Got a pack of 100% Wild Flower Seeds For General Purpose. 50grams. Cost over 10 quid, but they are perennial. My flower beds are weeded and sort of ready. Question is: How deep do I plant them? Couple of inches down seems about right to me?
Taa
Too deep. The rule of thumb with seeds is to plant at about the same depth as the seeds are large. So a broad bean goes down about an inch, grass and other fine seed, pretty much on the surface. They don't get buried in nature, and do well enough. Some, like poppies for example, even need light to germinate (think WWI poppies in the battlefields of Flanders, that germinated once the exploding shells had brought them to the surface). I would just scatter them on the surface. It would do no harm to cover the area with netting until there's been reasonable germination, to keep the birds off, much like you did for your patch of grass. The biggest problem you'll have is identifying your wildflower seedlings from the weed seedlings that are bound to germinate at the same time. It might be a good idea to hold back on sowing the wildflowers for a few weeks until at least the first flush of weed seedlings have appeared and been removed.
Stuff here
I bought these.
Cheers for your help.
No, don't scatter that topsoil. For a start, it'll be full of weed seeds just waiting to germinate and that'll undo your weeding efforts, and second, the wildflower seeds don't need it. And don't tread it down too hard, not like the heel-walking you did for that bit you grassed over. Just get it lightly firmed.
I see Meadowmania have an advice page of growing various types of wildflower choices.
You're welcome.
I'll leave the topsoil in the bag then. I will need to flatten the soil in the flower beds down a bit to make it sort of level before I put the seeds down. Is this okay?
Could not find what I was looking for.
Aren't weeds wild flowers?
Probably. But. If you had the display that I had in my front garden last year you would not care what they are.
Yes, but there are attractive ones and unattractive ones. Not all weeds have flowers that make them attractive enough to deliberately cultivate them.
You can rake it level which will also help break up any lumps of earth, and firm it gently, but don't over-do the firming bit.
In message , Chris Hogg writes
Grass seed likes a well rolled bed:-)
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Yebbut he's not sowing grass seed. The reason for having a well firmed bed for grass is so that when you walk on it in months or years to come, your feet don't sink in and leave footprints wherever you've walked.
Ten quid!!!
Blimey must be gold plated ones. I hate to say this but they instructions used to say, scatter on surface and if needed protect them with nets if birds are a problem. Half of them never seem to come up in my clay soil anyhow. Brian
In message , Chris Hogg writes
I think moisture retention is also important. Spring sown seeds are challenged by a porous, well drained surface.
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Agreed. In fact a compacted soil can dry out faster than a loose soil, because in a compacted soil there are capillaries that run down from the surface that conduct moisture back up to the surface where it evaporates. That's why, in dry spells, careful light surface hoeing to create a 'dust mulch' can be beneficial because it breaks those capillaries and allows moisture below to be retained.
Not necessarily. On sandy soils and during long dry periods, maybe, but I would argue that long dry periods are not usual in Spring (April showers and all that), and a porous well drained surface allows seedlings to generate a good root system and gets them established quicker.
Dandelions have nice yellow flowers and very pretty seed heads. If they did not reproduce so prolifically then they would not be weeds.
If you let them set seed towards the end of the season then you should get a similar display this year for free.
I let acquilegia, foxgloves, poppies, teasels, red valerian and a few other pretty wildflowers fight it out in one patch. Some are perennial others are annual or biennial and some are invasive thugs so you have to intervene to maintain balance. Winters have been so mild recently that some of the nominally "annuals" in my garden are now 3 years old! (there hasn't been a frost hard enough to see them off)
Far too deep. No instructions on the packet? In the wild they would be scattered on the surface. Cover with as little soil/sand as you can manage. Firm the soil down.
Water daily. It's all about preventing drying out after germination which would kill most off.
You need to see what wild flowers grow naturally nearby. These are your best bet. Also check ph of your soil. Clue is given by what grows well. Eg Nettles = acid soil.
They are perennial Brian, they should come back for hundreds of years. I've taken the advice of Mr Hogg on board and will just scatter them. I've got some wire netting to cover the flower beds. The blackbirds around here seem to think that they own my garden. I was weeding last year and one was trying to steal my wallet!
BTW, thanks to the others that offered help.
No.
In the wild they would be scattered on the surface.
I'll firm the soil down with my hands before I scatter the seeds.
If it stops pissing it down for more than 4 days I'll water them
No nettles, well only the odd one Anyway, Mr Hogg has sorted me out. Thanks again to him and to you for replying. I've not planted the seeds yet as it's pissing it down and there are one or two weeds to be pulled up. If the seeds are a success I'll try to remember how to use Dropbox and post pics. If they are a failure, I'll just slink away to alt.rec.driving
Fingers crossed for a harsh frost.
Fingers crossed that he moves into your pikey scum council estate.
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