Landlife Wildflowers

Sowing Seeds

It's still too early and the soil is too cold for successful sowing.

Wildflowers come slowly and need time to get going.

They are worth it!

Keep seed  watered if the weather is  too dry. If your area is prone to waterlogging over the Winter, save your seed until early Spring.

 On hard dry soils, you may need to break up the ground before sowing to get a crumbly texture, or use a shallow dressing of well rotted green waste as compost – topsoil generally has weed seed in and is rich, so grasses can easily sweep in before you know it, making it difficult for the wildflower seedlings to find space. Don’t use bark chippings, they are too dry and take moisture from the surrounding soil.

Now is a good time to sow Yellow Rattle seed.  Create some bare areas and sow in small quantities in different spaces amongst your grass and /or wildflowers.  Yellow Rattle feeds on grass roots so helps to keep it in check but it can be fickle to get going.  Persevere!

For more information on sowing seeds go to Useful Information on the wildflower store home page and click on the information you need about annuals and perennials, and working out how much seed to use.

To buy wildflower seed mixtures

To buy single seed species

Using Plants

Plants can be added to a wildflower are any time of year, provided the conditions are neither too dry nor too cold. Like seeds, they need water to get them well rooted into their new home. If you’re putting wildflower plants into a lawn or grassy area, you can mow them on a high setting - a ‘lazy lawn’ as it’s known! - a couple of times in the first year to encourage stronger root growth. The flowers will come the following year if you can bear to wait that long.

Group plants together in odd numbers of 3s, 5s etc rather than singly dotted about. They will form drifts, which are more natural looking, and colonise more easily. Plants can also be lifted after a few years when they are large enough to colonise new areas. Dig them out carefully in the Spring or Autumn and replant as quickly as possible.

For more information on using plants go to Useful Information on the wildflower store home page and click on Plant Tips.

To buy plants