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How to Grow a Garden From Seed
Planting grasses and flowers from seed is economical, minimizes garden maintenance and benefits local wildlife
Benjamin Vogt
2018年1月31日
Using seeds to help design or refresh garden areas isn’t just easy on the wallet, it can also lead to lusher beds that increase wildlife habitat and minimize maintenance time and costs. Plus, when you match the right plant to the right place, flowers and grasses grown from seed can become mature plants in about the same time it takes a larger potted plant to establish and thrive.
When Seeds Work Well in the Garden
1. Fill the gaps in an established bed. Seeds can be used in small or large garden beds to fill sizable gaps between shrubs, perennial flowers or grasses. You could plant in a way that evokes natural patterns, and sow a simple mix of a grass or two along with a few flower species. Consider grass species like sideoats grama (Bouteloua curtipendula, zones 3 to 9) or little bluestem (Schizachyrium scoparium, zones 2 to 9) mixed with coneflowers (Echinacea spp., zones 3 to 9), blazing stars (Liatris spp., zones 3 to 8), milkweed (Asclepias spp., zones 3 to 9) and asters (Symphyotrichum spp., zones 3 to 8). Over time the plants will shift, move and grow where they are the most happy — which can help inform future bed design.
Seeds, particularly of native grasses, can also be used to replace the wood mulch often scattered around and between plants, creating a living green mulch and a more thickly planted bed. This green layer creates wildlife habitat, controls erosion, amends soil and minimizes the occurrence of weeds.
There are native grasses that grow well in sun, part sun and shade, as well as a plethora of native sedges (Carex spp.) for even more variable soil and light conditions.
See guides to growing various native grasses
1. Fill the gaps in an established bed. Seeds can be used in small or large garden beds to fill sizable gaps between shrubs, perennial flowers or grasses. You could plant in a way that evokes natural patterns, and sow a simple mix of a grass or two along with a few flower species. Consider grass species like sideoats grama (Bouteloua curtipendula, zones 3 to 9) or little bluestem (Schizachyrium scoparium, zones 2 to 9) mixed with coneflowers (Echinacea spp., zones 3 to 9), blazing stars (Liatris spp., zones 3 to 8), milkweed (Asclepias spp., zones 3 to 9) and asters (Symphyotrichum spp., zones 3 to 8). Over time the plants will shift, move and grow where they are the most happy — which can help inform future bed design.
Seeds, particularly of native grasses, can also be used to replace the wood mulch often scattered around and between plants, creating a living green mulch and a more thickly planted bed. This green layer creates wildlife habitat, controls erosion, amends soil and minimizes the occurrence of weeds.
There are native grasses that grow well in sun, part sun and shade, as well as a plethora of native sedges (Carex spp.) for even more variable soil and light conditions.
See guides to growing various native grasses
2. Keep costs down in a large planting area. If you have several thousand square feet to plant, or even a few acres, seeding is much more affordable, compared to using potted plants or even plugs. For larger areas I like to go with a 50-to-50 ratio of flower to grass or sedge seed, though some suggest 60 to 40 or 70 to 30.
How you plant will depend on what your aesthetic goal is, as well as if you are fighting erosion or other site conditions that need aggressive plants to get going and fix the site (grasses and sedges have fibrous root zones and are stellar at holding soil in place).
How to Design a Meadow Garden Everyone Will Love
How you plant will depend on what your aesthetic goal is, as well as if you are fighting erosion or other site conditions that need aggressive plants to get going and fix the site (grasses and sedges have fibrous root zones and are stellar at holding soil in place).
How to Design a Meadow Garden Everyone Will Love
3. Replace a lawn with a garden. If you are pretty patient and are willing to wait a few years, or more, for your garden to start looking how you envisioned, seeding can be a great way to convert a lawn to a garden.
Instead of spray-killing a lawn or manually removing sod, stress the lawn area by repeatedly scalping and dethatching over a year. In fall, overseed with grasses and flowers of your choice. You can even bring in potted plants or plugs to create drifts, masses, tiers and levels of perennials, shrubs and trees to create design focal points and give slower-to-establish plants a leg up. Over time your seeded plants will begin to overtake the older lawn, particularly if you have some more aggressive species in there.
Tip: Consider planting some annuals and biennials as temporary cover crops while perennials germinate and become established. Black-eyed Susan (Rudbeckia hirta, zones 3 to 9) and upright prairie coneflower (Ratibida columnifera, zones 3 to 9) are personal favorites, because they tend to diminish in a few years, about the same time new perennial flowers and grasses gather steam. The benefit of these early nurse plants is not only that flowers are made more immediately available to pollinators, but that they will help compete against weeds and start amending the soil with their roots.
