Sowing flowers before winter, pros and cons
There are many types of annual and perennial plants that can and even should be sown before winter, in open ground. In this article, we described the advantages and disadvantages of sowing flowers before winter, and also pointed out some of the nuances.
The main thing to remember when sowing seeds before winter should be cold-resistant plant varieties that are able to survive the winter in their natural environment, such as cornflower, chamomile, delphinium, calendula, poppy, matthiola, phlox, chrysanthemums, asters, viola, lavender, cloves, peach-leaved and Carpathian bells, lupine, alysium aubrieta, yarrow, lobelia, etc.
Pros of sowing flowers before winter
1. Faster development. Plants sown before winter will sprout in early spring, when the snow melts and there is still a lot of moisture in the ground. Thanks to this, seedlings will immediately grow actively, respectively, and they will bloom earlier than those flowers that were sown in spring.
2. Guaranteed ascent. There is a lot of earthwork in the spring, so it is very easy to miss the optimal time for sowing flowers. You can simply forget about them, and when you remember, the earth will already be overdried. And sowing flowers in dried soil can lead to the fact that the plants will be weak, undersized, or not germinate at all.
2. Saving time on seed preparation. If you sow flowers before winter, accordingly, you do not need to prepare them for sowing on the window or grow seedlings on windowsills.
3. There is no need to prepare seeds in the spring for sowing and grow seedlings on windowsills, and then transfer them to the ground. Instead, you can devote more time to heat-loving plants that cannot be sown before winter.
4. Hardening of plants, or natural selection. Seeds sown in autumn will give stronger and more hardy seedlings. After all, the strongest, so to speak, hardened, flowers will sprout, which, accordingly, will be more resistant to adverse climatic conditions, frosts, pests and various diseases.
5. Strong roots. The root system of “winter” flowers develops better, it penetrates deep into the soil. And this, in turn, increases the resistance of flowers to drought.
By the way, for many types of perennial flowers, sowing before winter is not only desirable, but even necessary, because thanks to this, the seeds go through the stage of natural stratification, that is, they are at a low temperature for a certain time, without which they may not germinate.
Cons of sowing flowers before winter
1. Sudden changes in temperature can lead to the death of early shoots. When the thaw period begins, the seeds begin to germinate, but if the heat is replaced by severe cold again, the seedlings may not withstand. Although flowers planted in spring are not immune from this.
2. Along with the flowers, weeds will grow. If the area where you sow the flowers is heavily littered with weed seeds, they will sprout at the same time as the flowers in the spring. It will be very difficult to weed them out while the seedlings are small, besides, weeds can drown out flowers. Therefore, either the bed must be cleared of weed seeds in advance, or you will have to forget about crops before winter.
When to sow seeds before winter
You should not rush to sow before winter. The best time is when air temperatures are already consistently low, but not yet sub-zero, that is, when the air temperature steadily drops to zero. Most often it is the end of October – early-mid-November or later. Although you can sow later – up to the formation of a stable snow cover. Usually, the topsoil is already freezing at this time.
How to prepare a bed for sowing seeds before winter
The main thing in sowing before winter is to prepare the bed in advance, make grooves for seeds in it. The ground will already be frozen, so it is necessary to cover the seeds with dry soil that has not yet frozen and which must also be prepared in advance, protecting it from moisture and from freezing.
The place where you will carry out winter sowing of flowers must be cleared of weeds (especially from the roots of perennial weeds) and dug up. During digging, you can add humus (4-6 kg per 1 sq. M), autumn fertilizers. For dense soil, use a baking powder, such as river sand.
The bed should be protected from the wind, high enough and with good drainage so that stagnant water does not form and the seeds do not rot. It is optimal to equip a high bed (15-20 cm) with sides.
How to sow seeds before winter
You need to sow flowers before winter in dry weather. Seeds should never be soaked or germinated before sowing in the ground, so that they do not germinate prematurely.
It is necessary to sow quite densely, because some seedlings may die. On average, the seeding rate of seeds is increased by 25-50%. Seeds are sown to a shallow depth, on top they can also be sprinkled with a small layer of humus, peat or a mixture of peat, sand and humus. The soil should be dry and free-flowing.
After sowing, you do not need to water the bed. To protect it from frost, you can cover it with fallen leaves or needles.
How to care for a bed in spring
When the snow melts, it is worth removing the mulching material from the garden. You can install coated arcs over the bed to protect plants from sudden temperature fluctuations and retain moisture. It is not necessary to water the seedlings at the beginning, because there is still enough moisture left in the ground from the melted snow. If the plants have sprouted very densely, you need to thin them out and plant them. You can transplant flowers (if necessary) when they grow up a little and get stronger.
