What I Learned Planting Wildflowers
When we moved in last year we basically had a blank canvas. This property hadn’t been cared for in years, so we knew we had our work cut out for us, but we didn’t know how much. We’re a year into living here and we’re finally grasping all that needs to be done, and the work that will come along with our huge goals.
When I purchased 7 lbs of wildflower seeds last year, it was actually a pretty naive thing to do. I had no idea what I was doing or the work that would have to happen, I just knew that when I looked at that field, I wanted it full of flowers. I see goals as visions usually, so when I looked at the empty field, I really only saw possibility. I didn’t know what 7 lbs of seeds looked like or that we would have to find a way to remove so much grass, or even how to cast the seeds for even distribution. I purchased the seeds anyway, I wanted the flowers. This is often how I work, kind of a ready, fire, aim sort of thing… which may surprise some people because I think people think I’m more organized than that. Well, surprise, I’m not. Lol
I bought the seeds and I started to watch videos on what to do and then, as the time came closer to plant, we started discussing how we would remove the grass. Since we just ran full speed into a homesteading journey over here, we actually ended up planting our flower seeds a little late in the season too. We ended up renting a rototiller, which I don’t recommend unless absolutely necessary as it messes up the ecosystem living in your soil. I recommend being a better planner and making sure you know the work cut out for you before you plan to plant that many seeds. Don’t be me, learn from my mistakes.
The tiller did the job though and we planted the seeds. We learned that you mix the seeds in sand to allow for an even casting of the flowers. What we didn’t do properly though was measure the space. We estimated the size of the space and we were wrong… by quite a bit. We had some bare areas in the back of both sides because we were about 3 lbs short of what we actually needed. So, definitely measure the space you plan to grow.
Regardless of the things we did wrong, I was still so excited by the results. The flowers were stunning and we all enjoyed looking at them for the 2.5 months that they bloomed. Traffic slowed to enjoy the blossoms, and people came to walk through the field too. I’m excited to do it again this year, but this time, we’ve learned some lessons and we’ll also be planting them on time!
