"Natural look" landscaping with wildflowers?

[jlavado]

I have a large back lot on my property that has grass that I am eliminating in favor of a stone aggregate driveway. How feasible would it be to surround it with an assortment of wildflower seeds and throw em in a drop / broadcast spreader? Ideally would like an assortment of low-growing colors which vary in what time of year they would bloom.

[PaulF]

It will look great. We did a similar thing to a hillside on our property. My warning is that weeds and grass can be a real problem unless you make sure they are fully eradicated before the flowers go in. After the flowers are established they do a good job of choking out the unwanted grass and weeds. Don't skimp on the wildflower mix seeds. Oftentimes the germination is not very good. We had to repeat spreading seed the second and third year. Good luck.

[jlavado]

Right but am I supposed to apply this seed like I'm planting grass? Reason I ask is because a 40-pound sack of this wildflower seed mix goes for like $500, which makes this more expensive than my Prosperity KBG.

[PaulF]

Not sure how you are supposed to do it, but I used a grass seed hand held applicator and also just grabbed handfuls and tossed it around. Then took a lawn/leaf rake and lightly raked the seeds in. Maybe that is why the germination was off. We didn't cover the area because the erosion control fabric was more expensive than the seed. We did water the seeded area almost daily to keep it moist. I didn't realize the cost was so high. Prices are way up since ten years ago.

[applestar]

make sure you are getting LOW GROWING wildflowers if that’s what you want. Even then “low” in wildflower terms is usually abou 12-18 inches. “Tall” can grow upwards of 8 feet!

I’ve never had the opportunity to carry out such a project, but love perusing Prairie Moon catalog — great source of info, including appropriate growing conditions for each species.

[imafan26]

I also think it would look great, but it may not be maintenance free. Not only because of weeds, but also because "wildflowers" are often invasive because they reseed and end up where you don't want it. I would look at what is in the wild flower mix to make sure the ones you get won't be a problem later on.

I cannot grow them, because they are all aliens and in a warm climate, winter will not kill them off.