How Much Wildflower Seed Do I Need
Start by measuring the wildflower seed project site How much wildflower seed do I need? Well, first decide how much ground you will expose to seeding wildflowers or native grasses. Get the square footage by measuring length x width. So then if you have 200 feet by 10 feet you have 2000 square ft. Be aware of the type of soil and the weed competition you may encounter with unwanted species whose seeds may be present in the soil bank. If the site has been kept mown, and is not a weedy area you will be able to use a lesser rate than in an area where a lot of competition from weeds or grass is expected. How to choose which wildflower or grass seed mix to use? Our mixes are designed for a purpose or a region. So once you’ve determined your goal (example: attracting pollinators), choose which Holland Wildflower Farm seed mix or mixes are best suited for your purpose. Then decide how much seed you need. We advise that you seed your site when you have taken measures to minimize weed competition and prepare your soil for seeding. The seed rates are in the mix descriptions and they are listed in the table below: recommended seeding rates for each wildflower seed mix or native grass mix. Explanantion of seed rate ranges and your location and specific site conditions Project analysis will help determine how much seed you will need. Each of our seed mixes has its own recommended seeding rate found in the description for that mix (see table below). The recommendation for most mixes will come with a range, such as 10-20 pounds per acre. This means that one pound of seed will cover between 2,000 and 4,000 square feet. (A strip 20 feet wide and 100 feet long equals 2000 square feet.) So, do you need 10 pounds per acre or 20 pounds? In the southern, especially southeastern areas the weed competition is greater and the highest seed rate is generally recommended. Additional considerations are given after the table. Thank you for using your ground to make the world a better place. Seed Mix Chart gives recommended rates for wildflower or native grass mixes below Seed Planting Rate for Holland Wildflower Farm Mixes Seed at the high rate for best results. Wildflower or Native Grass Mix Name pounds per acre square feet covered by one pound (at high rate) wildflowers, grass, or both type of mix Eastern Native Habitat Seed Mix 11 4,000 both habitat Floodplain Seed Mix 20 2,000 both habitat Native Upland Meadow Wildlife Seed Mix 20 2,000 both habitat Wildlife Food Plot Seed not given not given both habitat Shortgrass Prairie Wildflower Seed Mix 9-18 2,000 wf habitat Tallgrass Prairie Wildflower Seed Mix 10-20 2,000 wf habitat Bee Feeder Seed Mix 6-12 2,500 wf pollinator Bird & Butterfly Wildflower Seed Mix 10-20 2,000 wf pollinator Bumblebee Buffet Seed Mix 9-18 2,000 wf pollinator Eastern Pollinator Seed Mix 7-14 2,500 wf pollinator Honeybee Feed Seed Mix 6-12 4,000 wf pollinator Hummingbird Seed Mix 5-10 4,000 wf pollinator Monarch Butterfly Garden Seed Mix 12-24 2,000 wf pollinator Native Flower Mix for Monarchs 11-22 2,000 wf pollinator Western Pollinator Native Seed Mix 7-14 4,000 wf pollinator Cottage Garden Flower Mix 7-14 2,000 wf special use Deer Resistant Flower Mix 6-12 4,000 wf special use Eastern Xeriscape Native Wildflower Mix 2-24 2,000 wf special use Golf Course Mix 20-25 4,000 wf special use Little Bit Shady Wildflower Seed Mix 15-20 2,000 wf special use Low Grow Wildflower Mix 10-15 2,500 wf special use Native Perennial Wildflower Mix 7-14 3,000 wf special use Shady Golf Course Wildflower Mix 7-14 3,000 wf special use Western Xeriscape Wildflower Seed Mix 7-14 3,000 wf special use Rain Garden Grass Seed Mix 15 2,500 grass/sedge special use Rain Garden Seed Mix 20 2,000 both special use Wildlife Food Plot Seed not given not given both special use High Plains Native Wildflower Seed Mix 11-22 2,000 wf regional Intermountain Native Wildflower Mix 7-14 2,500 wf regional Midwest Native Wildflower Seed Mix 8-16 2,500 wf regional Mountain Native Wildflower Seed Mix 7-14 3,000 wf regional Northeast Native Wildflower Mix 9-18 1,000 wf regional Northwest Native Wildflower Seed Mix 9-18 2,000 wf regional Southeast Native Wildflower Seed Mix 10-20 2,000 wf regional Southwest Native Wildflower Seed Mix 6-12 3,000 wf regional Texas Oklahoma Native Wildflower Mix 11-22 2,000 wf regional Northeast Native Grass Mix 15 2,500 grass regional Southeast Native Grass Mix 15 2,500 grass regional Southern Plains Native Grass Seed Mix 10 2,000 grass regional Southwest Native Grass Seed Mix 8 5,400 grass regional Western Native Grass Seed Mix 7 5,000-7,000 grass regional High Mountain Native Grass Mix 12 2,000 grass habitat Shortgrass Prairie Grass Seed Mix 6 5,000-7,000 grass habitat Tallgrass Prairie Grass Mix 10 4,000 grass habitat Other considerations about Wildflower and Native Grass seeding rates : Southern states, especially those in the Southeast, should use the highest recommended rate because of the intense