Growing native plants from seed: Preparing and sowing.

Seed preparation.

Many grasses and plants can be grown from fresh seed. They often do best when 'direct seeded' - this is where you simply sprinkle seeds directly onto soil (and cover them with a little more soil, to make sure they don't blow away). For best results, break up the surface of the soil a bit before sprinkling seeds. ‘Direct seeding’ is best done after it rains, when the soil is still moist.

Some seeds, such as those from the pea family with hard seed coats (such as Acacia (wattles) and Kennedia), need treatment before they can be planted. Without this preparation the 'dormancy' will not be broken and the seed will not germinate.

To break the dormancy of hard seeds, follow these steps:

1. place the seed in a bowl

2. separately, bring some water to the boil - then allow the water to cool for about 1 minute after it has boiled

3. pour the water over the seed and allow it to stand until the water is cool.

Your seed is now ready to plant!

There are other seeds which are difficult to germinate. For example: seed from kangaroo grass needs a Winter season before it will germinate. Try giving them a couple of months in the fridge before planting. Another difficult seed is that of blueberry ash, which needs to pass through a large bird first...

Experimenting and find out for yourself how to best germinate native seeds is half the fun of growing a native garden!

Potting media.

Your local nursery can sell you a small bag of potting mix suitable for propagation of native plants, or…

…you can make up your own media. You can do this by using coco peat (bought in a brick size block) and vermiculite. Follow the provided instructions for preparing the coco peat. Next, mix together 2 parts coco peat to 10 parts vermiculite and a small quantity of slow release fertiliser (as per manufacturers recommendation).

Sowing and growing.

In nature most seed is released in Spring, Summer or Autumn. Therefore these are the best seasons for sowing seed.

Spread your growing media in a shallow propagation tray or in a wide shallow pot with good drainage holes. Smooth the surface and sprinkle your seed evenly over it. If the seeds are fine you can put them into a clean herb jar (one which has a shaker top with sprinkle holes). Add dry washed river sand to the jar and shake the jar well (this helps you get an even spread when you sprinkle).

After spreading the seed, sprinkle a light layer of dry washed river sand (or your potting media) across the surface (just enough to cover the seeds). Using a very fine spray of water, wet the surface. Put the tray or pot in a warm protected spot up off the ground so that there is good drainage. This is important to try to avoid health problems with your plants.

You will have to decide on your own watering routine depending on the weather. Be careful to use a fine spray as you don't want to wash the seeds out of the pot!

Make up a label with the name of the seed and the date sown. Place this in your pot (it is handy for checking on how long germination takes).

When the plants get to a couple of centimetres tall carefully divide them and pot them into separate small pots. Continue to care for your plants. Finally, when they are between approximately 10 to 20cm tall, they will be ready to plant into your garden!

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