Planting a meadow?

Jessica Damiano ASSOCIATED PRESS

Wildflower meadows have been growing in popularity among gardeners, and for good reason. They’re low-maintenance and drought-tolerant, provide food for birds, wildlife, pollinators and other insects, and they’re pretty.

Wildflowers are native plants, so your options will vary according to where you live. Start your search on the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center’s website (www.wildflower.org).

Select your state, and narrow the search to other parameters like plant habit and sun exposure. Then browse the list for plants that strike your fancy.

A typical meadow comprises roughly 60 percent native grasses and 40 percent flowering perennials, but there’s no harm in straying from that ratio.

If you’d rather buy ready-made wildflower seed mixes formulated for your region, ensure that the species included are appropriate for the type of soil, sunlight and moisture conditions your garden provides.

Don’t be fooled into believing you can just sprinkle the seeds and walk away.

Soil prep is an essential first step for any garden, wild or not. Skip it, and your results will likely disappoint.

First, remove weeds and turfgrasses from the area. Digging them up would be the most labor-intensive way of doing this, and risks moving weed seeds to the surface, making the problem worse. An easier, often more effective strategy is to smother or solarize the existing vegetation, which requires patience.

Layer cardboard over the lawn or weedy area, then cover it with 4-6 inches of mulch. The grass

Heed conditions in your garden, yard

ASSOCIATED PRESS and most of the weeds beneath it will suffocate by fall. Alternatively, cover the area with plastic sheeting or a tarp, and secure it with a stone or brick placed on each corner. This method can be quicker because as the plastic heats up, it essentially cooks the plants beneath it.

The average long-term U.S. mortgage rate inched down for the fifth straight week, positive news for potential home buyers and a real estate market that’s been chilled by the Federal Reserve’s series of interest rate hikes the past year.

Mortgage buyer Freddie Mac reported Thursday that the average on the benchmark 30-year rate ticked down to 6.27 percent from 6.28 percent the previous week. The average rate last year at this time was 5 percent.

The average long-term mortgage rate hit 7.08 percent in the fall — a two-decade high.

The recent decline in mortgage rates is good news for prospective homebuyers, many of whom were pushed to the sidelines during the past year, as the Federal Reserve raised its main lending rate nine straight times in a bid to beat back stubborn, four-decade high inflation.

Though supply remains low, home prices are retreating slightly, another development that could lure buyers back into the market. The national median home price slipped 0.2 percent from February 2022 to $363,000, marking the first annual decline in 13 years, according to the National Association of Realtors.

Rising borrowing costs can add hundreds of dollars a month in costs for homebuyers and cooled off a red-hot housing market. Before surging 14.5 percent in February, sales of existing homes had fallen for 12 straight months to the slowest pace in more than a dozen years.

In autumn (or next spring), turn the soil in the new bed and incorporate a modest amount of compost. If you have heavy clay soil, mix in sand to im- prove drainage. Don’t add fertilizer (or use too much compost) because wildflowers prefer low soil fertility.

Annual wildflower plants should be planted only in spring, to allow time for them to mature, produce and drop seeds, which will sprout the following year. Perennial plants, however, can be planted — and perennial and annual seeds sown — in fall.

Most wildflower seeds are tiny, so combining one part of your seed mix with

10 parts of dry sand can make spreading them easier. Scattering by hand may be fine for small beds, but using a seed spreader is preferable in larger areas.

To ensure the seeds make good contact with the soil, walk over them or pass over the area with a lawn roller, but don’t bury them.

If you’re sowing in spring, keep the area lightly watered in the absence of rainfall, as the season’s warming temperatures will threaten to dry them out. Expect annual species to flower the first year, but you may have to wait a year or two for perennials to bloom. In the meantime, keep the bed free of tall weeds, which could shade out your fledgling wildflowers. At the end of the growing season, leave your meadow standing to provide food and shelter for overwintering insects and wildlife. Mow it down in spring just before new growth begins.

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