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Sowing Poppies into a Lawn

loulouonlineloulouonline Posts: 5
in Tools and techniques
Hello.  I'd like to sow Californian poppies into an established lawn.  The ground is very hard and dry, so I'm assuming I'll need to soak it and try and rake a bit of that up.  Is there anything I should do to ensure good germination?  Or am I about to fight a losing battle?

Posts

  • K67K67 Posts: 2,506
    You could sow the seed in plug trays and then plant out but look at the conditions it's likes which are dry well drained. Worth a try but assume you won't be cutting the lawn 
  • Jules41Jules41 Posts: 178
    I've spread packets and packets of poppy seeds,in all sorts of ground conditions.  Mice have eaten them all ! 🐁
  • nutcutletnutcutlet Posts: 27,445
    poppies, californian and our natives, are not grassland plants. They need tilled soil, native poppies are cornfield plants. The grass will overtake the seedlings in no time, starve them of light and goodbye. 


    In the sticks near Peterborough
  • loulouonlineloulouonline Posts: 5
    Thanks for your feedback - can you recommend any flower I could spread on the lawn to make it pretty?  It will be mowed in May and then again late Autumn.
  • ButtercupdaysButtercupdays Posts: 4,546
    Daisies and buttercups, white  and red clover, speedwell, Prunella, celandine. Most 'lawn weeds' in fact. It's their natural habitat and they are pretty if you let them be.
  • DovefromaboveDovefromabove Posts: 88,147
    If you don't mow your lawn very often, and don't treat it with weedkiller or fertiliser, the wildflowers will arrive all by themselves and make themselves at home  :)

    Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.





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