@@richardfaltonson3121 it’s necessary to water after sowing. Lightly water to moisten the soil (not drenching) until the seedlings are 6 inches tall. Wildflowers are drought tolerant and no need to water after that.

@@dp4304 I guess any sand would be fine, it just adds volume to make it easier to spread seeds evenly

The sand isn’t for soil prep, it’s just to add volume to the seeds. I ordered a bag of seed that was the right size for the plot. But full disclosure is that I had some extra seeds from Eden brothers that I tossed in.

Probably a better soil your way but sounds like more work to me lol

For the first six weeks or so I did a light watering every day unless we had rain. After that, I’ve never watered. There is some minimal maintenance, I pull weeds when I see them. The biggest chore is trimming back all the bee balm after it has finished flowering. I do this to let the light in and also to rid the inevitable powdery mildewed tops. Also makes the echinacea flowers pop since they aren’t hidden by the bee balm canes.

Thanks for visiting

Guerrilla gardening! Love it!

Hummingbird Moth I mean 😅

Love them

Sadly a woodpecker found the box and ate nearly all of them!

@@IndianaMeadows I am so sorry.

Thank you very much!

Haven’t had any new projects to speak of this year.

@@IndianaMeadows , thanks for sharing your “visitors.”

At 13:30? I did sow some sunflower seeds that were given to me by a friend that year. Not sure of the variety

Yes, I just tilled the grass into the soil. Some grass will come back, I spray it in the spring with an herbicide that is specific to grasses (called grass out). I haven’t tried a fall sowing, but some plant’s actually need a cold stratification period for seeds to germinate. For example, my meadow doesn’t have any milkweed even though there were seeds in the starting mix. Milkweed seeds need cold stratification. I’ve wanted to try sowing in fall to see how it turns out. Some seeds in the mix wouldn’t survive winter, and this should give a different result. Probably a lot of the first year annuals would be missing and you’d get less color in year one.

@@IndianaMeadows I've decided to go with a spring planting, as I really want the colors! Last question: when you put the seed down, how do you keep the birds and squirrels at bay? Thank you for your time!

I don’t think the squirrels are interested as the wildflower seeds are quite small. Some birds might do a little bit of pecking but you’re seeding at a high enough density that they can’t really cause any impact

I don’t treat the grass with any pre emergent or anything else and I haven’t seen any evidence that the wildflowers are spreading into the lawn. I do have broadleaf things and clover in the grass. The grass effectively outcompetes with any seeds that spread from the meadows I wish that wasn’t the case!. Grass getting into the meadow is the bigger problem.

@@IndianaMeadows thank you so much for taking the time to reply. It is greatly appreciated. Do you have an update to this video? Did the wildflowers come back ok?

Yes, the perennial plants do come back and they get more and more established each year. Some of my other videos show the meadow in subsequent years. The annuals don’t come back (cosmos for example) though.

Thank you! Please leave a comment to let me know how it turns out! I did email @americanmeadows but no reply lol

I have never used any fertilizer but I think the brood X cicadas emergence probably played a big role in fertilizing the first year. I do spray clumps of grass with a product called “grass out” once in the spring. I spend a lot of time sitting by the meadow and I pull weeds by hand whenever I notice them. The biggest weed problem I have is with slender path rush. It’s encroaching heavily in a part of the meadow. This year I did expend some effort removing it (by hand) and reseeding. It actually looks natural in the meadow but I want flowers not rush.

Definitely!

Thank you!

Probably 4-5 hours or so? My tiller isn’t super powerful

Thank you! 😊

Good luck!

The first year I through down some sunflower seeds but not since.

Yeah, that’s pretty much it. There are instructional videos at American Meadows website. I followed them. First round of tilling is 6-8 inches down. Then wait 4-6 weeks, this gives weed seeds time to sprout. Then just prior to seeding retill the top 3-4 inches to kill weeds. I didn’t kill the lawn with plastic/cardboard but I’ve seen that recommended. Nor did I use a sod cutter. You’ll never get all the grass but it doesn’t matter once plants start getting tall.

@@IndianaMeadows 😃 Thanks a bunch for the quick response. You actually answered another question with your reply. I feel I am ready to tackle my project now.

Go for it!

@@IndianaMeadows 🙏🦋🌻

You need to water for about the first six weeks to keep the soil moist. Once the seedlings reach a height of 6 inches I never water. Wildflowers are hardy and drought tolerant

It doesn’t look super nice in the winter without mowing. I do wait until first hard frost

@jamesmanning-tu6rs thanks for the very kind words. I can say that our neighbors love our meadow. Good luck with yours and lmk how it turns out!

The sand acts as filler and makes it easier to see where you’ve spread the seed. Many seeds are very small and adding the sand makes it easier to spread evenly

Thank you!! 😊

Good luck!

Maybe you can start with a small patch and slowly expand it over the years so that nobody will notice?😉

If you go to the American Meadows website they will have recommendations on how much seed you need per square foot. I think I used 8lbs of sand for 1 pound seed

Yes, it self sows but I also add in plants that I like which were not part of the original mix

The sand just adds some volume to make the seeds spread more gradually/evenly

Thanks!

No after the first year no need to reseed unless there are bare patches that didn’t fill in.

Thank you! 😊

Thank you!!

I actually started adding daffodil bulbs in last fall and they’re coming up!

That's awesome! If you have a decent display I'd love to see them@@IndianaMeadows

Thank you! I love holly hocks and zinnias and poppies haha. This meadow only requires watering for the first six weeks or so. After that nature does the rest