Ok, so I want to have a very small area, perhaps 150 square feet, in an area
that is now grassed. I plan to sow heavy with a mixed wildflower seed.

Before seeding, I plan to put down about 3 inches of soil. I will throw
out the seed, and then tamp it in, by walking over it with my boots.

Question 1: What should I do with the existing grass ? Won't the 3
inches of soil kill the grass ? Or, should I first kill the grass with
roundup ?


Question 2: What keeps grass and weeds from growing back in this area ?
It would seem that in about two years, the grass would be as high as the
wildflowers.


What am I missing here ?

Thanks for any advice on this.

James

"James" no wrote in message
...
Ok, so I want to have a very small area, perhaps 150 square feet, in an
area that is now grassed. I plan to sow heavy with a mixed wildflower
seed.

Before seeding, I plan to put down about 3 inches of soil. I will
throw out the seed, and then tamp it in, by walking over it with my boots.

Question 1: What should I do with the existing grass ? Won't the 3
inches of soil kill the grass ? Or, should I first kill the grass with
roundup ?


Question 2: What keeps grass and weeds from growing back in this area ?
It would seem that in about two years, the grass would be as high as the
wildflowers.


What am I missing here ?

Thanks for any advice on this.


Be certain the area is in full sun...150 sf is a pretty puny area for a
wildflower meadow, that's like a 1 car garage, but it's doable. If the area
is in sod grass I'd dig it all up, shake out as much of the soil as you can,
return that and get rid of the grass to a compost pile, till the area and
work in lots of rich topsoil. Sow your seed sparsely (blend it with a big
sack of potting soil, then strew that about), lightly rake in, and strew the
area with a bale of straw or the birds will eat at least half your seed.
Water well every day, in like two weeks you'll see germination. You need to
realize that wildflowers growing elsewhere are considered weeds. I could
probably offer more help if I knew where you lived, what kind of terrain,
and what wildlife is typically present; foraging critters will do a lot of
your reseeding so I wouldn't add any chemical fertilizers... the most
important aspect of a wildflower meadow is to maintain a healthy biosphere,
every living creature is essential.

On Mon, 7 Sep 2009 21:07:51 -0400, "James" no
wrote:

Ok, so I want to have a very small area, perhaps 150 square feet, in an area
that is now grassed. I plan to sow heavy with a mixed wildflower seed.

Before seeding, I plan to put down about 3 inches of soil. I will throw
out the seed, and then tamp it in, by walking over it with my boots.

Question 1: What should I do with the existing grass ? Won't the 3
inches of soil kill the grass ? Or, should I first kill the grass with
roundup ?


Question 2: What keeps grass and weeds from growing back in this area ?
It would seem that in about two years, the grass would be as high as the
wildflowers.


What am I missing here ?

Thanks for any advice on this.

James


The grass will grow up through the three inches of soil. You need to
kill it or remove it.

brooklyn1 wrote:
"James" no wrote in message
...
Ok, so I want to have a very small area, perhaps 150 square feet, in an
area that is now grassed. I plan to sow heavy with a mixed wildflower
seed.

Before seeding, I plan to put down about 3 inches of soil. I will
throw out the seed, and then tamp it in, by walking over it with my boots.

Question 1: What should I do with the existing grass ? Won't the 3
inches of soil kill the grass ? Or, should I first kill the grass with
roundup ?


Question 2: What keeps grass and weeds from growing back in this area ?
It would seem that in about two years, the grass would be as high as the
wildflowers.


What am I missing here ?

Thanks for any advice on this.


Be certain the area is in full sun...150 sf is a pretty puny area for a
wildflower meadow, that's like a 1 car garage, but it's doable. If the area
is in sod grass I'd dig it all up, shake out as much of the soil as you can,
return that and get rid of the grass to a compost pile, till the area and
work in lots of rich topsoil. Sow your seed sparsely (blend it with a big
sack of potting soil, then strew that about), lightly rake in, and strew the
area with a bale of straw or the birds will eat at least half your seed.
Water well every day, in like two weeks you'll see germination.

This sounds exactly right to me.

Full sunlight and watering until it germinates seem to be the most
important things. I put in some some wildflowers along the street
boundary and where the trees start providing afternoon shade the
wildflowers disappear.

Quality of soil is secondary as is watering after they are established.

Note that along roadsides, they simply mow everything down when the
other wild grasses get too tall.

Jeff

On Mon, 7 Sep 2009 21:07:51 -0400, "James" no
wrote:

Ok, so I want to have a very small area, perhaps 150 square feet, in an area
that is now grassed. I plan to sow heavy with a mixed wildflower seed.

Before seeding, I plan to put down about 3 inches of soil. I will throw
out the seed, and then tamp it in, by walking over it with my boots.

Question 1: What should I do with the existing grass ? Won't the 3
inches of soil kill the grass ? Or, should I first kill the grass with
roundup ?

Remove the grass, any method.



Question 2: What keeps grass and weeds from growing back in this area ?
It would seem that in about two years, the grass would be as high as the
wildflowers.


Mulch helps. Weeding is one of those gardening chores. You might
want to carefully plan the area to minimize weeding chores.



What am I missing here ?

Thanks for any advice on this.

James

Mulch helps, when seeding wildflowers ?? Exactly where would you put the
mulch/ try to stick it in between 5,000 wildflowers ???

I do agree with the points to get rid of the grass first, and then seed
heavily, so that the wildflowers dominate the grass and weeds in the future.
I suppose it all has to be a balance.

Thanks for all the good replies !!

James

In article ,
"James" no wrote:

Mulch helps, when seeding wildflowers ?? Exactly where would you put the
mulch/ try to stick it in between 5,000 wildflowers ???

I do agree with the points to get rid of the grass first, and then seed
heavily, so that the wildflowers dominate the grass and weeds in the future.
I suppose it all has to be a balance.

Thanks for all the good replies !!

James

In his book, Gardening when it counts, Steve Solomon recommends
rototilling the lawn, first North to South, and then East to West, and
then repeat after 2 weeks. At this point I'd put down newsprint or
cardboard, mulch on top of that, hose it down, let it sit for a couple
of weeks, and then broadcast your seeds.
--
³When you give food to the poor, they call you a saint. When you ask why the poor have no food, they call you a communist.²
-Archbishop Helder Camara

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