|
Preparation
Wildflowers can be used for weed control, and with
a great deal of success. But you have to
give the wildflowers a head start, or the weeds
will keep the area "Wildflower Free". Weeds and
wildflowers are both sun worshipers, so who ever
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.
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. In the
UK, you should plant in spring or late summer to
autumn.
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 weeds 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.
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 manor 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 cris-cross
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.
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 quick, 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 is the author of this
article. Visit his most interesting website,
http://www.freeplants.com and sign up for
his excellent gardening newsletter, and grab a FREE copy of his E-book,
"Easy Plant Propagation"
|
