Ahoy there, one and all.
The Higgledy hardy annual bundle is now available and some folk have been asking for some instruction as to how to go about sowing the little darlings. So here are some Higgledy tips.
There are generally two methods of sowing hardy annual flowers in late summer. Direct sowing into seed beds, or sowing into pots that are over wintered in a greenhouse. I tend to do a bit of both.
Late summer sowing will give you flowers in late spring and early summer. The plants are usually bigger and certainly earlier than spring sown seeds. By sowing both in late summer and spring, you will greatly increase the time your beds are producing flowers. If you have been a wise flower farmer and have finagled yourself a hardy annual bundle, you will have a good amount of seed stock…unless you have a BIG piece of land you will have enough seeds for summer and spring sowings.
Direct sowing.
*Timing is always the tricky munchkin. Sow too early and your seeds might try and flower in the same same season….too late and they may not germinate. Generally, here in the Midlands, I would sow in early September…if I was north of the borders I would sow a little earlier.
*Ensure your beds are totally free of weeds and that your soil is down to a fine tilth. I like to add some compost and if I’m feeling compost rich I like to leave a couple of inches of compost on the surface of the bed and sow into that.
*Use a piece of taught string to mark out your seed drills. Make a very shallow drill….more like a scratch….just a few millimetres deep alongside the string.
*Water this drill BEFORE you sow your seeds. (This stops them from being washed away).
*Sow your seeds thinly into the drill. By thinly I mean, aim for about one seed every three or four inches….easier said than done but just get on with it and stop moaning! ;)
*Cover the drill with a light dusting of compost.
*Don’t fuss too much about watering. Simply water lightly if the seed bed becomes dry…don’t soak it….waterlogged seed beds will give your seeds the hump.
*Keep your rows about a foot apart. In the old days I used to have a path every three rows. Now I don’t have paths…I just tread carefully…like a flower elf…between the rows, and use a long-handled how to weed between the seedlings. A three pronged cultivator is also a good tool for weeding between the rows as it keeps the soil from compacting. Wolfgarten make a good one.
*In the spring I thin my seedlings to about a foot apart. Most seedlings will happily be moved elsewhere. If there are gaps I fill them with seedlings I have over wintered in the greenhouse. #CleverBenjamin.
Link to a list of the hardy annuals that Higgledy recommends you have in your seed armoury. :)
Sowing into pots.
*Sowing into pots has some advantages. You don’t need to weed around tiny seedlings is one of the main ones. I sow into three inch square pots. Square pots give the slugs and snails fewer places to hide. It will be no surprise that seedlings will also grow in round pots. Slightly bigger pots are also totally fine and may give the roots more room to grow over the winter. Sowing at this time of year is all about roots and not about top growth. In fact top growth can look very scraggy and may make your heart want to lament and read Emily Dickinson poems but stand forthright against such thinking….they pull themselves together in the spring.
*Thin seedlings to just one per pot. Do not under any circumstances leave fifty plus seedlings in one tiny pot until they are four inches high and then post a pic on my FB page asking me what to do…you will be composted.
*Bear in mind that 9 pots of one seedling each will fill a square meter of ground in the spring. If your ground is 20 square meters then have about 200 seedlings….not 45,000 seedlings crammed into every conceivable pot.
*Plant out during a mild week in March or April, about a foot apart.
Other posts that may be useful:
“How to sow Higgledy Garden flower seeds.”
I hope this is of some use to you.
Have a wonderful weekend….it looks like there might be sunshine!
Kindest regards
Ben