I want to throw down flower seeds so that my entire lawn will be completely blanketed in flowers. Suggestions?

The problem is, it seems like most flower seeds have to be planted at least 1/2 an inch or more in the soil. Forget that! I just want to have buckets full of seeds that I can just THROW all over my yard, so that soon after, my neighbors will see my yard vomiting a tremendous carpet of flowers. I mean I want every bald inch of my front yard covered in flowers (mixed or not, whatever).





So, would I do this in early spring, or would I do it in the fall, and --%26gt; what flower seeds could I use? I'll use bags and bags of flower seeds on my yard, as long as I can just throw them down (no digging, tilling, planting, etc). Just tell me what and when. I wish I could do it now (it's almost autumn as of 'now'), that would be great. If I can, let me know.





ZONE 6.

I want to throw down flower seeds so that my entire lawn will be completely blanketed in flowers. Suggestions?
You're not gonna like this, but it's true. You have to kill the grass first. Honest. BUT. on the plus side, this is a good time to do it. Perfect really. Buy concentrated Round Up and mix as directed. Follow the instructions. Buy a sprayer if you have a good size lawn.


Next, just throw pounds of seeds on your ex-lawn. Do it in Winter. Rake them down in a bit if you can, just to keep the birds from eating it.


That's it.
Reply:Get two mixes, one featuring a lot of members of the sunflower family (Asteraceae) to broadcast in the sunny parts of your lawn and another one with a lot of members of the rose family (Rosaceae) to broadcast in the shady parts. I'd broadcast the mixes in the late fall and expect to see some plants coming up the following spring, especially the roseaceae ones, with the asteraceae flowers following in late spring and through the summer. The trick to getting a "carpet of flowers" from broadcasting is to put out a lot of seed. Only a fraction of the seed will wind up planted in the right condititions to germinate each year. If you get native plants, especially perennials, though you can expect some of the seeds that don't come up next year to come up in subsequent years since native plants have a percentage of their seeds that can stay dormant for several years and still be viable. One thing you can do to increase the chance of flower seed coming up after you broadcast it, is to walk all over the lawn after you've sewn the seed, especially if you get (or make) some aerating soles for your shoes. The foot traffic will make some of the seed come in contact with the soil deep enough to germinate. Another thing you can do after broadcasting is to power rake the yard at a very shallow depth which will also plant some of the seed at the right depth. Disturbing the lawn each fall with power raking or even just regular raking with a stiff tined rake will disturb the soil and plant new groups of seed at the right depth. If you doubt this, just go out in "the wild" and look for places where there are a lot of flowers. Chances are, that area recieved some type of disturbance prior to the seeds' germinating. Some typical disturbances are fire, grazing (accompanied by all the hoof traffic) by wild and/or domestic animals, digging from burrowing animals, etc. I would recommend getting wildflower seed mixes from a source (where the seed's host plants were grown) located as close to your home as possible so that the plants will be adapted to your local climate.
Reply:Clarkia, yarrow, tidytips, batchelor buttons, are one off the top of my head would work in z 6.





Many of the plants who like their seeds trown around are annuals, so you need to consider what the rest of the year will be like.





Is the grass still growing? What kind of grass is it. Some grasses will do well with wildflowers and not smother them out or out compete them. I like sheep fescue and red fescue. Both stay about 6" tall and need little care.





Since you'r ein z6 you probably have a "Wild Ones" chapter somewhere. They are focused on using native plants for landscaping.





After scattering the seed it would be helpful to spread a thin layer of mulch or compost. Like 1/8".





Startig in fall is usually best.





Beware of "weeds" in the socalled wildflower mixes. Some will take over and cause you no wnd of pesty maintainace.





Gallardia. Allysum (a weed often), Echinacea, evening primrose, ...
Reply:sounds good but what about all those weeds that will be mixed in?
Reply:and what will your neighbors have to say when your yard looks like a wild meadow?... they'll say it's inhabited by rats and snakes, that's what.... and they'll complain to the city and they'll make you mow it..... actually, it's a nice idea, but realistically, it's not gonna happen..............sorry..... for a couple of years, the area will look like a weed patch and not your desired carpet of flowers.....
Reply:About the only flower seeds you can throw out are wildflowers. Check out this company and read there tutorial:





http://www.americanmeadows.com/?gclid=CI...