Whether it’s a plant pot, flowerbed, a patch in your yard, or an entire meadow, sowing wildflowers provides vital resources to support a wide range of insects that couldn’t otherwise survive in urban or built-up areas.
Throwing, breaking up or digging ‘seed bombs’ (or balls) into areas in your garden that need a little brightening up is a perfect way of spending an afternoon!
Materials that are needed:
- Meadow flower seeds or seeds collected from the garden.
- Peat-free compost.
- Water.
- Powdered clay (found in craft shops).
- Mixing bowl.
Creating you seed bomb
- In a bowl, mix together 1 cup of seeds with 5 cups of compost and 2-3 cups of clay powder (you could use clay soil instead if you have it).
- Slowly mix in water with your hands until everything sticks together.
- Roll the mixture into firm balls.
- Leave the balls to dry in a sunny spot.
- Now for the fun bit! Plant your seed bombs by throwing them at bare parts of the garden and wait to see what pops up! ( make sure to add a little water to your seed bombs if they are completely dry to help them germinate.
Do seed bombs actually work?
Seeds require moisture to germinate. … If you then let the seed bomb dry out, or even if you toss it while damp into a green space that then does not immediately get some good rain showers, the seeds will cease germination and die. So the seed bomb is less likely to work.
What seeds are good for seed bombs?
Some of my favorite seeds for seed bombs include: wildflowers (native to your area), alyssum, lobelia, butterfly milkweed, scarlet sage, sunflower, basil, cilantro, lettuce or tomatoes all of which grow easily from seed. Putting together your seed balls is very simple just follow the steps above.
Where do you plant seed balls?
Seed Ball Tips:
Do not bury Seed Balls.
Do not break up the balls, they are more successful if kept intact.
Place in an area with full sun and well-drained soil.
You can also find packets of wildflower paper seeds shaped in hearts at Printhousedesign1 on Etsy.
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