Peanut,
I called the county co-ordinator for the Penn State Master Gardeners because she has a large piece of land and lots of wildflowers so she should know. Her suggestions;
1 wildflower seeds are tiny so it is easy to over concentrate an area with seeds out of a packet. She suggests getting a clean plastic wide mouth jar, mayonnaise works, and filling it half way with clean dry sand (like play sand from home depot) and adding the seeds. Roll it around to mix it up well and use a hand seed spreader to spread them evenly.
2. Since naturally planted wildflower seeds do not have the luxury of being buried in soil they need to be sown on the surface and not buried. They need sunlight to germinate.
3. Fall planting is best up here in northern PA and she suggests waiting for the weather forecast to predict a few wet days for the best germination. Not that they will germinate in winter but they will settle down onto the soil surface and be hidden from birds by the standing dry grasses nearby.
That’s how she would start out. This doesn’t address poor soil or soil pH but wildflowers are a rough bunch and thrive in many different conditions.
Hope this helps
Rick
I called the county co-ordinator for the Penn State Master Gardeners because she has a large piece of land and lots of wildflowers so she should know. Her suggestions;
1 wildflower seeds are tiny so it is easy to over concentrate an area with seeds out of a packet. She suggests getting a clean plastic wide mouth jar, mayonnaise works, and filling it half way with clean dry sand (like play sand from home depot) and adding the seeds. Roll it around to mix it up well and use a hand seed spreader to spread them evenly.
2. Since naturally planted wildflower seeds do not have the luxury of being buried in soil they need to be sown on the surface and not buried. They need sunlight to germinate.
3. Fall planting is best up here in northern PA and she suggests waiting for the weather forecast to predict a few wet days for the best germination. Not that they will germinate in winter but they will settle down onto the soil surface and be hidden from birds by the standing dry grasses nearby.
That’s how she would start out. This doesn’t address poor soil or soil pH but wildflowers are a rough bunch and thrive in many different conditions.
Hope this helps
Rick
