Wildflowers provide insects with a valuable source of food. In the right location, the area develops into a species-rich habitat. Before sowing, you need to prepare the soil so that the seeds germinate successfully.
How to sow wildflowers correctly?
To sow wildflowers successfully, prepare the soil and sow seeds in open ground in spring between April and June. A small amount of seeds per square meter, mixed with sawdust or dry sand, should be sown evenly and lightly pressed.
Soil and location
Low-nutrient and well-drained soils are ideal for creating a wildflower meadow. The poorer the soil, the easier it is to create and maintain a meadow of native plants. Nutrient-rich locations offer good growing conditions for competitive grasses in fat meadows. After a few years, such a location leads to the grasses displacing the wildflowers. If the substrate has a high nutrient content, you should remove the top layer of soil and mix in sand or fine gravel. A suitable location is a place in the sun that is as free from foot traffic as possible.
Preparations
Open ground is a prerequisite for the light-requiring wildflower seeds to germinate. Sowing seeds directly into an existing lawn is not promising. Completely dig up the lawn to create an open area. If the lawn is heavily compacted, loosen it up thoroughly. After digging, wait about three weeks and repeat the process. This causes the fresh seedlings that have developed from the seeds in the soil to dry out. Unwanted species are reduced. Water the area generously before sowing.
Collect seeds from wildflowers growing on the side of the road. Seed mixes for wildflower meadows are inexpensive. Since they mainly contain annual species, the flower splendor is over after a short time.
Advantages of self-collected seeds:
- regional origin
- native species
- colorful biodiversity of annual and perennial plants
Sowing
Sow the seeds in spring between April and June. During this time of year there are optimal temperatures so that the seeds germinate quickly. Sowing later can cause fast-growing grasses to spread across the area and deprive the wildflower seeds of light.
A few grams of seeds per square meter are usually enough. Mix the seeds well with sawdust or dry sand (€10.00 on Amazon). This enables even sowing. The wildflowers of the meadow communities are light germinators. After you have distributed the seeds over the area, you should press them down well with a board or a lawn roller. After sowing, the area must not dry out.