weed pressure. Use the higher rate if you expect high competition from weedy species. Weeds can be a problem if the site was not thoroughly prepared before planting–see our Planting Guide–or if it has a history of weeds (weed seeds in the soil), especially from non-native invasive species. A higher rate is advised if the site will not be strawed (lightly mulched with straw or excelsior blankets for short term erosion control) after seeding or irrigated during drought in the first year. We recommend using a light mulch because it will hold moisture to the seed. If your site has rocky or very thin soil, you may want to consider adding a 2-4 in layer of compost to give the seeds enough moisture to take hold of the soil. Wildflowers and native grass seeds do NOT need fertile soil but they do need to be able to penetrate the initial soil surface before their small but powerful roots begin
Comparing the Cost of Wildflower Seed to Lawn Grass Seed
Question: Why is wildflower seed so much more expensive than lawn grass seed? Answer: It’s not! When figured on a per-unit-area basis, the cost of wildflower seed and lawn grass seed is very comparable. Depending on the species used, wildflowers can be even less expensive than grass seed. Here’s the deal—it is like comparing apples and oranges, in a way. Actually, it is like comparing bb’s to bowling balls. Grass seed, like fescue, is relatively large compared to many types of wildflower seeds. One pound of tall fescue seed contains 227,000 seeds. Many wildflower species have tiny seeds—showy evening primrose has over 3 million seeds per pound, and cardinal flower has 8 million seeds per pound! So a small amount of seed goes a long way. It is the number of seeds that is important, not the weight or the size. That is one reason why we say it is like apples to oranges. The bottom line is this: you have a particular area that you would like to convert to wildflowers or to a native grass/wildflower meadow. How much would it cost for this compared to just seeding lawn grass? The key is in the seeding rate; that is, how much seed per unit area do I apply? Wildflower mixes can cost considerably more per pound than lawn or pasture grasses, but the seeding rate is much lower, so you need considerably fewer pounds. Picture a football field: if you started at one goal line seeding at a moderate rate for lawn grass (9 lbs/1,000 sq ft) from sideline to sideline, a 20-lb bag of grass seed would only last until just past the 4 yard line (the yellow zone below). You barely got out of the end zone!So, the cost per pound is not the whole story—the real cost of seeding is the price per pound for seed AND the seeding rate. Taken together, wildflower seeding is comparable, or sometimes cheaper, than seeding turf grasses. Here’s a real-life example: I checked prices on-line for Rebel Tall Fescue and found that it cost an average of $50 for a 20-lb bag; that’s $2.50 per pound. Yep, that’s pretty cheap. But you have to put a LOT of that seed out to get a lawn—7 to 10 pounds of it per thousand square feet of area. At $2.50 per pound times 9 pounds, that is $22.50 per thousand square feet for lawn-type tall fescue. The finer turf-grass blends costs more like $4.00 per pound, or $36.00 per thousand sq. ft. The pasture-type tall fescue variety, Kentucky-31, is a similar price to Rebel Tall Fescue and can be sown at a lower rate, but that’s what you get—clumpy, wide-blade pasture grass. Let’s say you have a one-third acre (= 14,520 sq. ft.) plot of ground that you don’t know what to do with, or that you are tired of mowing continually. Or a right-of-way area recently disturbed by the utility company. You could plant that one-third acre in turf grass for a seed cost of about $330 at a moderate seeding rate of 9 lbs/1,000 sq. ft. The nicer turf grass blends will cost you well over $500. insert photo of someone mowing a big grassy area With our Eastern Native Habitat Seed Mix, at ¼ pound/1,000 sq. ft., you could plant the same area for $165—exactly half the total cost of the cheapest grass seed. And you mow a couple of times per year, or not mow at all if you like. Yes, the Habitat Mix costs over $45 per pound, but you need less than 3% as much seed by weight as the turf grass seed. (Insert photo of this mix) A moderate-to-high seeding rate of our Monarch Butterfly Garden Seed Mix would cost $334, about the same as buying the necessary amount of grass seed. (Insert photo of this mix) The Eastern Native Pollinator Seed Mix, at a moderate rate, would cost $382 for seed to plant the same plot of ground. A totally native seed mix for a total cost that is cheaper than the lawn grass blends. Bottom line: don’t make decisions based on partial information—you might find yourself stuck at only the 4-yard line with some grass to mow, when you could have scored an entire field full of lovely wildflowers! Of course, there are other considerations when planning a seeding project. Check out our Wildflower Planting Guide.
