How To Sow Wildflower Seeds
If you’re thinking of sowing some wildflower seeds – well done! It’s a brilliant thing to do to support pollinators like bees and butterflies. These species are critical to the health of all living things on Earth so making sure they have plenty of habitat in which to live and find food really does make a difference.
Here, our biodiversity expert, Carla Boswell, explains three ways for you to create a habitat of wildflowers at home, just like our parkland meadows.
To start, you’ll need some seeds. It’s preferable to pick native British wildflower seeds that work in harmony with local biodiversity. At The Parks Trust, we use a mix of 26 native wildflower species which includes some very strangely-named flowers like Kidney Vetch, Viper’s Bugloss, Lady’s Bedstraw and Common Toadflax!
You can sow wildflower seeds anytime but Spring and Autumn are best.
1. Get Scattering
If you have space in a garden border that gets plenty of sun, this option will work for you.
The quickest way is to rake over the soil, scatter the seeds thinly and evenly across the space – aiming for around one teaspoonful of seeds for every square metre – then water generously (and keep moist).
Instead of scattering, you can make little trenches in the soil and drop the seeds into those before covering them with a little extra soil and watering as above. Remember not to sow the seeds too deep!
2. Go Potty
Don’t have a spare bed in the garden? No problem! Fill a container with good quality soil, and sprinkle a few seeds in there, water generously and it’s job done!
3. Parcel Them Up
Making seed parcels is a great activity to do as a family! You'll need a mixing bowl, clay soil, compost, seed mix and water. Watch our video to find out how to make the parcels.
Whichever method you choose, once the sowing is done, don’t forget to keep the soil moist. As green shoots start to appear, remember not to do any weeding – those shoots could be the beginnings of beautiful wildflowers! It will take around 40-60 days from sprouting to blooming if planted in the spring or growing season. From May they should start flowering until September, depending on the weather and ground conditions. Once your wildflowers start appearing, hopefully the pollinators won’t be far behind!
