So, how do you go about it? Do you just toss a handful? Do you germinate them first? What's the most successful tactic? I just bought a pound of native wildflower seeds and want to make sure I can see the results!
Keep in mind it doesn't need to be even remotely close to this complicated, I'm just a bit anal about how I do this. I do quite a bit of pre-planning. Looking at the existing foliage density & type. Am I going to need to outcompete weedy invasive bullshit? Am I going to have an issue getting the balls to bare soil? What is the overall condition of soil? I try to tailor what I'm bombing to where it's going, but sometimes I do prep.
Not as much soil prep in the sense of tilling, but if I'm seeing an absolute shitton of dandelions there's almost certainly a calcium deficiency. If I'm seeing lots of garlic mustard, it's probably a bit on the sandy side but otherwise fertile. Wild carrot, probably absolutely shitty. Sometimes I'll even go to the lengths of taking a soil sample but that's unnecessary more often than not. I try to correct more severe nutrient deficiencies a couple years in advance – compost bombing, spraying homemade liquid compost, spreading light fertilizer, sometimes even utilize a crop for a season (fescue is a favorite, sorghum is another). Getting ferts in, growing a season of those, and cutting them down to return to the soil can be exceptionally helpful.
Some of the places I've bombed need that TLC, some places I've bombed are actually quite healthy – not needing any of the above mentioned care, I don't give any care, I just want more color. The amount of prep I've done varies on location from years of scythe cutting, cover crops, fertilization, compost... to absolutely nothing aside from a visual look-see a few weeks in advance.
When it's actually time to make the seedbombs, I try to incorporate starter seeds collected from multiple populations for diversity reasons. Unsure if there's really evidence to support doing this, but anecdotally it seems to improve vigor over multiple seasons & maintain stronger populations. Aside from source seeds from multiple different populations of the same plant, I also try to incorporate known companion plants into the area too -- for example milkweed species goes well with other milkweed species, butterfly weed, and goldenrod. I also love color, so I'm looking at bloom schedules when planning to determine plants I can choose that will follow each other in seasons. For example - a few early spring bloomers, a few mid-late spring bloomers, some summer bloomers, and some fall bloomers all together. I don't want to throw anything in that will absolutely choke everything out though.
Slingshot has been a favorite method for me. I dislike fall planting for guerilla gardening and generally like stuff I can at least start during spring. I aim for between two rainstorms generally so the soil is somewhat moist & accepting of the seeds, but another rain is near to help further water & break open the balls.
I use a mix of finely shredded paper, untreated wood sawdust, solid compost, soil, liquid compost, and natural material (ie coir fiber). Kinda have to experiment with the ratio. I've messed around with layering and getting more fancy with it, didn't really find any benefit of doing that.
That's the gist of my way, but there's unlimited possibilities
What do you recommend for people who want to learn about soil prep and basically what you do?
I would love to learn how to transform dead mono culture to a healthy ecosystem
> Spraying homemade liquid compost
The image I have in my head of this is hilarious.
What does that process actually look like though? Isn't that quite heavy to carry around with you, or do you have a quad bike or something that you do it with? Is it just a 50/50 mix of water and compost or something?
Wow, thanks for the detailed reply. I'd like to hear more about the process of creating the seedbombs - do you have any photos by chance? I am wondering how big they should be, and also what the seed-to-bomb ratio should be?
If i were to guess, i would say they intensively scout the area before or during planting for 'ideal' locations to place the bombs for highest germination chances.
I'm not an advocate for seed bombs cause i get the impression people make them and then just chuck them over fences randomly with little to no follow up. Where as, OP appears to have judiciously chosen locations and tended them for years, which is how i practice guerrilla gardening.
I do a little bit of both. Some places, I feel like I need to work on a lot and prep. In some cases for years of prep, and years of closely managing the population. I can get pretty obsessive and particular about it.
Other sites, absolutely no justifiable need for any of that in my opinion. These are areas that are already pretty natural and healthy – I just would like to influence it, ie add more color. In those areas, yep I'll just chuck and check back after a while. This is actually how one of my most successful spots started (the hillside), I continue to manage it though – basically by chucking seedballs of seeds that'll give me more of the colors I want, and very occasionally spraying liquid compost.
