How to Grow Wildflowers
By admin | October 14, 2008
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.
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Tags: how to grow wildflowers, planting wildflower seeds, wildflower garden, wildflowersYour Cottage Garden
By admin | September 4, 2008
Cottage gardens exude charm and character, with an informal style, very unlike formal gardens with their immaculate lawns and regimented borders. The cottage garden style typically consists of lots of plants, heavy on the flowers, with paths meandering between. The plants are chosen to suit personal tastes with the emphases on the pleasure of growing plants and enjoying their color, fragrance and form. A medley of
colors and textures that is all crammed into the beds and borders.
Cottage gardens were originally constructed to utilize every bit of growing space for family needs. This meant, flowers, fruit, herbs and vegetables were packed together into even the smallest plots. One tip is to incorporate wildflowers and herbs as well as the more traditional cottage garden plants. Plant in clumps
with large blocks of color to introduce rich patters of color and movement. Also, don’t restrict yourself to planting tall plants in the back, with smaller ones in front. Mix some of the taller plants in amongst the middle planting area as well.
You should grow hollyhock beside walls and fences, plant climbers, such as clematis and roses, in amongst the hedges and trees, or up wall and fences. Annuals can fill in between gaps in the planting.
You will find many of the flowers that are featured in traditional cottage gardens are self-sowing, so leave
old flower spikes intact for self-seeding.
All gardens require care and attention and cottage gardens are no exception. You will need to do frequent deadheading in order to encourage a long season of blooming flowers. Divide and replant where appropriate depending on the plant, and, of course, the weeding necessary in any garden.
The first step in creating your cottage garden is to plan your layout. A classic cottage garden has a straight path to the front door, a simple fence and perhaps an arc over the gate, the path or doorway. A more modern design has a curving path. You will need to decide which path option works best for you.
A climbing rose or a wisteria would be a good choice to adorn the wall by and above the front door. The path should be edged with plants that will spill over and soften the edges. You should have a few evergreen shrubs, this will provide green all year and will provide a background to show off your flowers, as
well as contrast with autumn foliage and your spring bulbs. Also in winter, your evergreen shrubs will provide color and inject interest while the rest of your garden is dormant.
Adding a tree will give scale to your garden, and lift the eye over the flowers. Deciduous trees have more than one season of interest since they provide autumn color, also many of them have beautiful flowers and fruits. Also, the frameworks of the branches provide height in winter and will not block the winter sunlight in small plots. Deciduous flowering shrubs will provide spring and summer pleasure, and some will give you
autumn foliage and berries in the winter.
I believe one cannot have a cottage garden without roses. There are so many types available now, whether heritage roses or the modern roses bred for ease of maintenance and disease resistance, you have your colors and degree of work you wish to commit. There are wonderful climbers to adorn arches,
doorways, fences and pergolas. Work roses into your overall scheme, and let them play their part, and they will contribute beauty, scent and structure to your garden.
Add different climbers, such as roses, clematis and others to the same support, whether it is a tree, arbor or fence. It is a good space-saving technique that creates colorful features for months on end and adds height to the garden.
Your landscaping should include more than plants. Add seating areas and containers to help you enjoy your garden. They contrast well with the flow and look of your plants. Containers are also a convenient way to add lots of extra color around buildings, seats and benches. Containers can be anything, use your imagination, for example, objects such as old chimney pots, old watering cans, and bottomless metal buckets can be recycled to make authentic, aged features that will add color and character to your cottage garden.
Your cottage garden should be a color palate of your imagination, blending plants, objects and colors into
a whole that is uniquely you. Add and change it through the years and watch it evolve.
Theresa is an avid gardener. For more information on creating lush, vibrant gardens visit her sites at Rose Gardens, Lawn and Garden and Garden.
Tags: clematis, cottage garden, flowers, garden, gardening, herbs, roses, wildflowersStarting a Wildflower Garden
By admin | April 7, 2008
Perhaps you have decided you want a wildflower garden. You have decided that if these wildflowers can grow in the wild without any one taking care of them, just maybe they will be the perfect plants for your to grow. After all you don’t have a lot of time to take care of a garden but would really love to have some lovely flowers and other plants to look at and to dress up your landscaping. So how does one go about starting a wildflower garden?
You should approach starting a wildflower garden much like you approach any other kind of flower garden. Begin with looking at your yard and around your home to see what you have. Is your lot full of mature trees that cast a lot of shade? Are you on a fairly new lot and maybe don’t even have a lawn in yet?
Do you have areas that stay wet? Is your soil deep and loamy or thin and rocky? Are trees in your yard causing your soil to be very acidic or is it very alkaline?
Now you must factor in your climate. Do you get lots of rain or is it very humid as in the Southeastern United States? Are you dry as in the Southwestern United States? Do you live in the city with barely any room at all and have to put up with bouts of smog?
Now that you’ve taken stock of what you have and where you are, you need to decide just what it is you want to accomplish by starting your wildflower garden. Is it as stated in the opening paragraph that you simply want some lovely flowers and plantings that are easy to maintain? Or perhaps you want to attract some local wildlife and provide a home for predatory insects so they will help you protect your vegetable garden? Are you conservation minded wanting to save resources or save the wildflowers? Perhaps you just want to show your neighbors how lovely native wildflowers can be.
Once you know the above, you can decide how you are going to go about starting your wildflower garden. Basically you have two choices. One, you pick wildflowers that will grow and thrive in the conditions you have. Two, you change the conditions you have so you can grow the wildflowers you want. This could include bringing in loamy soil, draining an area so it’s drier, cutting down trees, creating a shaded area or what have you. The choice is yours.
Finally you can begin with the fun part of starting a wildflower garden and that is picking the plants and wildflowers. Once you know what you have and what you want, you can begin to design a wildflower garden that takes advantage of your landscaping and then choosing the wildflowers and plants that fit with your design, climate, location, soil type and so on.
Copyright 2006, Sandra Dinkins-Wilson
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Tags: garden, landscaping, wildflower garden, wildflowers