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How to Grow Wildflowers
You are welcome to use this article on your website or in your
newsletter as long as you reprint it as is, including the
contact information at the end. Website URLs must be active
links. You are welcome to use this article with an affiliate
link, http://www.freeplants.com/resellers.htm
In the past few years I've read about and have seen more
interest in wildflowers, so I figure it's about time I jump in
and add my two cents. I have watched in despair as some of my
friends have created a wildflower bed in their yards, and have
ended up with the biggest, ugliest patch of weeds I have ever
seen. Why did they get weeds instead of wildflowers? Two
reasons.
One, they were armed with a lack of good information, and two,
they were led to believe that planting a beautiful bed of
wildflowers is so easy that a child could do it. Actually, a
child could do it, and with great success. But only if that
child were extremely lucky, or had a basic understanding of
exactly how to plant a bed of wildflowers and achieve incredible
success.
In the next few minutes I intend to arm you with enough good
information so you can successfully plant a beautiful bed of
wildflowers, and have your neighbors hanging over the fence
asking you how ya did it. First of all, you've got to
understand what kind of a neighborhood wildflowers like to live
in. They tend to prefer wide open spaces with at least 8 hours
of sunshine each day. It's true, they are sun worshipers. They
also like the soil to be rich in nutrients, and well drained.
They don't like hard packed soil, and they don't like to get
their sneakers wet, only for short periods of time. If you
have an area that tends to be wet, wildflowers are not the
answer.
Wildflowers can be used for weed control, and with a great deal
of success. But you have to give the wildflowers a running
start, or the weeds will keep the area "Wildflower Free". Weeds
and wildflowers are both sun worshipers, so whoever reaches the
top first wins. Neither will grow well without adequate
sunlight. If you use this to your advantage you can have a
beautiful bed of wildflowers that requires little maintenance.
The secret is proper bed preparation. You must create a bed
that is as weed free as possible. You can do this by removing
all the vegetation from the area you intend to plant in, and
then prepare the soil for planting by tilling or raking to a
depth of just one inch or less. Do not disturb the soil any
deeper than that, or you will just disturb dormant weed seeds
that are just waiting to be brought back to the surface so they
can grow. You should consider spraying the existing vegetation
with Roundup before you remove it. This will kill all the roots
that might still be in the soil.
Keep in mind that you need to spray the weeds or grass with
Roundup at least three days before you disturb them. If you feel
that the area you have chosen has a significant amount of weed
seed near the surface, you might consider letting the soil sit
for about six days after you work it, then work it again. Do
this over and over, but don't work the soil more than one inch
deep. The longer you continue this process the more apt you are
to get the bed as weed free as possible.
Most weed seeds germinate rather quickly, so when you bring
them to the surface through your cultivation efforts, you are
giving them a chance to germinate. But then when you work the
soil again in six days, you will actually interrupt the
germination process and the seed will be spent. The longer you
continue the process, the fewer viable weed seeds you will have
to contend with. Of course additional seeds are blowing in all
the time, so it's unrealistic to think that you can create a
planting bed that is free of weed seed.
The most important aspect of this process is to have your bed
as ready as possible, at the ideal time for planting
wildflower
seeds. The secret of success is to plant the wildflower seeds at
the ideal time so they take off growing immediately, and beat
the weeds at their own game.
The ideal time? Depends on where you live. If you're in zones
one through six, you should plant in the spring. If you're in
zones seven through 11, you should probably plant in the fall.
Wildflower seeds like warm soil. They will germinate best with
a soil temperature of 68 to 70 degrees F. So if you live in a
cooler region, you should wait until later in the spring to
plant. There's no point planting when the soil temperature is 45
degrees and have the seeds just lay there while some of the weed
seeds germinate. You'd be much better off to continue working
the soil as described above until the soil temperature is up to
68 degrees.
I'll say it again, just in case you missed it earlier. Don't
work the soil any deeper than one inch.
Now for planting the wildflower seeds.
The best way to plant your wildflower seeds is to distribute
them with a small hand held broadcast spreader, or to apply them
in a manner that mimics that technique. In order to get the best
coverage you should thoroughly mix the seeds with dry sand,
vermiculite, or potting soil to increase the volume before you
spread them. It's a lot easier to evenly distribute five pounds
of granular material over an area than it is 8 ounces.
As you spread the seeds, walk in straight lines from one end
of the bed to the other. Then do the same thing from the side of
the bed in a crisscross pattern to the first set of footsteps
you made. This will give you thorough and even distribution.
This is why you should mix the seeds with some sort of filler
material before you start, so you have plenty of volume to work
with, and will be able to cover the area completely and evenly.
I urge you to visit www.wildseedfarms.com and ask for a
catalog, or call their toll free number. 1-800-848-0078. This
company publishes one of the most complete and informative
catalogs I've ever seen. They have a color photo of each
variety, along with a good description. They even tell you what
percentage of seeds you can expect to germinate, and this varies
from variety to variety, so they list this information for each
variety.
They also tell you how long each variety takes to germinate,
and what the ideal soil temperature is. They tell you how many
seeds are in each pack, how many seeds in a pound, and how much
seed you need to cover a given area. Wildflower seeds have
germination periods of 6 to 28 days, so you have to keep this in
mind as you plan your garden. If you select a variety that has a
28 day germination period, you should select a second variety
with a much quicker germination period and mix them together
before sowing.
If you were to sow only seeds with a 28 day germination period,
the weeds would get a jump on the wildflowers, and you would
likely end up with a weed garden. When you mix seeds with
different germination periods, the faster germinating seeds will
come up very quickly, and act as a nurse crop for the seeds that
need more time, keeping the weeds and birds at bay until all the
seeds can germinate.
Good luck with your wildflower garden! Have fun, and enjoy.
Michael J. McGroarty, the author of this article, would like to
give you this Ebook: "The Gardener's Secret Handbook". Stop by
his http://www.freeplants.com website and get your copy right
now. It's his way of saying hello! Article provided by
http://gardening-articles.com
About the author:
Michael J. McGroarty has more than 30 years experience in the
landscape gardening/nursery industry. He's spent the better part
of his life on his hands and knees in the dirt working with
plants and his hands-on experience allows Mike to write in a
manner than many gardeners find to be helpful and beneficial.
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