How to Install a Native Wildflower Meadow
We’ve been regenerating the land at my new home for almost 6 months. While there’s still so much work to be done to rewild this landscape, I'm proud of how much it’s evolved in just one season. We’ve demolished a shed, cut down dead trees, installed a flood irrigation system and a kitchen garden, put in a hugelkultur berm, sowed a clover field, and planted an orchard. Not shown on my blog are the hundreds of hours we’ve spent hand picking invasive weeds!
In nature, winter is the season of rest, and I’m very much looking forward to winding down our projects as the weather turns. But before we can fully turn in for the season, there's a couple more things that need to happen in the garden. On this drizzly autumn weekend I’m completing one of our last big garden projects before the snow flies: installing our native wildflower meadow.
This is the project I’ve been most excited about taking on since we moved into this old farmhouse. As soon as I saw the size of the property I knew that my gardening endeavors needed to be focused on reviving the life of the land and making it as wild as possible. As most homeowner’s know, yard maintenance can be time consuming and expensive. A perfectly manicured yard works well if you have a small lot, or a lot of help. We have neither, so embracing a wild natural garden is truly the best approach we can take.
I’m obsessed with the natural gardenscapes designed by dutch garden designer Piet Oudolf. His designs are heavily influencing the landscape I’m working to create in my own yard. There are a couple elements of his designs that are both beautiful and sustainable which is inspiring my own native wildflower meadow installation.
The Benefits of Native Plants
The first is the use of native plants, which is a wonderful biodynamic gardening method. Native plants (plants that grow naturally in an ecosystem) require less water to survive than non-native plants, which makes them drought tolerant. As climate change worsens this is something I need plan to for in my re-landscaping project. Native perennial plants have root systems that grow 3-5x deeper than annual plants, which means they benefit the ecosystem and the earth’s top soil in a myriad of ways. They provide food sources and habitats for pollinators, insects, and wildlife, and they require significantly less maintenance than many non-native plants. A landscape lush with native grasses and wildflowers will make my orchard and veggie garden hum with life while also eliminating a lot of work for me.
A Wild Natural Garden Aesthetic
Not everyone is a fan of a wild natural looking landscape. Some folks love the perfectly manicured and domesticated garden that doesn’t sport a single weed in sight. I’m not one of those people. I dream of having a wild garden that is full of wildlife, grasses, flowers, and berries ready for the picking. Nature is the most perfect artist in my eyes. I want a yard pulsating with life and dynamically changing as the seasons shift. I want to forage in my backyard and wildcraft with the weeds. While my land is positioned square in the middle of bustling suburbia, I want to feel miles away where the country meets the wild. A native wildflower meadow will rewild this land in a significant and stunning way.
When is the best time to plant a wildflower meadow?
Autumn is the best time to plant a wildflower meadow. In nature, plants drop their seeds to the ground in autumn. The fall winds take them away or foraging animals brush up against the plant, then carry away the seeds to a new location. The rain and snow covers fallen seeds slightly with soil and chills them until spring. Most wild grass and flower seeds need to undergo a scarification or stratification process in order to germinate. They simply need to be cold and wet, or frozen in darkness for a period of time before they’ll germinate. This makes autumn the perfect time to scatter wildflower seeds in the garden, then let nature work her magic.
Like every other endeavor in gardening, this is not an instant gratification project. This meadow will remain a frozen field of dirt throughout winter. Come early-spring, the seeds will germinate and the meadow will spring to life.
What type of Wildflower Seed Mix is best?
Native wildflower seed mixes are readily available at many local seed companies. A quick google search should reveal multiple options. For my native wildflower meadow I elected to sow a mix of native grasses and flowers gathered from plants in the rocky mountains. Once these plants are established early next summer, I likely won’t need to tend them much, if at all. I also mixed in another bag of seeds that will support hummingbirds and pollinators so I can increase the biodiversity on my land. Many of these wild plants will introduce a variety of colors, textures, and sizes to the yard that will shapeshift as the seasons progress. Some plants are medicinal wild herbs, others are showy flowers. You can bet I’ll share the progress of the meadow as it grows all next year.
How to Install a Wildflower Meadow
Kill all the weeds throughout summer
This is the most important step in the process. If the weeds are not killed, they’ll take over the meadow and all the work will be for not.
Solarize weeds with a tarp
One sustainable way to do this is to lay a large plastic sheet or tarp over the area and leave it there for a few months. Secure the edges down with rocks. This will solarize and kill the weeds.
Spray a weed killerAnother option is to spray the weeds with weed killer. Because my meadow is so large, this is the option I chose. I used a weed killer meant for organic gardening that doesn’t kill insects or have harmful chemicals in it. Every few weeks throughout the summer, spray the weeds so they continually die back. By early fall they should be gone.
