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How To Grow Amazing WildflowersLandscaping with wildflowers is becoming increasingly popular. These
wonderful displays of beauty are incredibly self-sufficient. Wildflowers
dazzle your gardens with sprays of color with a powerful endurance not
often noted in domesticated garden flowers. No need to worry about soils
of low fertility; wildflowers adapt wonderfully in these types of soil.
Meadow gardening is becoming quite popular with its native wildflowers
and non-competitive grass. Combine these two to create a panoramic
garden of beautiful colors and shapes. Natural habitat will love it too!
Can you think of a better way to relax than to stroll amongst paths of
endless color and natural beauty?
Wildflowers are low in cost as they reseed themselves and bloom again
the following year. They are also easy to maintain as they basically
need no fertilizing or trimming, and require little water.
How To Plant Wildflowers
Site Selection
For best results, choose a location where there is full sunlight.
Soil Preparation
To prepare small areas for your wildflowers, start first by removing the
weeds already in your garden. This should be followed with raking or
roto-tilling the soil.
For large areas, mow the plants or foliage as short as you can and then
follow this step by using a flail mower or harrow. This will allow you
to break up the top two inches of the soil.
Make sure to water these areas several times during the first two or
three weeks. This will encourage the weed seeds to germinate. After a
few more weeks, spray the weeds with Clear-It and remove all of the dead
plants. Wait at least one to two weeks before you plant the wildflower
seeds.
It’s actually better not to fertilize the soil for your wildflowers, as
they do best in low-fertility soil. High nitrogen soils increase the
number of weeds in your wildflower garden and diminish the view of your
flowers.
Planting Time
The time to sow is in the Spring. You can plant your wildflowers in the
summer if there is a lot of water available, but your planting will not
continue the following year, unless it is planted about 8-10 weeks
before the predicted frost.
It is alright to plant later in the fall; wildflower seeds will begin to
grow in the spring. The disadvantage of planting at this time is that
the warmer weather conditions and rain could cause the seed to germinate
and then may die during the winter from the freezing. There is also the
possibility of the seeds being eaten by birds when they are sitting on
the ground for longer periods of time.
Planting Methods
Because of the huge difference in sizes of the seeds, blending fine sand
and vermiculite (2:1 sand to seed) is recommended for wildflowers. This
will allow more even distribution.
Hand-scattering the seeds in small areas, works very well. Cover up the
seed by raking it in to about a depth of 1/8-1/4 of an inch. Do not
cover the seeds too deeply, or it will fail and your work will be all
for nothing.
Post Planting Care
You must keep the soil, where the seeds are planted, moist for at least
4-6 weeks and water if necessary to encourage germination. As the plants
gradually begin to grow, you can water less. Many wildflowers need
little water to coexist, but they still need a fairly adequate amount in
order to germinate.
Seedling should start to appear in 2-3 weeks and you should see your
first flowers in about 6-10 weeks.
Around the middle of October, when most of the flowers have finished
blooming, you can mow the area to a height of about 4-6 inches. This
will help to disperse the matured seeds for the following year.
Add new seed the following spring, to discourage weed growth and to
establish the planting.
For more great gardening tips:
http://www.ez-gardening-tips.com
Louanne Baelde freelances as a writer/editor. She is passionate about
gardening and welcomes you to find great easy gardening tips at
http://www.ez-gardening-tips.com
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