When to plant Wildflower Seeds in the UK

When should I plant wildflower seeds?

Usually, the best time to plant wildflower seeds is in autumn because they need to go through a “winter freeze” known as “stratification”. However, since our wildflower seeds are stored in cold conditions all year round when you decide to plant them in the UK, it doesn't really matter - since they are ready to be planted in autumn or spring and will offer excellent results either way!

If you decide to plant in autumn, be sure to plant your wildflower seeds before it gets too cold or when it’s frosty or icy outside, as this will prevent them from growing.

What wildflower seeds should I choose?

You will be pleased to know wildflowers can grow almost anywhere in your garden, but some grow better in some conditions than others. If your garden features clay soils, we have created a colourful wildflower mix of annuals and perennials that love growing in these conditions! We also have a wildflower seed mixture that excels in the shady areas of your garden – our shade-tolerant wildflowers bloom with a wide range of colours and shapes to brighten up even the darkest places of your garden!

Wildflowers that satisfy the needs of UK bees and butterflies

Feeding UK bees and butterflies is a great sight to behold! So, if you want fluffy bees buzzing and colourful butterflies fluttering around and using your garden as their feeding ground, look no further than our Bees Please and Hi Butterfly wildflower mixes.

Created by combining some of the brightest, most colourful and nectar-filled wildflowers, our Bees Please mix is packed with wildflowers that bees love! The seed mix includes sweet-smelling, tubular and open-petalled flowers like Clover, Musk Mallow and Foxglove. This mix offers various colours, shapes, and sizes, from annual and perennial wildflowers combined with wild meadow grasses, which help create the ultimate wildlife habitat for the entire year.

Since butterflies adore colourful and pollen-rich wildflowers, we ensured our Hi Butterfly mix ticks all the boxes to give them what they desire. This balanced mix of annuals and perennials, which includes Coneflower, Cornfield annuals, Birdsfoot Trefoil and meadow grasses, gives butterflies a beautiful habitat to thrive and encourages other wildlife to join the party throughout the year!

100% wildflower seeds

If it’s the colour you're after, then our Absolutely Annuals mix is a perfect choice! It’s a 100% annual wildflower mix that transforms flower beds and borders with a flourish of colour that's ideal for all areas of your garden.

For the best of 100% annual and perennial wildflowers, we have our Bloomin’ Marvellous Meadow. This luxurious mix provides an exceptional burst of colour in its first year, followed by stunning blooms from the perennial wildflowers in the following years.

How to plant wildflower seeds in the UK

Wildflowers are renowned for being low-maintenance plants, and once you've prepared the seedbed, most of the work for planting wildflower seeds in the UK is done!

Prep work before planting wildflower seeds

When starting your wildflower seedbed, remember that, unlike grass seeds, wildflower seeds love poor soil conditions. So, when choosing your area, look for parts of your garden where grass doesn’t seem to want to grow or spots that look abandoned by growth.

Alternatively, if you’re choosing an area of your garden already in great shape, remove the top 5-10cm of fertile soil to lower the nutrient levels, and your new wildflowers will grow better. Fertile soils also encourage some wildflowers, like cornfield annuals, to grow undesirably tall, so do not skip this step.

Remove grass, weeds and other flora from the area

Wildflowers do not like guests cramping their style, so it’s important to remove all existing grasses, plants, and weeds from the soil before planting. If you don’t remove them, they will hinder the growth of your new wildflowers by out-competing them.

Level the area out and wait

Now that you have cleared everything, the next step is to level the seedbed using a rake. This will remove any dips and break up clumps of soil. But if you encounter an area that’s difficult to rake, you can use a garden fork to break the soil down more easily.

Once the soil in your chosen area is even, fine, and levelled, it’s best to leave it for a few weeks to see if any dormant weeds decide to show their face. This gives anything that may have been hiding in the soil a chance to come up to the surface, and you can then remove them by hand before planting your wildflower seed.

Plant your wildflower seeds

Just before planting your wildflower seeds, give the area a final rake-over to level it all out. Then sow your seeds at a rate of 5g per m2, and be sure not to spread them too close together. Firm the seeds down using your foot, burying them in the soil. This will help your newly planted wildflowers grow since they are sheltered from the elements and can get all their necessary nutrients from the soil!

Feeding and watering your wildflower seeds

Wildflowers need watering but don’t require additional feeding using fertilisers, etc. You must keep the soil moist for the first six weeks after sowing. This is particularly important if you planted your wildflower seeds during hot and dry weather conditions with less rainfall. After the initial six weeks, you can let our UK weather take care of the rest of the watering for you.

Planting wildflower seeds in the UK

Now that you know when to plant wildflower seeds in the UK, you can bloom your garden quickly. If you would like more tips on growing a wildflower garden or anything lawn-related, please message us; we will happily help.