This is an exciting way to plant wildflowers! You can make your own seed bombs quite easily, and use them to brighten up your garden, public areas, waste ground, or even gift them to friends and family.
Widlflowers are very important as they provide natural food for a range of insects and other widlife. Using “indigenous” wildflowers (wildflowers that historically and naturally occur in wild habitats) is best, as our wildlife has adapted to seek these out and they are perfectly adapted to each other. Widlflowers can also bring cheerful colour to places that are otherwise abandoned, and can help encourage the return of insects to waste ground in particular.
You can buy ready made seed balls, but it is much more messy fun to make your own!
To make the seed bombs you will require:
- Meadow flower seed mix or seeds collected from wildflowers
- Compost (peat-free)
- Powdered clay
- A bowl for mixing
- A tray
- Water
Mix 1 cup of seeds with 5 cups of compost and 2-3 cups of clay powder. Slowly add water and mix all the ingredients with your hands until the micture sticks together and you can roll it into small balls. Place the balls on a tray and leave them in a warm spot to dry.
Once they are ready, plant your seed bombs by throwing them or burying them in bare soil. The best time of year to do this is in early Spring or Autumn. Keep a record of where you threw your bombs, and keep an eye out to see what springs up!
Although you can use a basic mix of British wildlfower seeds, or The Wildlife Trusts suggest the following wildlfower seeds to use:
- Bulbous Buttercup – Ranunculus bulbosus
- Chamomile – Chamaemelum nobile
- Common Bird’s-foot-trefoil – Lotus corniculatus
- Common Knapweed – Centaurea nigra
- Common Spotted-orchid –Dactylorhiza fuchsii
- Lady’s bedstraw – Galium verum
- Red Clover – Trifolium pratense
- Wild Thyme – Thymus polytrichus
Come back when you’ve finished the challenge and share your Comments below to inspire others to do this activity! You can also share pictures on our social media.
Remember to click the Like button to show you have completed this #RandomActofWildness.
365DaysWild 