How to Replace Your Lawn With a Garden
Instead of spray-killing a lawn or manually removing sod, stress the lawn area by repeatedly scalping and dethatching over a year. In fall, overseed with grasses and flowers of your choice. You can even bring in potted plants or plugs to create drifts, masses, tiers and levels of perennials, shrubs and trees to create design focal points and give slower-to-establish plants a leg up. Over time your seeded plants will begin to overtake the older lawn, particularly if you have some more aggressive species in there.
Tip: Consider planting some annuals and biennials as temporary cover crops while perennials germinate and become established. Black-eyed Susan (Rudbeckia hirta, zones 3 to 9) and upright prairie coneflower (Ratibida columnifera, zones 3 to 9) are personal favorites, because they tend to diminish in a few years, about the same time new perennial flowers and grasses gather steam. The benefit of these early nurse plants is not only that flowers are made more immediately available to pollinators, but that they will help compete against weeds and start amending the soil with their roots.
How to Replace Your Lawn With a Garden
How to Plant
1. Sow your seeds correctly. It’s crucial to know as much as you can about the plants you want to seed, from their growth habits and mature size to how they need to be sown. There are different germination rates for plants, and knowing this is key to understanding when to sow and how much to sow — as well as the other plant seeds to sow them with.
The seeds of some flowers and most grasses only need a little light and warmth to germinate and can be sown on the soil surface in late spring, whereas other seeds require weeks or months of cold, wet weather (cold stratification) to break dormancy and germinate. There are also seeds that may need scarification, often achieved by rubbing them a little bit with sandpaper to help wear down the hard, thick outer coating.
An online search of the Latin plant name and the phrase “germination rate” or “germination code” may provide the information you need; I find seed suppliers often offer this information via online plant profiles. Regional books and plant guides may also help.
Your Essential Seed-Starting Glossary
1. Sow your seeds correctly. It’s crucial to know as much as you can about the plants you want to seed, from their growth habits and mature size to how they need to be sown. There are different germination rates for plants, and knowing this is key to understanding when to sow and how much to sow — as well as the other plant seeds to sow them with.
The seeds of some flowers and most grasses only need a little light and warmth to germinate and can be sown on the soil surface in late spring, whereas other seeds require weeks or months of cold, wet weather (cold stratification) to break dormancy and germinate. There are also seeds that may need scarification, often achieved by rubbing them a little bit with sandpaper to help wear down the hard, thick outer coating.
An online search of the Latin plant name and the phrase “germination rate” or “germination code” may provide the information you need; I find seed suppliers often offer this information via online plant profiles. Regional books and plant guides may also help.
Your Essential Seed-Starting Glossary
In early summer you would sow seeds that will germinate almost immediately. In late fall to mid-winter, depending on your region, you’d sow seeds that need cold stratification.
Blue sage (Salvia azurea, zones 4 to 9) and most prairie grasses could be sown after your area’s last frost date. On the other hand, most milkweed (Asclepias spp) would need one to two months of winter weather (moist and below 40 degrees Fahrenheit) to germinate once spring comes along.
Blue sage (Salvia azurea, zones 4 to 9) and most prairie grasses could be sown after your area’s last frost date. On the other hand, most milkweed (Asclepias spp) would need one to two months of winter weather (moist and below 40 degrees Fahrenheit) to germinate once spring comes along.
2. Prep the beds properly. You’ll need clean soil – minimal mulch or other debris — as seeds need to be touching soil. Generally, small seeds like columbine and aster need to be sown on the soil surface, as they need light to germinate. Larger seeds may need anywhere from a dusting of soil to one-quarter inch of soil.
Generally, there are two ways to sow seeds: The first is to broadcast, scattering the seeds on the surface and letting snow or rain push them into the soil (whether over winter or in spring). The second method is to rake the soil in one direction, sowing and then raking in the other direction. You might then also want to walk on the area or drag a roller bar to press seeds firmly into the soil.
Generally, there are two ways to sow seeds: The first is to broadcast, scattering the seeds on the surface and letting snow or rain push them into the soil (whether over winter or in spring). The second method is to rake the soil in one direction, sowing and then raking in the other direction. You might then also want to walk on the area or drag a roller bar to press seeds firmly into the soil.
3. Choose good neighbors. It’s important to consider how the plant species you’ve chosen spread, and if they will play nice with each other. For example, don’t sow a well-behaved clumping plant next to one that sends out runners or produces copious amounts of seed that germinate easily.
Design a Garden by Looking at Its Roots
Design a Garden by Looking at Its Roots
We’re just touching the tip of the iceberg on how to design a garden with seeds. There’s a lot of nuance to it, so you might want to experiment with a smaller area in your landscape, maybe just a 10-by-10-foot patch. See how it goes, tweak your methods and switch out plants in your mix for larger locations.
More
What to Know About Starting Your First Native Plant Garden
4 Tips for Designing a Wildlife-Friendly Small Garden
More
What to Know About Starting Your First Native Plant Garden
4 Tips for Designing a Wildlife-Friendly Small Garden
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