LEARN HOW - wildflower seed kits
We are often asked “should I plant wildflower seed?” Our answer is always that pollinators themselves would say “NO”.
Wildflower seed mixes often contain non-native species - our pollinators need the native wildflowers they have evolved alongside.
Studies have shown that the seeds in many wildflower seed mixes are imported from other countries, and are not native, despite what the packet might say. There is a huge risk of accidentally bringing in invasive species that, if spread, would be devastating to the Irish agricultural industry.
If you decide to buy wildflower seed, you should source it carefully, and please only ever plant in your own garden and not in the wider landscape. View it in the same way as you might planting lavender, comfrey or crocus - it’s a colourful ‘garden action’ ... it’s not a ‘biodiversity action’.
What can I do instead?
By simply reducing mowing, amazing wildflowers like dandelion, clover, self-heal and bird’s-foot-trefoil naturally pop-up year after year at no cost. These common flowers provide the nutrients our insects need.
You’re also genuinely helping biodiversity – by returning pockets of natural grassland meadows and verges, no matter how tiny, the collective benefit to wildlife is enormous. They’re a long-term and sustainable solution to the biodiversity crisis. It’s very tempting to plant what we humans find attractive, rather than doing what our declining pollinators actually need.
In our lawns, verges, towns, villages, and parks, let’s really help bees and biodiversity by not planting wildflower seed. Instead, reduce mowing and allow our beautiful natural Irish meadows to return with native flowers that are meant to be there. It won’t look like the front of a wildflower seed packet, but that’s not a natural habitat and is not what pollinators want.
Wildflower seed mixes often contain non-native species - our pollinators need the native wildflowers they have evolved alongside.
Studies have shown that the seeds in many wildflower seed mixes are imported from other countries, and are not native, despite what the packet might say. There is a huge risk of accidentally bringing in invasive species that, if spread, would be devastating to the Irish agricultural industry.
If you decide to buy wildflower seed, you should source it carefully, and please only ever plant in your own garden and not in the wider landscape. View it in the same way as you might planting lavender, comfrey or crocus - it’s a colourful ‘garden action’ ... it’s not a ‘biodiversity action’.
What can I do instead?
By simply reducing mowing, amazing wildflowers like dandelion, clover, self-heal and bird’s-foot-trefoil naturally pop-up year after year at no cost. These common flowers provide the nutrients our insects need.
You’re also genuinely helping biodiversity – by returning pockets of natural grassland meadows and verges, no matter how tiny, the collective benefit to wildlife is enormous. They’re a long-term and sustainable solution to the biodiversity crisis. It’s very tempting to plant what we humans find attractive, rather than doing what our declining pollinators actually need.
In our lawns, verges, towns, villages, and parks, let’s really help bees and biodiversity by not planting wildflower seed. Instead, reduce mowing and allow our beautiful natural Irish meadows to return with native flowers that are meant to be there. It won’t look like the front of a wildflower seed packet, but that’s not a natural habitat and is not what pollinators want.
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