Layer on a weed barrier if necessary
If every single weed isn’t totally gone (roots and all), then it’s best to lay down a weed barrier. Because my weed killer wasn’t loaded with a lot of harmful chemicals it didn’t fully kill all of the invasive bindweed. So it became necessary for me to layer on a natural weed barrier. Landscaping fabric is ineffective and expensive, however cardboard is cheap and extremely effective. Cardboard will break down overtime and add carbon biomass to the soil, but before it breaks down it will kill the weeds below. I sourced free cardboard from local classifieds and personal shipments. Layer on cardboard 2-4 inches thick over the area to kill the weeds. It’s also a great idea to prime the soil by watering it deeply, before layering on cardboard. I let nature help me out and did this project on a drizzly weekend in between spurts of rain. Sure it’s a little muddy, but what gardening project doesn’t leave you a little dirty, anyway?
Layer on fresh soil and compost
A 50:50 mix of soil and compost layered on 4-6 inches thick will create an excellent bed for the seeds to germinate and root into come early spring.
Mix wildflower seed with sand
Mixing the seed with sand helps you see what areas you’ve seeded as you toss the seeds over the soil. This will help you seed consistently and avoid empty spots.
Broadcast seed mix over soil
Slowly walk and toss handfuls of the seed and sand mixture over the soil.
Gently tamp down or lightly rake the seeds into the soil
Using a rake, gently tamp down the seeds into the soil. This will help the seeds embed and latch onto the soil which increases the germination rate. Don’t cover the seeds deeply; many wildflower seeds need to remain on the surface of the soil because (when the temperatures are right) they’ll need sunlight to germinate.
Water if necessary
If the fall and winter season is dry you may need to water the area every few days or once a week until natural precipitation increases. To work in collaboration with nature, do this project right before consistent rain or snow storms hit your area.
Spring 2022 Update
The wildflower meadow is coming in and I couldn’t be more excited! I’m equal parts nervous as well. I have multiple concerns. I’m concerned that windblown weed seeds will land here, germinate, and crowd out the wildflower seeds. Wild quail populations are robust around here and we have an established covey that nests just beyond our fence. I’ve seen them regularly graze on the germinating seeds. I’m concerned that they’ll dry up in the hot sun - we’ve had a handful of unusually hot and dry days this spring. I’m also concerned we’ll have a late frost that will kill germinating seeds at a critical time. I’m not allowing anyone to walk on this, including animals, which is a challenge with dogs! I’m only walking on it (light footed and gingerly, I might add) when I need to adjust the sprinkler head.
This is a large swath of land to have fail, so I’m keeping a keen eye on it and sprinkling new wildflower seeds every few weeks so it grows in thick. I’ve had to supplemental water the meadow with an overhead sprinkler during dry spells. In this critical stage, the key to getting this meadow grow in thick is to keep the soil moist constantly untill the plants are established and their roots can penetrate the cardboard barrier to forage for water and nutrients. I’m watering in short increments (about 10 minutes each) 4 times per day. I water in the early morning, early afternoon, late afternoon when its most hot, and then in late evening.
Spring Equinox March 21, 2022
April 22nd, 2022
May 13, 2022
May 28, 2022
I’d like to note that the meadow has grown enough that I can visibly see patchy spots - meaning some areas are growing in thick, while other areas are sparse. Like most young things that grow, I think we’ve entered the stage of awkwardness in the meadow. It’s still young and trying root itself securely in the world. It’s a bit lanky and unbalanced, much like the limbs and voices of an adolescence coming of age. In time it will mature and fill out, but I’m appreciating this moment for what it is. I’ve purchased more seeds to re-seed those patchy locations. I’ve been watering the meadow everyday, sometimes multiple times a day to keep it moist during hot, dry, and windy days. We’re already seeing our first blooms of bachelor buttons, and soon enough the poppies will explode too. I can also see yarrow and daisy taking root as well many other unidentifiable plants. I’m pleased to see that weeds are not growing through the multiple layers of cardboard. If I can get those patchy spots to germinate and get established before July (when the extensively dry heat begins) then I’m confident this meadow will be a major success.
June 6th, 2022
Summer ‘22 Update
Summer Solstice June 21, 2022
The meadow has fully grown in and each day I’m overjoyed to look upon this section of land. The visual impact is striking but what’s more surprising is that I can hear a difference in the land. This meadow is attracting colorful birds of all sorts, diverse insects, and of course the bees spend their days here too. It’s all abuzz with life! In the kitchen garden I’m seeing insect overflow from the meadow and so I haven’t needed to do any pest management and it’s getting pollinated really well. The garden is truly taking care of itself.
While some minor patchy spots remain I’m confident they’ll grow thick as summer progresses. I no longer need to water daily, rather I’m only watering with an overhead hose sprayer about once per week during hot dry spells. We now have poppies, baby’s breath and black eyed susan blooms adding to the bachelor buttons. The other perennial flowers, such as blue flax and yarrow, are getting established. I’m excited to see this meadow shape-shift in a colorful array of blooms over the next few years.
This rewilding project has easily been the least amount of work with the greatest pay-off so far. I’m absolutely smitten.
