass, dock leaves, nettles, ribwort and a lot of other green and brown stuff.

most peoples gardens will make up a tiny percentage of the country's land cover and planting something that's a bit more pleasing on the eye rather and good for pollinators instead of the wasteland look isn't the worst thing in the world.
As to the non native plant or seed argument most peoples gardens are full of non native plants already anyway.

Not sure about the 'cool thing to do' but as there are campaigns educating people about native wildflowers and their importance it isn't a bad thing.
It is also the time of year when it is most spoken about as they are being planted about now.
Apparently some campaigns are going since the early 90's so it is good to (finally) see them having some success getting through.
There is no doubt in my area that the amount of bees, butterflies and other insects has diminished dramatically since I was a kid, which imho brought a much more pleasing picture than the uniform colours and flowers we are seeing now.
In built up areas especially, the gardens do not make a tiny percentage, and as more houses etc are built, and some with gardens, the native flower and fauna are killed off for more tulips etc.
As for the argument that most peoples garden are full of non native plants already anyway. That is the point. That is why there are campaigns and programmes trying to educate us etc.
In many cases it may be something we are unable to reverse if let go too far.

Some more information here.
http://www.ipcc.ie/wp/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/Your-Community-Your-Environment-Booklet.pdf
http://www.ipcc.ie/wp/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/The-Pollinator-Enhancement-Study-Report-2020.pdf
https://pollinators.ie/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/AIPP-Working-Together-for-Biodiversity-2015-2020-WEB.pdf

Thud

Suckit wrote: »

Not sure about the 'cool thing to do' but as there are campaigns educating people about native wildflowers and their importance it isn't a bad thing.
It is also the time of year when it is most spoken about as they are being planted about now.
Apparently some campaigns are going since the early 90's so it is good to (finally) see them having some success getting through.
There is no doubt in my area that the amount of bees, butterflies and other insects has diminished dramatically since I was a kid, which imho brought a much more pleasing picture than the uniform colours and flowers we are seeing now.
In built up areas especially, the gardens do not make a tiny percentage, and as more houses etc are built, and some with gardens, the native flower and fauna are killed off for more tulips etc.
As for the argument that most peoples garden are full of non native plants already anyway. That is the point. That is why there are campaigns and programmes trying to educate us etc.
In many cases it may be something we are unable to reverse if let go too far.

Some more information here.
http://www.ipcc.ie/wp/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/Your-Community-Your-Environment-Booklet.pdf
http://www.ipcc.ie/wp/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/The-Pollinator-Enhancement-Study-Report-2020.pdf
https://pollinators.ie/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/AIPP-Working-Together-for-Biodiversity-2015-2020-WEB.pdf

most flowers are good (save for a few invasive ones). people planting a few in their garden is a benefit for pollinators whatever they plant. Its been made out that if you plant the wrong wild flowers you've done something wrong, you haven't, better some than none at all...or grass.

City gardens are still a tiny portion of the total landmass (not the built up land mass) . Built up areas are a smaller part of the problem than monoculture fields with no ditches which is the main driver behind why there are less insects than when you were a child.

Non native diversity in city gardens actually provides nectar in periods where its not available from our local fauna.

wildwillow

Diversity is important and I have no problem with people using these mixes in their own gardens.

The problem arises when they make seed bombs and scatter them on every brownfield site. Invasive species are a problem.

Bees are attracted to purple and yellow. They also like an open petal arrangement as its easier to reach the pollen. Complex arrangements such as fremch marigolds and dianthus are not really suitable.

But every gardener who provides any flowers and uses no sprays is to be cherished.

whelzer

whelzer wrote: »

OP - I am assuming your desire to grow "wildflowers" is to help insects in some way, if not apologies for hijacking your thread....

Stumbled across this article earlier.

https://pollinators.ie/spreading-seeds-of-doubt-fake-wildflower-mixes/

The pollinator site is simply superb for all things...pollinator related!

The article is interesting, I have bought numerous packets and boxes of these seeds over the years, for me they never seem to quite work out as the pictures show. For this year I have pledged to make my garden pollinator friendly, ie not mow the lawn or use weed killer. See the site. I have also increased and added to my pollinator friendly plant list. Have added by way of cuttings to my lavender and catmint, have borage, viper bugloss, comfrey, foxgloves and a few others good to go in when this poxy weather turns.

Basically trying to get as many plants from the pollinator site going....

A great blog post, needs to be said. Nothing cool about this messaging, just knowledgeable people trying to steer well meaning people in the right direction.

Harris8855

Autumn is the best time of year to sow native and non native wildflower seed, however, it is possible to sow in Spring too