Direct seeding and self-sowing with mulch

Bookerc1 Mackinaw, IL(Zone 5a) May 22, 2008

I just read the article on letting your annuals re-seed themselves, and have also been wanting to try direct sowing some flowers. However, I have wood mulch down in my beds. Maybe this is a really silly question but do I just pull the mulch away from the area where I want to plant? Will my flowers be able to self-sow if I have mulch down? My celosia do re-seed themselves abundantly, but they are in a corner area where the mulch all tends to wash away in a hard rain.

Any thoughts or advice would be welcome!

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ecrane3 Dublin, CA(Zone 9a) May 22, 2008

If you're putting down seeds I'd pull the mulch back, that will maximize your germination. I've found that some of my flowers (as well as of course some weeds!) do reseed even with the mulch, but again you'll have better reseeding without the mulch. But of course you have to balance it with preventing weeds, anything you do to make it easier for your seeds to germinate also makes it easier for the weeds, and anything you do to prevent weeds is going to hurt the germination rate for the desirable plants as well.

Post #4987847

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