Sowing wildflower seed

A bit of a conundrum...I work as a volunteer for my local Millennium Green, giving them advice on various things. I took some time out to have a baby and in my absence a lot has happened. One of the developments involves reinstating land around the pathways and to this end, they have purchased £400 of perennial wildflower seed 'Scottish mix' from Landlife. ideally it would be autumn-sown but the site lies in a floodplain and has already been underwater this week. If they sow it now, the chances are it'll all be washed away. The soil is also really claggy and if they rotavate it'll become a quagmire. Waiting 'til Spring might not mean avoiding the floods but it could be a bit drier however the seed probably needs a cold snap to germinate.

In short - sow now or in Spring?

Build each seed a miniature boat or attach little lead weights to each one?

Use a gel/spray to apply the seed? Is this viable on a small site and can it be done easily by volunteers if we can hire in the right kit?

The seed is currently residing in someone's spare bedroom...

Has anyone else had experience of this type of soggy wildflower area? Any thoughts would be welcome.

Cheers

Lara

Thanks - last time they tried to establish a meadow, they deep ploughed and brought up all sorts of problems. They like playing with heavy machines and sprayers - I have to calm them down a wee bit sometimes! I'll see if it can be done in the next few weeks but we'll have to spray off the existing rough grass first in some of the areas then hope it does't rain too much.

James Hewetson-Brown said:

It would be much better to sow now, as soon as possible. Late summer is the best time for establishing a wildflower meadow. It is important to kill off any weeds to give the emerging seedlings some chance of getting established. £400 does not get you that much wild flower seed and so the area does not sound too huge. A simple (but hard work!) way of getting a tilth is to set about the area with a heavy rake or two. A tilth is very important to get the seed to germinate, but it does not need to be that deep and the less disturbance of the soil and therefore the weeds in it, the better. One way of spreading the risk would be to sow two thirds of the seed mix now and top up in the spring if necessary, into bare areas. A general seed mix is likely to have a variety of species and some of these are likely to to better in a wet area and those that like being dry will not do so well, but that is the nature of a wildflower meadow! I would take the risk and seed it now (and talk to us about turf if it is washed away - you can lay it in the winter and it will be flowering next spring!!!)

Replies

joseph rudwick September 10, 2011 at 1:53pm

may sound labour intense but its the only way chucking seads down does not give you the best possible meadow the best way is to bring eact plant up indoors then plant them. in that way you get a good mix of wild flowers. or you can by meadow turf
James Hewetson-Brown September 10, 2011 at 6:13pm

It would be much better to sow now, as soon as possible. Late summer is the best time for establishing a wildflower meadow. It is important to kill off any weeds to give the emerging seedlings some chance of getting established. £400 does not get you that much wild flower seed and so the area does not sound too huge. A simple (but hard work!) way of getting a tilth is to set about the area with a heavy rake or two. A tilth is very important to get the seed to germinate, but it does not need to be that deep and the less disturbance of the soil and therefore the weeds in it, the better. One way of spreading the risk would be to sow two thirds of the seed mix now and top up in the spring if necessary, into bare areas. A general seed mix is likely to have a variety of species and some of these are likely to to better in a wet area and those that like being dry will not do so well, but that is the nature of a wildflower meadow! I would take the risk and seed it now (and talk to us about turf if it is washed away - you can lay it in the winter and it will be flowering next spring!!!)
PRO

Lara Hurley September 13, 2011 at 9:26am

We talked about that option but no-one has the space to do it on the scale we need. We'll keep some seed and sow a bit into trays to plant as plugs if we can persuade the chap who has space to get rid of his teasel collection...

joseph rudwick said:

may sound labour intense but its the only way chucking seads down does not give you the best possible meadow the best way is to bring eact plant up indoors then plant them. in that way you get a good mix of wild flowers. or you can by meadow turf
PRO

Lara Hurley September 13, 2011 at 9:30am

Cheers - it's already boggy and a bit compacted. We could rotavate then rake the top if it dries out a bit but with the gales and rain at the moment...There is one area that is on a slope where establishment should work if we do it now but the rest is liable to flood again. If I had been involved earlier on I would have advised turf or impregnated geotextile fabric that we could peg down.

John www.acegardenservices.co.uk said:

The soil needs to be raked to a fine tilth before sowing so it sounds as though the Autumn option is out. I am not sure what is in the 'Scottish mix' as I can't find it on the Landlife site, or are you just inferring that you have chosen the wet lovers.

Many wildflowers do prefer well drain soil, as I am sure you know, and those that don't, probably have not passed their lifeguard training. So will the perennials survive the following winter if you plant in the spring.
PRO

Lara Hurley September 13, 2011 at 9:33am

Thanks - last time they tried to establish a meadow, they deep ploughed and brought up all sorts of problems. They like playing with heavy machines and sprayers - I have to calm them down a wee bit sometimes! I'll see if it can be done in the next few weeks but we'll have to spray off the existing rough grass first in some of the areas then hope it does't rain too much.

James Hewetson-Brown said:

It would be much better to sow now, as soon as possible. Late summer is the best time for establishing a wildflower meadow. It is important to kill off any weeds to give the emerging seedlings some chance of getting established. £400 does not get you that much wild flower seed and so the area does not sound too huge. A simple (but hard work!) way of getting a tilth is to set about the area with a heavy rake or two. A tilth is very important to get the seed to germinate, but it does not need to be that deep and the less disturbance of the soil and therefore the weeds in it, the better. One way of spreading the risk would be to sow two thirds of the seed mix now and top up in the spring if necessary, into bare areas. A general seed mix is likely to have a variety of species and some of these are likely to to better in a wet area and those that like being dry will not do so well, but that is the nature of a wildflower meadow! I would take the risk and seed it now (and talk to us about turf if it is washed away - you can lay it in the winter and it will be flowering next spring!!!)
joseph rudwick September 13, 2011 at 10:27am

do it the permaculture way
PRO

Lara Hurley October 4, 2011 at 2:21pm

If only...'Perma what?' would be the response. We've now had some added issues with planning too - this plot truly thickens.

joseph rudwick said:

do it the permaculture way