Steps for planting a successful wildflower meadow.

1. Select a site that drains well. Oftentimes we tend to plant in areas that are low-lying or poorly drained, thinking that the wild flowers will flourish under these moist conditions. Moist locations are usually very weedy, because as water drains through the area, thousands of weed seeds are deposited onto the site that were collected upstream. Remember...most wild flowers thrive in well drained soils.

2. Use a herbicide to eliminate any vegetation which may compete with your wildflowers (Optional).

3. Mow the existing or dead vegetation as short as possible. Collect the clippings and remove the material from the site.

4. To prepare the seed bed, rake or lightly till the surface of the soil to a maximum depth of one inch. Shallow soil preparation will limit the disturbance of dormant weed seed.

5. It is helpful to thoroughly mix a carrier such as masonry sand, perlite, potting soil, etc., with the seed to increase volume and aid in even distribution over your site. We recommend a minimum of 4 parts of inert material to 1 part of seed.

5-a. Sowing a pinch of seed in a flowerpot or cup filled with potting soil will provide you with a transportable specimen to take to the meadow for easy identification.

6. Broadcast one half of your seed as uniformly as possible over the prepared area. Sow the remaining seed in a direction perpendicular to the initial sowing.

7. Press the seed into the soil by walking or rolling over the newly planted area. Do not cover the seed any deeper than 1/16th of an inch. Some of the seeds will remain visible.

NOTE: DO NOT plant wild flowers in clover or grasses that grow during the winter (example: annual rye grass or fescues) as this vegetation will be too aggressive to allow the wild flowers to become established.