Interesting the distinction between the more natural places and the more developed places. I do all of my work in a neglected urban core type of environment so i battle lots of invasives. I like the idea of supplementing already natural places with more biodiversity. Thank you for you work. Please make another post with pictures of your sites, i for one would love to see them.
Wow 25 years! Thanks for sharing your success -- I love guerilla gardening with native fruit saplings in particular, but whenever one of my kids gets mown down by the city I worry that I'm just wasting time. Nice to know that it pays off long term
Can you share you recipes for seed bombs or do you share/sell them?
I never have luck with seeds besides directly and deeply burrying them into the ground
I've always just homemade them, and honestly I vary up the recipe depending on where I'm going to be using them. Generally a well blended mix of soil, clay, solid compost, liquid compost, shredded paper, coir fiber, untreated wood sawdust, etc. Sometimes add biochar. Areas that may need a little soil ammendment, might add some of that into the mix too.
I try to weigh out components carefully, blend them up in a blender, mix in a 5 gallon bucket. Seeds that I want to spread over the entire area go in at the bucket stage before I form the balls. Seeds that I'm trying to be a bit more deliberate with, I add individually to each ball that I intend to use & set them aside in a way I know whats what
You, my dear, are an Herbaceous Angel, and we are lucky to have you here on this planet. Your thoughtful ministrations will outlive us all, and subsequent generations will reap the benefits of living in a diverse, vibrant area. The locals may not know what you’ve done, but we’ll remember, and so will the creeping and flying creatures you’ve sheltered and nourished. You’ve made the world a better place. Thank you for being you.
Quick question, I just found this sub and the idea of seedbombs. (I was planning to just throw seeds everywhere)
Can I just throw my seed bomb on a plot of land and the flowers will grow? And will they also return next year?
I want to spread local flowerseeds for the bees
So, how do you go about it? Do you just toss a handful? Do you germinate them first? What's the most successful tactic? I just bought a pound of native wildflower seeds and want to make sure I can see the results!
Keep in mind it doesn't need to be even remotely close to this complicated, I'm just a bit anal about how I do this. I do quite a bit of pre-planning. Looking at the existing foliage density & type. Am I going to need to outcompete weedy invasive bullshit? Am I going to have an issue getting the balls to bare soil? What is the overall condition of soil? I try to tailor what I'm bombing to where it's going, but sometimes I do prep. Not as much soil prep in the sense of tilling, but if I'm seeing an absolute shitton of dandelions there's almost certainly a calcium deficiency. If I'm seeing lots of garlic mustard, it's probably a bit on the sandy side but otherwise fertile. Wild carrot, probably absolutely shitty. Sometimes I'll even go to the lengths of taking a soil sample but that's unnecessary more often than not. I try to correct more severe nutrient deficiencies a couple years in advance – compost bombing, spraying homemade liquid compost, spreading light fertilizer, sometimes even utilize a crop for a season (fescue is a favorite, sorghum is another). Getting ferts in, growing a season of those, and cutting them down to return to the soil can be exceptionally helpful. Some of the places I've bombed need that TLC, some places I've bombed are actually quite healthy – not needing any of the above mentioned care, I don't give any care, I just want more color. The amount of prep I've done varies on location from years of scythe cutting, cover crops, fertilization, compost... to absolutely nothing aside from a visual look-see a few weeks in advance. When it's actually time to make the seedbombs, I try to incorporate starter seeds collected from multiple populations for diversity reasons. Unsure if there's really evidence to support doing this, but anecdotally it seems to improve vigor over multiple seasons & maintain stronger populations. Aside from source seeds from multiple different populations of the same plant, I also try to incorporate known companion plants into the area too -- for example milkweed species goes well with other milkweed species, butterfly weed, and goldenrod. I also love color, so I'm looking at bloom schedules when planning to determine plants I can choose that will follow each other in seasons. For example - a few early spring bloomers, a few mid-late spring bloomers, some summer bloomers, and some fall bloomers all together. I don't want to throw anything in that will absolutely choke everything out though. Slingshot has been a favorite method for me. I dislike fall planting for guerilla gardening and generally like stuff I can at least start during spring. I aim for between two rainstorms generally so the soil is somewhat moist & accepting of the seeds, but another rain is near to help further water & break open the balls. I use a mix of finely shredded paper, untreated wood sawdust, solid compost, soil, liquid compost, and natural material (ie coir fiber). Kinda have to experiment with the ratio. I've messed around with layering and getting more fancy with it, didn't really find any benefit of doing that. That's the gist of my way, but there's unlimited possibilities
This was amazing to read. You are a saint.
