Tips For Planting And Growing Wildflower Seeds

Wildflower meadows are one of the UK’s most beautiful landscapes and are becoming increasingly popular in our gardens. Wildflower seed mixes are ideal for those who want to add some vibrancy to their garden and encourage wildlife to visit throughout the summer. But getting the perfect bloom comes down to timing, care and choosing the right wildflower seed mix.

Wildflower meadows are a creative and colourful alternative to traditional lawns and borders and often provide a wild display for many summer months. True wildflower meadows are made up of a mixture of wildflower seeds that blossom into perennial flowers that come back year after year. Wildflowers not only provide a stunning display for your garden, but they are also a vital food source for pollinators such as bees and butterflies, not to mention providing a year round habitat for local wildlife.

Planting wildflowers will bring a heap of benefits to your garden and local wildlife and there are plenty of ways to do it. From laying wildflower turf, or starting right from a seed mix, but no matter which option you choose, it’s essential to create the right conditions for the seeds to grow.

Here are some top tips for planting and growing wildflower seeds.

Choose the best wildflower seed mixes

Picking the right wildflower seed mixture is essential. Not only to ensure you attract the wildlife and colours you want, but to effectively grow in the soil you have available. Whilst many wildflowers can grow virtually anywhere, some wildflower species have an easier time growing in certain conditions than others and this is something you should take into consideration when buying the right seed mixture. By selecting a seed mix that is well matched to your garden, you will achieve the best long-term results year in and year out.

One of the main reasons that avid gardeners choose to buy wildflower seed mixtures is the variety of choice. Products like the Wetland and Water Meadow Seed Mix allows you to easily plant a mixture of wildflowers that thrive in damp, moist and wetland soils. Or you could plant the Pollinators Mix which is adored by bees and butterflies alike.

Annual Wildflower Seed Mix

Annual wildflower seed mixes contain the nation's favourite cornfield annual wildflowers for an ornamental display each year. These seeds are usually the easiest wildflowers to sow and grow in your garden and will begin to flower eight weeks after sowing.

Perennial Wildflower Seed Mix

Different from annual seeds, perennial wildflower seeds contain predominantly species that do not die after flowering. These wildflowers create a long lasting wildflower area as well as winter habitats and food. Ideal for sowing on their own or mixed with other species to create your own wildflower mixture.

Woodland and Heavy Shade Seed Mix

These seed mixes contain UK native annual and perennial wildflowers that thrive in shaded areas of land and can be typically found growing naturally in forested or crowded areas. The best wildflower seed mixes for shaded areas are ideal for ornamental and landscaping situations.

When to plant wildflower seeds

While wildflowers may be easier to grow than other garden plants and flowers, timing is important. Depending on the mix, planting your seeds should occur during autumn as this will give you the earliest display of wildflowers. This doesn’t apply to all wildflower seeds though as some seeds can be sown throughout the year with bloom usually taking place after 60-80 days so very early spring could work better. It may be the case that the first bloom may be after the first winter of the seeds being in the soil.

The time of year that you plant is largely down to the quality of your soil. Growing wildflowers is a lot easier in poor soil conditions and there are a number of steps to prepare the bed. You can prepare your sowing area by starving the soil of nutrients - which is done by stripping away the top 5-10 cm of soil. It is important that you clear the soil bed of any existing grass, plants, mulch and weed for successful germination.

On lighter soils, seeds sown in the Autumn generally germinate and establish quickly, although some will not appear and bloom until the following spring. This delay makes it advisable to wait until March or April on heavy soils. When water logging occurs, it can cause the seed and seedlings to rot.

The Best UK Wildflower Seed Provider

Smart Seeds are proud to be fifth generation seed experts and sell top-quality, good value wildflower seeds to gardeners all over the UK. If you’re looking to brighten up your lawn or outdoor space with some wildflowers, Smart Seeds have you covered with our fast growing wildflower seeds and a variety of wildflower seed mixes. Our seed mixes are carefully developed and expertly selected to provide a wide range of flowers, perfect for pollinators and habitat creation.

Our headquarters is located in the East of England, from where we produce and distribute seeds to growers throughout the UK. We carefully select, evaluate and produce high quality seed for all your gardening or landscaping needs. If you have any questions or queries about our seeds or what we do, one of our experts will be happy to advise you.