How to sow wildflowers
Adding wildflowers to your garden is one of the easiest and most rewarding ways to bring colour, life, and biodiversity to your outdoor space. Whether you want to create a full wildflower meadow or simply include patches of blooms among your lawn or garden borders, sowing wildflowers is simple and the results are stunning.
Step 1: Choose Your Seed Mix
Select a wildflower mix suited to your space. We have a few different options of wildflower seed mixes depending on the area and vision you have:
Nature's Lawn
Enjoy the beauty and ecological aspects of wildflowers whilst still maintaining a functional lawn - This lawn mix includes only native wildflowers that can adapt to a lower mowing height.
Country Meadow
A carefully balanced combination of wildflower and grass species, chosen for their performance and adaptability to UK conditions. Perfect for creating a tall wildflower meadow.
Celebration Wildflowers
100% Pure non-native wildflowers, for a bold and colourful display. Only available in 50g tins.
Meadow-In-A-Tray
Native-species wildflower plug plants ideal for establishing a diverse wildflower area or meadow with instant results and minimal effort. 8 varieties in each tray.
Step 2: Pick The Right Spot
Wildflowers prefer nutrient-poor soil and full sun. Avoid using fertiliser - overly rich soil encourages grasses to dominate and outcompete the flowers.
Step 3: Clear The Ground
Remove any weeds, grass, and debris. If you’re converting an existing lawn, remove the top layer of turf or kill it off before sowing. For smaller patches, dig or rake the area until you have a fine, firm seedbed.
Step 4: Choose the Right Time
Sow in spring (March–May) or autumn (September–October). These periods provide the best soil moisture and mild temperatures to help seeds germinate naturally. Make sure the soil is moist but not waterlogged.
Step 5: Preparing the Ground
Sowing A Wildflower Meadow:
Wildflowers prefer poor, low-fertility soil. Remove existing vegetation, dig over the soil, and allow it to settle for a few weeks before sowing. If weeds reappear, rake or hoe them off — this step helps prevent competition for light and nutrients. Raking the soil into a fine tilth will ensure good contact area for the seed and soil.
Sowing into a lawn or creating a wildflower border:
Scarifying or raking out thatch and moss to create bare patches will allow the wildflower seeds to reach the soil - As your existing lawn with create competition for the wildflowers, flowering rates will be lower than that of a complete bare area.
Step 6: Scatter Wildflower Seeds Evenly
Sow at a rate of 3–5g per m² for pure wildflowers, or 5–10g per m² for meadow mixes containing grass. To make sure you have the correct amount you can use our lawn seed calculator.
Step 7: Firm The Area
Gently walk over your sown area or use a roller. Pressing the seeds in allows the flowers to root.
Step 8: Water Gently
If conditions are dry, water with a fine spray to avoid displacing the seed. Keep the soil moist during the early stages of growth. Germination can take 2–6 weeks, depending on conditions and species. Some perennial wildflowers may not flower until the second year, but once established, they’ll return year after year.
Ongoing Care
First-year maintenance:
Keep the area weed-free by hand-pulling any unwanted fast-growing weeds before they set seed.
Long-term management:
After flowering, cut the meadow back to about 5–10cm (2–4in) and remove the cuttings to keep the soil nutrient-poor.
