Illustrated sowing manual for wild flowers

My article was originally written in Dutch. This version can be found here. An invitation to co-lead a workshop for the European Platform for Urban Greening made me decide to translate the article. The main reason for writing this article? The lack of practical, hands-on information for people who want to get started with wild flowers. So I wrote down the information, as simple as possible. Now I could help my customers prepare and hopefully get a good result.

Illustrated sowing manual for wild flowers

If you take a look around you will see more and more plots of ground with wild flowers. Elderly people, kindergarten kids, everyone is seeding wild flowers. It seems so simple. Take a shovel, start digging a piece of land, throw some flower seed on it, add some water and start to watch the seeds growing.

Still, the question is asked "What is the best way to sow the flower seeds?" or “Should I also fertilize the flowers?”. In the meantime, we have gained quite a bit of experience with wild flowers and we learn new things every year. In this article we have combined the most frequently asked questions with photo material where possible. With this practical, illustrated sowing manual for wild flowers you can get started well prepared.

Location

Wild flowers are very easily satisfied. Some heat and light from the sun, a little moisture and they start to germinate. On the other hand, they can also be picky. Soil that is too moist, soil that is too rich (too many nutrients) or not warm enough and nothing will come up. Have you thought about where you want to sow the wild flowers? It is often known whether it is a wet piece or how long it is in the shade most of the time. Then choose a mixture that is suitable for the situation.

Mixture

There are many different mixtures with wild flowers. You can make your choice based on several factors. There are factors that depend on the location where you are going to sow. You can think of wet or dry or a nutrient-rich or nutrient-poor ground. Then there are the personal preferences. Do you want a mixture growing high or just keep it low or an annual or perennial mixture??There are several web shops that sell field flower mixtures. Due to the enormous variety, it is often difficult to make a choice. However, you can limit the choice with the help of filters.

Tip 1.

If you want to start with wild flowers, choose an affordable annual mixture

Sowing advice

For flower mixtures, a sowing advice of 1.5 to 2 grams per m2 is often used. Most wild flowers are sown by hand. So it is quite hard, even for an experienced person, to sow this advice. When determining the amount of seed, it is best to aim for at least 2 grams per m2.

Tip 2.

Length (metres) x width (metres) x 2 = amount of flowerseeds

Preparation

Now that the mixture and location are known, a start can be made with the seedbed.Most of the time something else is currently growing at the location, such as grass. Now there are several ways to make the seedbed in grass.?

Digging and turning the ground is fairly standard. This will put the sod under the ground. However there are drawbacks to this method. Most weed seeds can survive in the soil for a while without losing the power for germination. By digging up the soil, these seeds can suddenly get ideal conditions for germination. Another disadvantage is the chance of rapid grass regrowth. This is especially the case when the sod is not sufficiently covered.

There is also another method of preparing the seedbed. In this method you will only remove? the sod. The sod is the part of the ground that contains the roots of the grass. This requires a little more patience and takes more time. The great advantage of this way of working is that it does not disturb the soil. Seeds that are in the soil remain in the soil.

Seedbed

Our experience with a seedbed with covered sod varies. We have had a year with a fantastic end result, but also a year in which only redshank, thistles and grass grew.

The (re)growth of grass, wall and redshank on the seedbed influences the development of the flowers. By creating a so-called false seedbed you can deal with the first regrowth in a biological way. A false seedbed is a prepared seedbed where you do not sow any seeds. Leave this seedbed alone for 2 to 3 weeks (depending on the growing conditions). During this time, the (weed)seeds in the soil will germinate and begin to grow. You can then hoe or till the seedbed again a few days before you really want to sow. In any case, you will lose the first regrowth and initially the wild flowers will have no competition.

Tip 3.

Do you expect a lot of regrowth of grass or weeds?

Use a false seedbed one or two times

Fertilization

You absolutely do not need to fertilize with fertilizer or manure. Most sowing locations still have more than enough nutrients in the soil. Flower mixtures need very little to none. Fertilizing only improves the conditions for grass and weeds.

Tip 4.

Do not fertilize

When to sow

With almost all wild flower mixtures it is recommended to sow them between March and September. The ideal sowing time for a flower mixture cannot be given. There are variables such as rain and temperature that are beyond our control.

