While we often start our gardens by buying plants, growing them from seed can be a fun and rewarding experience. Not to mention, you can save a lot of money growing your own plants from seed! Growing native plants from seed can be tricky, but it doesn't have to be. There are a few basic principles and then you'll be ready to dig in.
What you need to know about midwestern natives:
Midwestern grasses and wildflowers have adaptations that help them survive our chilly winters. One of the most common adaptations is that mature seeds are dormant, and require certain conditions to break that dormancy before they can germinate. Most plants need a period of cold, moist weather (aka winter) to break the seed's dormancy. This is called cold-moist stratification. Different species need different lengths of time, and this is usually indicated with a germination code when you buy seeds: C (for cold-moist stratification) followed by the number of days. For example, the germination code C(60) means the seeds need cold-moist stratification for 60 days to break dormancy.
There are different ways to cold-moist stratify seeds. The most obvious way is to let nature do it for you. There are also methods that simulate this process by refridgerating seeds. I've experiemented with many methods of cold-moist stratification, and I'll share with you the ways I've had the most success.
Method 1: Direct Sowing
This is the simplest but not necessarily the easiest. The biggest difficulty with direct sowing is knowing which tiny plants come springtime are the plants you want versus weeds. And yes, no matter how hard you try, you will have weeds.
To direct sow, make sure your seeds make contact with the soil; don't try to sow into wood chips or other heavy mulch. In addition, there are a few scenarios that lend themselves better to this method, to avoid weeding and seed identification challenges:
Overseeding a new planting. Sometimes native plants (especially when planted at small sizes) can take a while to fill in and reach the desired size. Overseeding a new planting with a pioneer species or an annual (something that will flower in the first year) can help a new planting to have a bigger visual impact sooner. Expect these seeded species to fade out over time.
Allowing self-seeding in an established bed. This doesn't even take much work from you. You might think about selectively editing the seedlings that establish from your plants, or perhaps adding some seed to areas where plants seem to be fading out. The benefit of an established bed is that you typically don't need to worry as much about weeds as you would with a bare area.
Seeding a very large area. If you're looking to create a prairie or meadow, the best way to do this is generally from seed, but there's a lot more that goes into establishing a landscape like this. I recommend Gardening with Prairie Plants, by Hilary Cox and Neil Diboll if you are interested in trying this yourself.
Sowing just one species. This is a good way to take some of the guess work out of weeding. If you wanted, say, a swath of Little Bluestem running along your path, you could seed that area, and then it's fairly easy to distinguish weeds from your desired plants.
Method 2: Winter Sowing in Milk Jugs
You'll need milk jugs, duct tape, potting soil, a garden marker, and of course seeds for this method.
Put only one species per jug and LABEL it.
Cut the jug 4-6 inches from the bottom to allow room for roots.
Don’t forget holes in the bottom!
Fill with pre-moistened potting mix.
Be generous with seeds and press or poke into soil for good contact.
Duct tape the cut shut but leave top open.
Place jugs outside in part-shade and secure with bricks, rocks, etc, to keep from blowing around.
Start checking as temperatures start ticking up.
Put seedlings into plug trays or two-inch pots when they start getting true leaves.
Keep seedlings moist in their containers. Plant out when they show good root development or signs of outgrowing the containers beginning early June.
Remember, depending on the species and conditions, some plants might not be ready to plant til later in the season.Â
Water your new plants 2x a week for the first month.
If you want a more in-depth tutorial, there's a really nice youtube video by GrowIt BuildIt showing the process.
Remember, the plants all have different times for germination: the warm-season grasses in particular take a little while to get started. Be patient, and have fun! Before you know it you'll have hundreds of baby plants to add to your native garden.
Commentaires