Wildflowers are miraculous vibrant gifts of nature, thriving under every condition under the sun with each new blossom that pups up. However, each individual flower has different requirements to succeed and flourish.
Fortunately, you can cultivate a wildflower haven and recreate nature’s colorful miracles in your yard with the proper know-how and quality tools. Read on for six tips for planting a perfectly curated wildflower garden.
Use quality seeds
You might think all wildflower seeds are created equal, considering they grow without consistent nurturing in the wild. However, your garden will bloom best with high-quality wildflower seeds appropriate for your climate zone.
For example, you can plant much more delicate plants in California than in Minnesota because of the latter’s harsh winters and extreme year-round conditions. Fortunately, the USDA provides a detailed hardiness map to determine your ideal zone, which you can use to help plan your garden’s flowers.
Choose the right time and place to plant
Knowing your local growth zone is also important for deciding what time of year to plant your wildflowers. In some areas, blossoms will fare best if planted in the spring. However, other wildflowers grow better when planted in the fall, where they’ll lie dormant until spring.
Regardless of where you live, wildflowers universally love sunlight, so plant accordingly. It might help to consider a raised bed if landscaping is an issue in the sunniest area of your yard.
Use a wildflower soil mix
In addition to regular guarding soil, you’ll want to include super phosphate, sand, and compost in your wildflower mix to produce healthy, robust root systems. Gardening experts often recommend mixing sand into your seed mixture to help you scatter the tiny seeds more evenly.
Till and rake the soil
Wildflowers need their soil tilled about 3 inches down, and they tend to grow better when planted in the grooves left by a rake. The grooves help keep the seeds in place until they take root in the soil.
Water early on and in drought
Although wildflowers don’t need regular watering by hand once established, they’ll need hand watering to help the seeds germinate during the beginning stages. It’s also good to keep an eye on the weather to avoid under-or-over-watering during fluctuating weather periods.
Watch for weeds
The biggest challenge in growing wildflowers is keeping them free of weeds. Weeding might not be the most engaging tending task—however, it’s critical for productive growth and an excellent source of outdoor exercise. Additionally, It’s a chance to get to know your garden up close and personal.
Before you go
A beautiful wildflower garden takes time and effort, but it’s certainly a goal within reach. In addition, recent research suggests that gardening, as a form of ecotherapy, can even help address health issues like depression or post-traumatic stress disorder.
Of course, you don’t need a health condition to benefit from cultivating a wildflower garden and watching pollinators flock to it. So, whip out your gardening gloves and get digging.
