Projects

Ever feel you are mentally done doing yard projects for the year?  But they're not finished?  I'm tired, but there is more to do.  I did finally get one done.  The far edged area intended for wildflowers...

I needed to loosen the soil, and I couldn't get the rototiller to start.  It has always been an "iffy" engine.  So I tried to rake the soil loose.  Too much gravel.  But it is supposed to rain lightly tonight and tomorrow while staying above 50F and that would be good for germinating the seeds.  So I thought about it...

Well, I had 2 trashbarrels of a half compost, half topsil mix.  What the seeds want is to get thoroughly moistened to trigger germination, some soil to surround them to trigger rooting, some soil below for the roots to penetrate, and some regular moisture after that for the roots to absorb water and minerals to send upwards to stems and leaves. 

So I used my 2 barrels of compost/soil on the area.  It only came a 1/4" deep when spread around, but the soil under there is decent.  So if they root, they will grow.  Wildflowers are exactly that; "wild",  They don't depend on people spreading fertilizer and in fact usually don't want it. 

So I spread the meager compost/soil mix, scatterred the seeds, walked all over the surface (and using a flat rake to also press down), and then watered the area.  Once lightly, waited 10 minutes and did it a gain, and repeated. 

Why water before a light rain?  To settle the soil around the seeds.  There is less chance now of a rain causing the seeds to get washed into uneven pockets.

And I did it later than I should have.  The package instruction say they want 2 weeks before the first hard frost.  Well, we've already had a frost, but that was before I planted the seeds and the forecast is for at least 10 days without another freeze.  So I may get lucky...

I'll know in a week to 10 days...