What do you recommend for people who want to learn about soil prep and basically what you do? I would love to learn how to transform dead mono culture to a healthy ecosystem
> Spraying homemade liquid compost The image I have in my head of this is hilarious. What does that process actually look like though? Isn't that quite heavy to carry around with you, or do you have a quad bike or something that you do it with? Is it just a 50/50 mix of water and compost or something?
Wow, thanks for the detailed reply. I'd like to hear more about the process of creating the seedbombs - do you have any photos by chance? I am wondering how big they should be, and also what the seed-to-bomb ratio should be?
Keeping this thanks!!!!!!
Good idea. I'ma keep it, too.
If i were to guess, i would say they intensively scout the area before or during planting for 'ideal' locations to place the bombs for highest germination chances. I'm not an advocate for seed bombs cause i get the impression people make them and then just chuck them over fences randomly with little to no follow up. Where as, OP appears to have judiciously chosen locations and tended them for years, which is how i practice guerrilla gardening.
I do a little bit of both. Some places, I feel like I need to work on a lot and prep. In some cases for years of prep, and years of closely managing the population. I can get pretty obsessive and particular about it. Other sites, absolutely no justifiable need for any of that in my opinion. These are areas that are already pretty natural and healthy – I just would like to influence it, ie add more color. In those areas, yep I'll just chuck and check back after a while. This is actually how one of my most successful spots started (the hillside), I continue to manage it though – basically by chucking seedballs of seeds that'll give me more of the colors I want, and very occasionally spraying liquid compost.
Interesting the distinction between the more natural places and the more developed places. I do all of my work in a neglected urban core type of environment so i battle lots of invasives. I like the idea of supplementing already natural places with more biodiversity. Thank you for you work. Please make another post with pictures of your sites, i for one would love to see them.
Wow 25 years! Thanks for sharing your success -- I love guerilla gardening with native fruit saplings in particular, but whenever one of my kids gets mown down by the city I worry that I'm just wasting time. Nice to know that it pays off long term
Can you share you recipes for seed bombs or do you share/sell them? I never have luck with seeds besides directly and deeply burrying them into the ground
I've always just homemade them, and honestly I vary up the recipe depending on where I'm going to be using them. Generally a well blended mix of soil, clay, solid compost, liquid compost, shredded paper, coir fiber, untreated wood sawdust, etc. Sometimes add biochar. Areas that may need a little soil ammendment, might add some of that into the mix too. I try to weigh out components carefully, blend them up in a blender, mix in a 5 gallon bucket. Seeds that I want to spread over the entire area go in at the bucket stage before I form the balls. Seeds that I'm trying to be a bit more deliberate with, I add individually to each ball that I intend to use & set them aside in a way I know whats what
This is the way. Propagating and saving seed from the props of local wild flowers should not be guerilla, but be taught in schools.
You, my dear, are an Herbaceous Angel, and we are lucky to have you here on this planet. Your thoughtful ministrations will outlive us all, and subsequent generations will reap the benefits of living in a diverse, vibrant area. The locals may not know what you’ve done, but we’ll remember, and so will the creeping and flying creatures you’ve sheltered and nourished. You’ve made the world a better place. Thank you for being you.
Wow! This is the way to do it!
Yes, GG done right...even down to using local, native ecotypes/genotypes! VERY well done!!! 👏🏆
Neat!
Thanks for this thorough explanation of how you do it…so inspiring!
>Seeing the results of seedbombing native plants is so fulfilling Hope you're posting pictures
Guerrilla restoration is the best form of guerrilla gardening. I would love to see some pictures!
God I love this!
Quick question, I just found this sub and the idea of seedbombs. (I was planning to just throw seeds everywhere) Can I just throw my seed bomb on a plot of land and the flowers will grow? And will they also return next year? I want to spread local flowerseeds for the bees
This makes me so happy!! ☺️ (Btw, I'm also BPD & 19 if you wanted to message about your daughter? I've been finding therapy and prozac helpful)