It’s easy to grasp the appeal of planting a wildflower meadow, a common hope being “Hey, I can just throw out some wildflower seeds and it will look pretty and I won’t have to deal with that steep hill, or wet area, or mow as much!” Well it may not be quite that simple, but given the proper site, season, seed, and preparation (yes, unfortunately there is actual work involved) a wildflower meadow can be a great natural and colorful addition to the landscape.
Start with High Quality Seed that will Thrive in Your Location
It used to be most wildflower plantings were doomed to failure simply by the poor quality of available seed mixes. The seed quality has vastly improved but it is important to get a blend of native perennials and annuals that will thrive in your region. Yes, annuals are generally included in the mix to assure some bloom during the first season of growth. As when buying plants, consider the sun/shade wet/dry factors as well as your climate.
Site Prep
Choosing a site for your wildflowers is the first bit of critical thinking in the process. Large field plantings of several acres don’t require much more thought about location, but if your wildflower planting is to be a smaller area, you will want to find a semi-natural looking spot. Some ideas may include a free flowing area against a fence or along a woods. Some will take a small strip of lawn between a driveway and lot line and give it over to a natural wildflower planting. The best performing wildflower mixes require a sunny location and good drainage (no standing water after a rain). Access to a hose can also be a plus.
If your area is large enough, you may want to mow a curving path through the meadow so you can observe your thriving meadow up close.
Soil Prep
In most cases, using your existing soil just as it is will be the best method. Think of all the adaptable roadside wildflowers you see. They have evolved for your native soils. If you see a variety of weeds or grass already growing in the area, your wildflower seed will do just fine. Otherwise you will need to find why things aren’t growing on that site and either address it with amendments or pronounce the soil sterile and move on to another site.
Dig out whatever is growing there, turn the soil over, (turn over no deeper than necessary) and rake it flat, taking care to remove all the old grass roots. Some grasses will creep back in, but the object will be to have more flowers than grasses in the end. Unless you are doing a prairie meadow that includes certain native grasses, but that is a completely different subject. A few rocks and unevenness is no problem for wildflowers.
Taking a little extra time in spring to eradicate the new weeds before planting can give your meadow off to a cleaner start. After you’ve cleared an area and done basic site prep, encourage weed growth, watering if it is dry for a couple weeks. Then kill the seedlings with roundup, by covering, or whatever your favorite method. But do not turn the soil over again disturbing fresh seeds. Now you have an acceptably low amount of weeds to sow your seed in. The trade off is delay and more work, later bloom, more watering when you sow later in the season, but this will give you meadow the best start.
When to Plant
Wildflowers can be planted in many seasons depending on your climate. Hotter climates may need to avoid summer planting and areas with a killing frost will be limited to warmer seasons. Consider what time will give the young seedlings the longest period of moderate temperatures and adequate moisture. For example, in Florida, fall is often best, and California wildflowers are best planted in fall so they are growing during the early spring greening. Colder climates plant in fall or spring. They can be sown after killing frost has set in to germinate the following spring. Since soil prep may leave the area open to erosion, sloped areas are best planted in the spring to avoid washouts. Fall is a nice time to plant often because the weather is more cooperative. No working around heavy rains and unpredictable temperature swings. No worrying about timing, when the soil temp is right in the spring the seed will germinate.
But for sheer convenience, and gardening being “top of the mind”, spring is a more common time to plant the wildflower meadow. Not only is it important to wait till danger of frost has passed, but you should also get the seed down quickly after soil preparation. Every moment after turning the soil, those weeds seeds that were turned up are getting a jump on your flowers! Seed it the same day you prep. Give your new seedlings a chance to compete with the existing weed seeds.
Obviously if you are planting late summer in a cold climate, you may get little benefit from annuals in the mix, and may need to add some annual the next season.
How much Seed?
You can follow the suggested rate on the seed package, or if you want a more dense bloom, increase it by 2 or 3 times. There is a limit to benefits of denser seeding, with growth being inhibited. Make sure you know the square footage before you run out to buy your seed.
Wildflower Sowing Tips
- Choose a non-windy day.
- Split the seed into two batches
- mix with roughly 10 parts light sand
- Sow over the whole area with the first batch
- Then Sow again over the whole area
- The light colored sand will help you avoid missing areas and bare spots.
Maintaining the Wildflower Meadow
Yes, there will still be occasional chores to keep the wildflower meadow performing well. Keep an eye out for those invasive plants, undesired grasses and the inevitable tree and shrub seedlings. Pull those weeds and even thin out the annual flowers if they get going strong enough to choke out the next seasons desired perennials. Fertilizing is not necessary, but you can give a boost with a low nitrogen fertilizer. You don’t want to encourage grass growth with a high nitrogen lawn fertilizer.
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 Wildflower Seeds, Bird and Butterfly Mix |
 Wildflower Seeds, All-Perennial Mix packet |
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One Response to “Wildflower Meadow”
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March 16th, 2008 at 12:44 pm
If you are interested in doing a prairie garden or meadow, you should listen to this interview of Neil DiBoll, Prairie Ecologist from Wisconsin.