A new Wildflower Meadow

johnrex62 · Jan 27, 2013

Hey Central Texas farmers!

I have a couple acres I want to turn into a wildflower meadow. The current vegetation crop is a blend of bloodweed (giant texas ragweed), wild mustard, johnson grass, and various other lower growing weeds. I have lots of open dirt between the vegetation, so seed to ground contact is not going to be an issue. My current plan is to use the landscape rake to clear away the old grass and mower debris and to scratch up the dirt surface a bit and to broadcast the seed. What I don't have a handle on is how to compress the seed at that point and how to handle the fast growing bloodweed until the wildflowers get going and how to manage the mustard in the middle of the season.

can I mow the field during the early spring months at a higher height to control the fast growing tall weeds? If so, when do I have to stop to prevent cutting the wild flowers? (I am not used to looking at the wildflower plants, so I am not sure I will be able to distinguish them prior to blooming. When is it safe to resume mowing to keep the area neat for the winter? Any guidelines or practical experience for me?

300UGUY · Jan 28, 2013

I'm not familar with central Texas, but I did a smaller area here with a wildflower mix. I burned it down with roundup, ran a tiller over it, broadcast the seed by hand, then used a 4 ft landscape rake to mix it in. Then I put a light covering of straw down as mulch, helping it retain some moisture. Came out real nice, but some of the wildflowers seem to die out, they won't germanate in the same spot year after year.

Don87 · Jan 28, 2013

300UGUY said:
I'm not familar with central Texas, but I did a smaller area here with a wildflower mix. I burned it down with roundup, ran a tiller over it, broadcast the seed by hand, then used a 4 ft landscape rake to mix it in. Then I put a light covering of straw down as mulch, helping it retain some moisture. Came out real nice, but some of the wildflowers seem to die out, they won't germanate in the same spot year after year.

I agree with everything you said. The wildflower mixes are usually mostly annuals(you get the best colors there), mixed with perennials. What you can do, is look for perennial only mixtures, while you won't get the vibrant colors, they will come back every year.

Western · Jan 28, 2013

I have had poor luck trying to start wildflower plots using every thing from seed to seed tapes. I found that your best bet, is to grow what is naturally growing in your area (IMO) Blue Bonnets and Indian Paintbrush are 2 good ones.

I would start out on a very small spot, maybe 100'x100' or less, then do something like 300UGUY said and remove all the competition. Personally I would lightly hand rake the seed in, since wild seed naturally falls to the ground or is dropped by some critter. Remember some seed do better using an inoculate too.

Jinman on here has had some luck at his pace with BlueBonnets, might give him a shout. Another idea would be to have your local AG agent come out, those guys are great and loaded with free info and also have books/pamphlets usually at their offices of interest.

Try this link too, may have some info you can use.
Aggie Horticulture

jinman · Jan 28, 2013

If you are considering bluebonnets, then you should know that Mother Nature plants bluebonnets in June of each year. They sprout in September and then develop into small plants with deep roots that lay dormant until spring. If you have bluebonnets in early spring, there is no way to mow without driving over the small seedlings. Luckily, the little plants normally survive your driving over them and that allows you to carefully mow in early spring. DO NOT make the mistake of tilling or stirring the soil after mid-September until the next spring. You'll do irreversible damage to the little seedling plants. Just remember that Mother Nature plants bluebonnets on the surface of the ground, not below the surface.

In order for bluebonnets to germinate, they need to be innoculated with a nitrogen fixing bacteria. This occurs in nature by action of the plants and root of the mature bluebonnet plant. You can improve the amount of nitrogen available by a very light application of fertilizer, but don't overdo it. MAKE SURE YOU DO NOT USE weed and feed fertilizer. The weed herbicide in that fertilizer will stop bluebonnet germination. Bluebonnets like bare depleted soils and they absorb nitrogen from the air and add it to the depleted soil as do many legume plants. If you add fertilizer, add it very lightly just enough to ensure there is available nitrogen to aid in germination and growth of the seedling plant.

My favorite way of starting bluebonnets is by transplant. I scraped bluebonnet filled soil from one location of my property and spread it to another one and covered about 1 acre with the sod rich in seeds and dead bluebonnet plants. I now have two places with great bluebonnets. Removal of the old plants didn't seem to slow down their regrowth because I used a drag to spread seeds back over that area. My new area gets better every year, but the last two years I've had people stopping on the road to take pictures of my bluebonnets. If you don't already have bluebonnets, you can't spread the sod/soil like I did. You have to plant the innoculated seeds in late summer and then take care of them all winter long. They seem to thrive on cold weather and even snow cover.

A mix of bluebonnets and Indian paintbrush will give you a beautiful spring display. Adding native Green Thread (thelesperma filifolium), Indian Blanket (gaillardia), and Brown-eyed Susans (rudbeckia), and Purple Coneflowers (echinacea) can give you lots of yellow and purple/pink color after the bluebonnets are gone. These flowers also will be helpful for the Indian Paintbrush since it is a parasitic plant that feeds off the stored nitrogen in the roots of other plants. That's why Indian Paintbrush is most often seen with other wildflowers. The highway department sewed Indian Paintbrush on the medians of the highway near me. It was stunning for a few years, but it was the only plant and eventually died out because it didn't have other plants to support its parasitic nature.

TripleR · Jan 28, 2013

Sounds like Jinman has it down pat for out there. We planted about eight acres total many years ago here in Missouri and mixed in several thousand Easter Lilies and tulips. We started out by eliminating the grass that was already there, worked the ground up with a plow, disk and harrow then after broadcasting a mix of perennials and annuals we ran a roller over them. We kept grass down with POAST. They looked nice for several years, but over time declined, some flowers took over and we eventually put them back in pasture.

If you have time, at least in Missouri to manage them, they are really nice, otherwise they sure are a lot of trouble. Oh and it cost a lot of $$$$$$$$$$$$ for the seeds.

cqaigy2 · Jan 28, 2013

Jinman,
You have to post some pictures of that! I bet it's something to see. I remember going to visit some relatives in San Antonio and seeing fields of blue bonnets, very pretty.

johnrex62,
That sounds like a wonderful project.

Egon · Jan 28, 2013

I tried getting some prairie grass and wild flowers going a few years back. Tilled everything for several years, planted in spring and had it turn into a complete disaster.

The Deer rather liked the flowers and it seems the cultivation turned up lots of existing seeds that all sprouted. There is a little tall & short grass prairie still around but not much.

teejk · Jan 28, 2013

My wife started 2 years ago. We have sandy/gravel soil but there is most likely some nutrients buried somewhere because it started as a piece of overgrown popple/scrub oak. We burned it off then she simple scattered the seeds by hand without tilling or any chemicals. First year was "ho-hum" (to be expected and her supplier was honest about expectations in year 1). Their instructions were to wait until after the first hard frost and we could be assured that temps would stay low, then mow it off (scatters the seeds from what little stuff came up). Year 2 started nice but then that drought thing came but even with that sand/gravel pit soil, we still had some pleasant surprises, especially after a little rain...different colors appeared throughout the season. Then we repeated the frost/mowing sequence. She threw in some more seed last fall. With normal participation we are looking forward to next year.

Patience is required I think...her supplier told her to expect 3-4 years to get it going and not to goof with it other than the annual mowing. That wild mustard is a problem though (it's starting to show up in the southern counties). They told her to dig the problems or spot treat them.