PLANTING INSTRUCTIONS FOR WILDFLOWERS AND PRAIRIEGRASSES
Store your seeds in a freezer or an outside building with no heat, in a rodent proof container, (metal or glass) and plant them according to the directions on each package of seeds that you purchased. Seeds can be planted after the end of October in the Fall or early in the Spring. Seed must go through a freeze cycle, so if you order in the Spring, we will have stratified it for you. Seeds will not germinate until after the soil temperature has reached 70 degrees, so be patient.
FALL PREPARATION:
In preparing the area, we suggest that you cut back the area with a mower or weed whip to shorten the material that you will need to burn with Round Up BEFORE it goes dormant, this is important so the Round Up will move through the plant system and kill the roots. If you choose to use plastic instead of Round Up, water the area lightly at this time and then stake out the plastic. Wait about 2 weeks and check if everything is brown and dead. After the material is brown and dead, you can rake the dead material to a compost pile or pile it and burn it. DONT plant your seeds now, even though the site looks ready. You must wait until the spring when the new weed seeds germinate and eliminate them! And, NEVER till a hillside! Tilling an area isnt necessary in preparation for a wildflower/grass planting, tilling is only needed in extreme cases. Also by NOT tilling, you are leaving the roots of the dead plants intact in the ground you will keep the area from eroding in the Spring.
Let this area set over winter. In the Spring after the ground temperature has reached over 70 degrees, you will have a fine crop of green baby weeds and grasses. When they are about 2-3 tall, you can now burn them off with Round up OR cover with black plastic to kill the baby weeds and break their life cycle. They are tender and easy to kill off at this time. You may only get about 75% of them, but it is a great start over what you would be planting your new seeds into without any preparation.
In 5-7 days after you have sprayed or covered the area with black plastic, you will see brown, dead baby weeds. At this time, rake the area and remove the dead plant material. You will be raking only about ½ deep when you are doing that. Remove the seeds that you have stored in the freezer and mix them with 10 parts of sand to make sowing them easier. Most people waste their seed by planting them too thick. After you have sown the seed, walk over the area and make sure that you have pressed the seed into the soil and have good seed to soil contact. DO NOT RAKE the area after you have sown the seed. Do not cover the wildflower seed with soil. The seeds need light to germinate and soil contact to grow. Water the area well. Because you have waited for the weed seeds to germinate and be killed by the application of the Round up, you will probably be close to the end of May, early June. After sowing your wildflowers and grasses, you will see them starting to germinate in 10-14 days. Some perennials will take as long as 28 days to germinate after the ground temperature has reached 70 degrees. Keep the area moist during this time. The seedlings are vulnerable when the temperature is hot and the soil is dry. They can dry out quickly. Keep them moist.
During the first growing season, the perennial grasses and wildflowers will have little upward growth. During the first year perennials are developing a deep root system for their survival. They will have upward growth during the second year and will flower during their second year of growth. If, during the first year, you find that you did not eliminate all the weeds in your area, it may seem that things are out of control. DO NOT give up as you can still save your area. Simply keep the weeds and competing growth cut to no taller than 12 tall during that first year so that the wildflower/grass seedlings have sufficient light to develop. You will lose only your annual flowers, but your perennial flowers and grasses will be establishing their root systems, and that is what you are really trying to establish.
SPRING PREPARATION:
Since you have missed the Fall preparation, you are now at the point where, as early in the Spring as you can get out and work in the area, cut back all the growth, pull it out, rake it out, or burn the area if possible, anything to get the major old growth out of the way. DO NOT TILL. It is important to NOT skip this first step. When the weather is beginning to warm up, you can water the area, if it is dry, to encourage the germination of the weeds seeds that you have now allowed the light to get to. When the ground temperature is over 70 degrees, you will have a fine crop of green baby weeds/grasses. When they are about 2-3 tall, you can now burn them off with Round up OR cover with black plastic to kill the baby weeds and break their life cycle. You may only get about 75% of them, but it is a great start over what you would be planting your new seeds into without any preparation.
In 10-14 days after you have sprayed or covered the area with black plastic, you will see brown, dead baby weeds. At this time, rake the area and remove the dead plant material. You will be raking only about ½ deep when you are doing that. Remove the seeds that you have stored in the freezer and mix them with 10 parts of sand to make sowing them easier. Most people waste their seed by planting them too thick. After you have sown the seed, walk over the area and make sure that you have pressed the seed into the soil and have good seed to soil contact. DO NOT RAKE the area after you have sown the seed. Do not cover the wildflower seed with soil. The seeds need light to germinate and soil contact to grow. Water the area well. Because you have waited for the weed seeds to germinate and be killed by the application of the Round up, you will probably be close to the end of May, early June. After sowing your wildflowers and grasses, you will see them starting to germinate in 10-14 days. Some perennials will take as long as 28 days to germinate after the ground temperature has reached 70 degrees. Keep the area moist during this time. The seedlings are vulnerable when the temperature is hot and the soil is dry. They can dry out quickly. Keep them moist.
During the first growing season, the perennial grasses and wildflowers will have little upward growth. During the first year perennials are developing a deep root system for their survival. They will have upward growth during the second year and will flower during their second year of growth. If, during the first year, you find that you did not eliminate all the weeds in your area, it may seem that things are out of control. DO NOT give up as you can still save your area. Simply keep the weeds and competing growth cut to no taller than 12 tall during that first year so that the wildflower/grass seedlings have sufficient light to develop. You will lose only your annual flowers, but your perennial flowers and grasses will be establishing their root systems, and that is what you are really trying to establish.
Contact Petersen Wildflowers if you have any further questions regarding planting your seeds. 320-838-3367. Office hours are 9 am to 5 pm Monday Friday.
February 2008
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