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Meadows & Prairies
mattyl_gw

Thinning Meadow Seedlings

MattyL
10 years ago

Hi - I've installed a pretty large meadow with about 10 additional "mini" meadows leading down to it and around it. I've sowed, into their own sections, red poppies, lupines, new england aster, baby snapdragons, pincushions, purple prince zinnias, sweet pea, four o'clocks and love in a mist. It seems like every single seed I planted has germinated, so I have huge numbers of seedlings in very close proximity to each other. Do I need to thin out everything? Or will some things be okay left "en masse." I have an excellent site in full sun on a slope, with rich, deeply tilled soil. Any experience/help appreciated greatly! Thanks, Matt

Comment (1)

  • lazy_gardens
    10 years ago

    They tend to take care of the thinning themselves, but if you carefully pinch off all but the biggest seedling in any tiny grouping they will probably grow faster.
    If there are no obvious groups, just pinch out the smallest ones in any area, leaving one seedling ever couple of inches.

    Pinch the stem with a fingernail just below the seed leaves. Don't pull - it disrupts the roots of the neighboring seedlings.

    If you scatter seeds again, mix them into something inert to dilute them. I use sawdust or dry used coffee grounds.

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