When should I sow wildflowers?

When should I sow wildflowers? featured image

Wildflowers make a colourful addition to any garden and once sown, are extremely easy to maintain.

Knowing when to sow wildflower seeds, however, can be a little confusing.  To help out, we’ve created a little summary of the best time to get sowing.

Sowing in autumn

The ideal conditions of autumn are often overlooked for sowing wildflowers as general garden maintenance and sowing season winds down. Yet, autumn is an ideal time to sow wildflowers, and there’s no shortage of reasons.

For one, the climate and weather in September are usually perfect for sowing; the extra moisture in the air helps get the germination underway, and the winter frost breaks the dormancy of wildflower seeds, which further speeds up the germination process. Don’t worry; we keep our seeds in cold conditions during winter, so if you don’t manage to get your seeds in the ground before spring, it won’t cause any problems with the sowing process.

The migration of birds can also be a benefit for your seedlings as there’s less chance of them being scooped up and carried away to an unknown fate. Sowing in autumn means you’ll be able to plan ahead and leave time in spring to tackle any other gardening jobs you may have whilst also enjoying a pre-prepared and full showing of wildflowers!

Sowing in spring

If, like us, you just can’t wait to get stuck into creating the perfect wildflower meadow, then there’s no reason you can’t make a start at the beginning of spring.

Whilst sowing in spring means you’ll miss out on an April bloom, there will still be visible results throughout the summer. Lawn care often ramps up in early April, and sowing at this time can coincide well with other gardening routines; plus, with the first of the years good weather making an appearance, it’s another great excuse to get out and about in your garden.

When shouldn’t I sow?

This may be a better question to ask as wildflowers can technically be sown all year round; however, we wouldn’t recommend sowing in winter for a few reasons.

The low temperatures can cause the ground to freeze, making it more difficult to prepare a good seed bed for your wildflowers to call home. Many of our mixes also contain grass, whilst wildflowers are very resilient and freezing temperatures actually benefit the seeds, the same can’t be said for grass seed which will fail to germinate if not sown in temperatures above 8 degrees.

So, despite wildflowers’ ability to withstand harsh conditions, it’s still best to sow our mixes in spring or autumn.