Our own preference is the end of April or the beginning of May. During this period the ground has already warmed up slightly and there is little chance for night frosts. The weather is also often more stable from May. The flowers then receive enough heat and moisture from germination so that they continue to grow.

Tip 5.

Be pati?nt.

It will take about 6 to 8 weeks before the first flowers appear

Manual sowing

Each flowerseed has its own shape. The seed of a poppy is small and round, a sunflower seed is large and oval, phacelia seed is very light. Sowing a flower mixture with different shapes of seeds is not easy.?

When sowing by hand, the seeds are often mixed with sharp, dry sand. This will not only makes sowing easy. The white sand also stands out against the black background. This also gives you a good idea of your sowing pattern. Do you need to sow a large area? Then divide the piece into equal parts and prepare a bucket with seeds and sand for each part.?

After sowing, use a rake to cover the seeds with a little bit of ground. After this you can choose to roll the seed bed. The roller ensures that the seeds and the soil make good contact.?

Tip 6.

Mix the flower seeds with some

sharp sand for easy sowing

Machine sowing

With large plots, manual sowing is not always feasible. Sowing by machine is an option. Due to the variety of shapes and sizes in flower mixtures, this is a risk. A sunflower seed can block a sowing opening and prevent seed from spreading everywhere. Another risk is that due to the vibrations during driving, the heavier seeds in the seed container will fall more quickly. As a result, it is possible that the poppies are in the first 100 meters and the sunflowers in the last 100 meters.

Pneumatic seeders are getting better as you can see in this Youtube video. The results are promising. But based on our own limited experience with machine sowing, we prefer manual sowing.

Germination

After sowing, the wait for the first plants begins. Depending on the weather conditions, it can take up to 2 to 3 weeks before everything is up. However, it is also possible that certain species germinate later. The conditions for that specific seed are often not yet optimal.?

If there is too little rainfall during this first phase, you can consider irrigating the seed bed a few times. When the flowers have a reasonable size, this is often not necessary. At this stage, the roots are often sufficiently developed to help the plant through the dry season.

Flowering

Approximately 6 weeks after sowing, the vegetative (green) stage will slowly transition into flowering. The result may be disappointing at first. For example, you only see yellow or orange flowers. Patience is necessary..

A mixture will develop itself in waves. We want to enjoy the floral splendor for as long as possible. If all the flowers were in bloom at the same time, you could only enjoy the mixture for a few weeks.

Tip 7.

A flower mixture will develop itself in waves, patience is in order

Mowing annual flower mixtures

There are annual flower mixtures that bloom until December. But at some point you will have to take action. You can choose to let the plants bloom completely and only remove them in the spring. You can also mow the site and leave the clippings for a while. This allows any seeds to fall to the ground.

Mowing perennial flower mixtures

Mowing perennial flower mixtures should be done with care. It is recommended to use a cutting height of at least 10 cm. In this way you do not damage the plants, for example, the daisy. You can leave the clippings for a while to allow any seeds to fall to the ground.?

In the beginning, perennial mixtures are often mowed once at the end of the season. Over time, more grass will start to grow in the mixture. To slow down the grass, the plot can also be mowed earlier.

Winter

We can tell from our own experience that you should not expect too much result from the seeds that fall from the clippings. Some of the seeds will no longer germinate due to rotting. A large part will serve as food for birds and rodents during the winter period. The seeds that survive the winter period will not be able to produce the result from the first year.

Next season

Fantastic results in the first year? Do it again next season. When you choose an annual mixture, it is a repetition of previous steps.?

If you have opted for a perennial mixture, you are now entering the 2nd growing season. The perennial flowers such as the daisy will now begin to bloom. The variation in color will be less in the second year. So the result may be disappointing for you. It is of course always possible to sow seeds of an annual flower mixture in open spaces.

Tips

In this blog we have given 7 tips for sowing wild flowers. They are summarized below. If you still have questions, please contact me.

Tip 1. If you want to start with wild flowers, choose an affordable annual mixture.

Tip 2. Length (meter) x width (meter) x 2 = amount of flower seed

Tip 3. Do you expect a lot of regrowth of grass or weeds? Use a false seedbed one or two times

Tip 4. Do not fertilize

Tip 5. Be pati?nt. It will take about 6 to 8 weeks before the first flowers appear

Tip 6. Mix the flower seed with some sharp sand for easy sowing

Tip 7 A flower mixture will develop itself waves, patience is in order