Once established Wildflower Meadows will give you many months of vibrant blooms, with only a moderate amount of continuing attention.
How TO SOW your Wildflower Seeds
This proven procedure applies to all our Mixes We have mixes that can be sown almost anywhere in Australia. If in doubt please check with me first. Tasmania & Western Australia call for specific supply requirements that need to be satisfied before we can send.
Annual Mixes sow from Spring to early Summer Perennial and our New Annual/ Perennial Mixes sow at any time other than the Winter Months. AUTUMN IS PREFERRED.
1) Preparing your site:
Measure the area in square metres, this will determine the quantity of seed mixes you will need to order.
Each of the mixes has its own Recommended Showing Rate Guide.
- The lower number is when you have a well prepared Site.
- The higher number helps to overcome sites that are not so good.
2) Remove rubbish
This next step is to rid the future seed bed of old existing and buried seeds and weeds. Then treat with ‘Round Up’ and when the treated plants have turned fully yellow remove all the debris.
IMPORTANT:
If you have time, for the future success of your meadow flowers,
repeat this procedure if more weeds or grasses appear.
This good preparation will help you achieve stunning result!
3) The Sowing
To your area add:
a starter fertilizer and any nutrients that may have been advised by a soil test.
Then dig, rotary hoe and/or scarify and rake the soil to achieve a friable seed bed ready for sowing.
Since the very many species (varieties) in the mix will contain tiny seeds (e.g. 9,000 poppy seeds to 1 gram how small is that) you will need a “carrier” either, Dry clean river sand or Vermiculite.
For the home gardener I suggest:
Vermiculite, this will also keep the seeds warm and attract moisture, which helps germination. Pour the carrier (sand or Vermiculite) into a suitable container
4) "Cross Hatching"
4.1) Open the pack of seed and empty ALL OF THE CONTENTS into the container.
4.2) Now hand mix again and again until you are sure that all of the many species in the mix are evenly spread throughout the carrier. Because the seeds are heavier than the carrier, you will need to wet the mix with a fine spray of water until it is firmly damp, not wet. Now the seeds will be clinging to the carrier.
4.3) Now mix again and again. This will also continue to ensure the even spread of the species.
4.4) Take half of the damp mix and spread over the entire area, then take the other half and spread that over the area in the opposite direction. We call this “cross-hatching”
You can use your hands or a suitable sieve or cooking shaker to do the spreading. This should ensure a good even spread of all the species.
We advice you:
Practice this cross hatching first, with just the carrier on 1 sq.m of clean dry hard surface, until you feel confident, because you will not get a 2nd chance if you make a mistake and the seeds are in the soil. This will also help you decide how much carrier you will need to cover your total area.
5) Protect your seeds
Cover the seeds with a fine layer of top soil and a layer of sugar cane mulch.
This will protect them from the hot sun and drying winds.
It is essential that you now roll the area to ensure that the seeds have good contract with the soil.
If you have not got the use of a roller, use your feet to firm up the surface.
6) Make it Moist
Now water the area with a fine spray.
Keeping the seeded area moist is most important.
It is so vital that you may have to water twice a day. If there is a continuing hot sun.
Once you see your seeds germinating, again roll the area to maintain that GOOD SEED TO SOIL CONTACT.
AFTER CARE
In the early developing stages, if you haven’t got irrigation soak them well, once or twice a week.
You can ease off later but if they show early signs of drooping, give them a soaking.
You should remove any weeds and grasses, by hand.
However, if grasses become a real problem, at any stage, then use the chemical herbicide, Fusilade Forte 128EC.
This will only kill the grasses leaving your Meadow Flowers room to bloom.
Maurice Kennedy
Meadow Flowers Australia
Founder
After 40 exciting, tumultuous years living in Sydney, we moved to peaceful Bowral to be near our family. There I started “Velvet Lawns Pty”, to upgrade our own, rather shabby lawns and then to successfully create new outstanding Lawns for other people. One of my sons, David, who had just returned from a visit to England, teased me “Lawns are out. Too much maintenance, they are all into Meadow Flowers now, What do you think of that?” “Not a bad idea,said I.”
Within 48 hours I was in touch with a remarkable Lady called, Sue France who ran a Company called Pictorial Meadows. Her story inspired and helped me start “Meadow Flowers” in 2014 almost as a hobby.
Since we moved to the Gold Coast, to be near more of my very large family, then I have found that being involved with this kind of business is itself a delight in so many ways. This hobby has made me realise, that there is a great need and potential market for the Wildflower Mixes that we have modestly promoted so far.
Meadow Flowers aim to be one of the major suppliers of wildflower seed Mixturesin Australia. Working with a personal association with our customers and guiding them on how best to achieve wonderful results!
