Top Tips For Preparing a Wildflower Garden
Planning on creating a blooming display of wildlfowers in your garden?
We've put together some of our top tips for creating an impressive display of wildflowers in your garden.
1. Ground Preparation for Sowing Wildflower Seeds
A well-prepared seedbed, free off weeds, grass and other plants can optimise germination, survival rate and will determine the success of your native wildflowers. Check out our detailed guide on creating a bare seedbed.
If you're not prepared to create a bare seedbed, completely free of weeds or grass, an 'Easy to Grow' non-native mixture will have a better chance of establishment. Cut the grass back as short as possible and loosen the soil by vigorously raking, scatter in the seeds. *please note, less grass and weeds means, less competition and more flowers!
Pots and Window boxes offer an excellent opportunity to establish wildflowers in small spaces. Annual Species are most suited to pots. Pots are best planted in Spring though.
2. Choose a Suitable Wildflower Seed Mixture
🌸Colour 8-10 weeks after sowing & returning each year
Wildflowers are a wonderful way to create a low maintenance garden that lasts forever. Choosing a mixture with both annuals and perennials will ensure you have colour in year one and forevermore. Our top three Annual and Perennial Mixtures are: Butterfly and Bee mix, Traditional Irish Native Mix, Year after Year Mix.
🌸For a shaded area in your garden
Many gardens have shaded areas where little will grow. Our Shaded Areas mix has been blended with species (such as Knapweed & St John's Wort) that thrive in partial shade. *note this mix includes perennials only, meaning it will flower for the first time in year two.
🌸Patio, terrace, or pot
Even a patio pot or window box will provide a joyful burst of colour and support an entire eco-system. Use an annual mix and expect to see blooms from eight weeks after sowing.
🌸Soil types
A good tell tale of acidic soils is if there is lots of moss growing. A specialist mix will be required (Acidic soils mix)
🌸Natural food source for birds
Sunflower seeds produce an abundance of seed. Or for more diverse colour check out our new 'Grow a Natural Bird Feeder Mix'
🌸Attracting Butterflies and Bees
While most wildflowers provide a habitat and food for pollinators, some wildflowers give that little bit more. A Butterfly and Bee mix includes nectar rich wildflower species, highly attractive to pollinating insects. This is our go-to wildflowers mix as it suits most situations.
I hope this helps, a well prepared seedbed and a suitable seed mix are the two key factors to creating your a desired display of wildflowers in your garden.
