Wildflower Mix For Shady Areas

 
Hello folks,i got these seeds the other day! 'Suttons: Wildlife Garden,
A mixture for shaded and semi-shaded areas seeds'
(http://tinyurl.com/2egksle )

now the packet doesnt give too much away,it says it contains
foxglove,Columbine(what type would that be?)Oxslip and Wood Sage plus
other wild flowers... now what would they be? has anybody ever grown
these seeds? or would like to hazard a guess to what the "other" wild
flowers might be? The last time i got a mixed packet it was full of
ox-eye daisy,they got everywhere !!!id like a nice mix though and its an
economical way of doing, as i have a large area to cover,so if you have
any knowledge of these or can recommend other mixes any information
would be great,thanks guys!




--
TheCountryGent

 

I don't know, but someone who lived here before me put out either a seed mix
or a seeded mat for shady areas, and now the place is overrun with violets -
can't get rid of 'em.

 
TheCountryGent;906587 Wrote:

Hi CountryGent, just a point of interest, to get the best out of any
wild flower selection, having constructed many a 'wild flower' area
professionally, ive found the most important thing is to have a
relatively poor soil !! This might sound strange but the reason is as
follows. If you just grow these in a 'normal' top soil, what you'll find
is that the more vigourous species tend to dominate and block out the
less vigourous things, also eventually any grass within the area will
also eventually spoil the effect. So in practice to achieve this, this
is what I do !!, almost remove all the top soil, leaving just a couple
of inches in which to germinate the seeds. The other benefit of doing
this is that it restricts the ammount of foliage they produce and will
increase the ratio of flower to growth ?? I'm sure that in the wild,
this is why you see these woodlandwild flowers doing so much better as
often the soil in which they are growing, is neither the best or indeed
very deep !! Hope this helps??
As too exactly what is included, thats anyones guess??
One final point with reference to foxgloves, we here in Cornwall
are surounded by them in late spring,  whilst they are technically short
lived perennials, in practice most tend to be annuals so this is what I
would suggest you do !! if for example you ended up with 20 flowering
plants, immedeately after flowering remove 15 of the flower spikes
before thet set seed, this will ensure that those 15 will go on to make
bigger and better plants for next year. The remaining 5, leave to set
and mature the seed in thier spikes to ensure a continuity for
subsequent years but, having spent most of thier energy in producing
this seed, most will actually die !! Personally, I would adopt the same
strategy for most of those species you mentioned, to ensure good strong
plants for the following year!!
best wishes, Lannerman




--
lannerman

 lannerman wrote:

  very helpful information!

  also true to my experiences with "mixes".

  it can also help to weed it for the first
few seasons until the perennials get established
(it can take several years for some to reach
maturity you don't want them crowded out by
grasses and non-desired species).

  my other notes to continue, it is important to
verify before planting a mix of any kind that the
species are not invasive for other areas that
might be nearby.

  we planted a mix years ago that included a low
growing tiny blue flower and it's a bugger.


  along with another package of seeds given to
us by some store that i just threw in a bare
spot.  massively invasive and set a ton of
seeds and i forgot that was what i did there
until it was too late.  it also happened to be
upstream and upwind of many other gardens.
been trying to keep it from taking over...

  the other post about violets made me laugh.  :)


  songbird

 
'songbird[_2_ Wrote:

Thanks for the information folks,ill let you know how i get on and what
finally comes up in the spring/summer It all seems so far away at the
moment though !




--
TheCountryGent