Adding wild flower bed

Most wildflower seeds need to be cold-stratified before they will germinate. Also, in general, wildflower seeds don't do well pushing up through mulch. They have weak stems and can't push it out of the way.

The cardboard, compost,and mulch on top of your grass is a good starting point. I've done it a few times in my yard and been very successful with it. Double up on the cardboard and make sure you got all the tape off, lay the compost down thick, mulch it, and then go buy some cheap annuals from Home Depot for immediate color.

Buy a seed packet for your area from nativeamericanseeds.com and sow them around October. The mulch should be mostly broken down, but make sure you get plenty of seed-to-soil contact. You may have to sweep some mulch out of the way. I always have to weed a ton in the following spring because things that aren't my wildflowers have deposited seeds in my compost and it's hard to tell what's weeds and what's flowers for a while, which is a pain.

I also like planting some kind of ground cover like partridge berry (mitchella repens), dutchmans pipe (aristolochia fimbriata), or Texas frogfruit (phyla nodiflora), depending on light/water/soil conditions. All three are native, hosts for butterflies, and I find them at least a little attractive. They also keep windblown seeds from getting into and germinating in your bed in any significant capacity, but you'll never really be out of the weeds completely. Good luck on getting rid of some grass and increasing biodiversity in your yard!

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Good luck on getting rid of some grass and increasing biodiversity in your yard!

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I’m at war with my lawn grass. Yesterday I dumped 3 yards of rotted bark in a sunny spot that I’ll plant wildflowers in this winter

I did the same and have replaced about 50% of the grass in my back yard. Vegetables, herbs, all planted among flowers in the beds.

I wouldn't put down cardboard. Kill off the grass first this summer then seed in the fall. Here is my yard right now

Looks fantastic man! I notice some sage..Are those from seed or planted Perennials?
I backup to a bayou, Instead of an installing fence, I’m Interested in doing this. Once again, great job, I know that’s a lot of work

Very nice. Are those Gaillardia or Mexican flowers? I have backyard perennial flower bed with few annuals. Added 2 bales of spaghnum moss and I’m
dealing with influx of weeds since then. Didn’t get to put any pre-emergence when it was all weeded. FYI: Use roofing shingles to rid weeds to expand new flower beds. My oak trees knocked out flower beds during Ida. Enjoy my flowers.

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notice some sage..Are those from seed or planted Perennials?

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It's a Duelberg sage which is perennial but seems prolifically. Mine came up from seed my neighbors put out.

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I know that’s a lot of work

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Not really. I started seed about 5 years ago. I throw out about 4 or 5 oz of different seed each fall. Started with pink evening primrose 5 years ago and then added Indian Blanket and Mexican hat seed the next year. About 3 years ago I added annual wine cup and that is the purple flower you see. It exploded this year and is dominant now whereas the primrose was dominant the last 4 years . I pull a few weeds here and there but I am in Dallas so don't have the crazy weeds y'all have.

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Are those Gaillardia or Mexican flowers

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Yes, Indian Blanket

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You mind explaining how you prepped whenever you started, if you had grass?

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So when I bought this place over 20 years ago I sprayed roundup to kill off the bermuda/weeds that were there and sodded with Buffalo Grass. Over the next few years bermuda started invading and I ended up with a 50-50 mix of bermuda and buffalo and soon it was majority bermuda. So I just used a hand rake/tiller to scratch back the bermuda, lightly rough up the soil and put down a few seeds and press them into the soil, seeds just need soil contact. I did this over the course of a few days in the fall (October) so I had put down a seed patch about 5-8' apart throughout my lawn but I wasn't really measuring. I did this only with the pink evening primrose seed the first year. The next spring I had a few patches of primrose and the 2nd year had even more. By the third year, 60-70% of my lawn was primrose. The problem is primrose blooms early, late february/ early march, and by May they were done. You have to let the wildflowers go to seed before cutting them back so it looked a little rough for a month/6 weeks. So I used the same process with Indian Blanket and Mexican hat which bloom from May til end of june. Scratch back to the soil and press in some seeds. Next year I had a few of these new seeds germinate and after 2 years had a nice coverage of Indian Blanket and Mexican Hat after the primrose petered out. Then I added annual winecup seed (not perennial winecup) and after 2 years that has taken off. I also seeded sideoats grama grass back when I first seeded primrose so I would have those growing throughout the summer and into the fall. I am in Dallas so the species you need may be different. I bought from Native American Seed who has mixes for all of Texas and The Caddo Mix would be good for most parts of Louisiana. You could put that mix down and see what comes up over the next 2 years. I put down seeds of other species that never have done much so its a bit of trial and error. The Pink Evening Primrose does well in most of Texas (and Louisiana probably) so that is why I started with that.

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I bought from Native American Seed

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right on
just ordered a shitpile of seed
now I have the summer to get rid of more grass

Ida fricked me on the lost trees but now I have a big area getting sun and multiple stumps to build around

I’m going to prep areas like this

-smother with sawmill bark
-let it rot
-top dress with compost and sand
-edge with liriope

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Here is my yard right now

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I love that look, I can never get much to come up, what’s your secret?