How to choose between wild meadow seeds and wildflower seeds
Planting meadow seeds is an excellent way of increasing biodiversity on your land. The meadow grasses will provide a habitat and food source for many insects. At the same time, the annual and perennial flower seeds will produce a riot of colourful wildflowers to attract many pollinating insects, including solitary bees, butterflies and hoverflies. These wildflower seeds for bees are an essential food source to allow them to survive and thrive.
Firstly, it is important to note that wild meadow seeds, or wildflower meadow seeds are different from wildflower seed only mixes.
Wildflower meadow seed mixes have the inclusion of both native grass seed and native wildflower seeds, often mixed at a rate of 80% native wild grass seeds to 20% native wildflower seeds. In contrast, a 100% wildflower seed mix contains wild flower seeds only and no grass seeds.
With this in mind, if you are planting a wildflower garden and hoping to achieve a succession of impactful wildflowers, you should choose a 100% wild flowers seeds mix or a pollinator seeds mix.
If you are looking to plant wildflowers in Pots, Annual Pollinator Seeds are perfect for this purpose.
Wild flower meadow Seeds are best suited for larger areas or areas where you hope to increase biodiversity. The inclusion of native grasses will help control weeds throughout a native wildflower meadow, preventing the native Irish wildflowers seeds from being outcompeted by weeds. Managing a wildflower meadow correctly is important to ensure soil fertility is kept low for your wildflowers' succession.
I am frequently asked, When do you plant wildflower seeds?
You will be glad to hear, each year, there are two windows of opportunity for sowing wildflower seeds. Firstly in spring, between the end of March and the end of May, the second opportunity is in autumn from the end of August until October.
Soil temperatures must be between 6 and 10 degrees Celsius when sowing wildflower seeds and for at least two weeks after planting wildflowers. These warm temperatures are optimal for the germination of wildflower seeds.
How long after sowing wildflower seeds should I expect to see them bloom?
Annual wildflower seeds such as the Native Cornfield annual wildflower seed mix and Annual Pollinator Seeds for bees will begin to bloom and produce their wild flowers eight weeks after sowing. If annual wildflower seeds are sown in autumn, you should expect to see your wildflowers bloom the following summer.
Perennial wildflower seeds produce their flowers the following year after sowing, so be patient when you don't see perennial wildflowers bloom in the summer after you sow. While perennial wildflower seeds will grow their plant in the first year, and in theory should produce a flower in the second year, it is important to note that perennial flower seeds can take several years to reach their full potential.
Now that you have a good understanding of the difference between wildflower meadow seeds and wildflower seeds only mixtures, choosing the right wildflower seed mixture to sow should be made easier.
These tips help plant a wildflower garden and plant a large area with a wildflower meadow mix. Knowing when to plant wildflower seeds and where to plant wild flower seeds will ensure your wild flower meadow's success.
