Why should start growing wildflowers in garden? A well designed garden of wildflowers provides both the gardener and his or her environment with multiple benefits. Wildflowers have a host of environmental advantages, which make them an ideal garden topic regardless of the plants chosen.
Wildflowers have several advantages over most traditional landscape plantings. They are easy to grow, usually survive off of minimal amounts of fertilizer, require little maintenance, and have deep, clumpy roots that keep them in place. Some plants even have deeper roots that allow them to survive and thrive even under drought and flood. This is why many gardeners choose wildflowers for their landscaping themes. They offer a range of features and options that will satisfy the tastes of almost any gardener.
Wildflowers take up minimal space. Unlike most flower garden beds, wildflower planting relies on the edging ability of grasses for boundaries. In other words, if there were no grasses, wildflowers would be a continuous wall, not a separate bed or section of a yard. They also require fewer nutrients than grasses because they feed off of natural, decaying organic matter on the ground. A well-designed border of wildflowers, grasses, and shrubs will provide a healthy, weed-free barrier against weeds, pests, and deer. Additionally, the beds will look great year round, whether it’s raining or snowing or hot and dry.
Wildflowers do not require nearly as much care as their grassy counterparts, though they do require fertilization and some periodic herbicide spraying to keep them in top shape. Because wildflowers are self-sowing annuals, they only need to be planted once before dying. They will not ‘go off to the grave’ like some perennials like clover or ryegrass do. Because they only bloom for a short time each year, you can plan on planting just two colors of wildflowers for every square foot of lawn space.
It’s important to dig your flower meadow or border hole two feet deep and then use an excavator to prepare the area. Plant your wildflowers by spreading them widely in the center of the hole, about three to four inches from the edge of the hole floor. If you’re trying to grow grasses or weeds, set your pots on the surface of the hole in order to germinate. After you’ve planted your seeds, make sure they get enough room to grow by removing any weeds and dividing the plants into six parts and planting each section at the base of your lawn or flower bed.
You will need about four inches of gravel in your flowerbed to provide good drainage. It’s best to let the wildflowers sit through the fall rains before you water them in the spring. In fact, you may even want to move them outdoors during the worst part of the winter so that they can have some new air circulation. Most wildflowers come out of dormancy in the spring. If you want to start your garden earlier, it’s recommended to plant them in pots filled with seasoned soil until they’re ready to bloom again in the spring.
Your wildflowers won’t bloom for another three months, so don’t wait until then to apply a herbicide to kill the weeds and grasses that are keeping them from producing flowers. After the third month, give your plants a light application of a herbicide to reduce the threat of a weed attack from grasses and other grasses. But don’t stop there continue applying your wildflower mix throughout the summer to keep those pesky weeds at bay.
You should have the flowers and greenery in place by late in the second year. However, you may see a little foliage on the flowers in the first year. You can use a dormant fertilizer every other month during that time, as long as you don’t add any salt to the soil. In addition, you should water the wildflowers only when the soil is dry or wilted. You can do this by using a sprinkler or hose.