I am not an expert but here is my 2 cents

If you mulch over your garden beds next spring you wont get great reseeding - the seeds wont germinate well.
last years mulch may have broken down a bit and may be ok for germination but I dont think as well as bare ground (especially if the mulch is thick)
dont worry too much about the lawn these plants wont do very well with the competition from the grass or for that matter very much like your lawn mower
As far as the reseeding vs weeds issue you just have to get to know the difference...what the foxglove and delphinium seedlings look like. There are websites that have pics of different seedlings that can help but I find it is often obvious if you remember where you grew things last year because most of the seedlings will be right there (although the fun ones will sprout exactly where you would never expect and dont notice until they flower).

I personally only mulch my beds lightly with buckwheat hulls in late June. To be honest it is expensive and has limited utility keeping the weeds at bay...just looks good. I do it later because by then pretty much everything that is going to sprout has done so.

Squirrel Girl,

It's a problem, isn't it? The mulch maks the garden look good, and helps with soil fertility and structure, but the reseeding aspect goes down the tubes. I haven't mulched for about 18 months. Last spring I thought I knew which seedlings were weeds, and which were flowers, but I didn't...not really. I let some Goldenrod get six feet tall because I didn't know what it was -- not a problem, but the roots were huge and everywhere! Same with some poke weed -- it has some very elegant-looking seedlings, but the roots are very aggressive.

This fall has been so long that I have been working outside all this time. I still haven't cut things back because I have bulbs I'm still planting. I think I'm going to triple mow some leaves and sprinkle them around instead of a full 2" mulch. I have a million poppy seeds I want to sow and I know from past experience that they must have contact with soil, not mulch, to germinate.

I guess the answer to your question is there is no answer. Can you sort of fluff up the mulch near the Larkspur and hope the seeds drop down to the soil?

Lime

I had to laugh, because I did the same thing with a golden rod. To make matters worse, it is right at the base of a clematis! I didn't know the roots were so horrific. I am going to try to just brush it with round up in the spring.

Now, as to reseeding.........I like to let anything that will reseed too. Some things will reseed absolutely everywhere including the grass, but the mower takes care of that. Larkspur and nicotiana do that and, to some extent, annual poppies. I have even seen a snapdragon or two this fall out in the grass near the bed they were in. I don't mulch the flower beds too heavily. I believe in using the plant thickly method and then there is no room for weeds. It works pretty well.

If you do have mulch in place, especially coarse mulch, I would pull it back somewhat from around the plants you want to self-seed.

Good luck next spring; hope you get lots of reseeding beauties.

Thanks for the answer. Or as Lime put it, no answer. I'll fluff my mulch, and winter sow more larkspur. It is good to know that plants typically reseed in the general area they were planted. I thought I was exaggerating about delphinium and foxglove in the lawn, but it sounds like a few types of plants do try to make their escape. Nothing John Deer can't handle.

As for my new big blue cottage garden. I'm gonna have to mulch the first year. The willow weed seeds are terrible, but once it fills in, I will probably pull back most of the mulch and use it in another place in the yard. There are always more gardens to build. Right?

Thanks folks
Squirrel girl

Hi Squirrel girl

I rely on reseeders to give me a cottage garden look. I only mulch with compost close to the mother plant and leave the rest bare. Once I recognize the seedling in the spring I may move it and put a bit of compost in the hole. No hard and fast rules. A lot of self sown seeds don't want rich soil. Once your garden is established, you'll never have to buy seeds again.

Here's a list of flowers that self seed in my garden. Mostly annuals but a few perennials and biennials.

calendula
campanula.bellflower .....B
cornflower
columbine....P
clarkia elegans
Cosmos
dianthus
chinese Forget-Me-Not
godetia
honesty.........B
feverfew
foxglove,.....B
Jupiter's Beard ....P
larkspur
lavatera
lobelia....sometimes
Love-In-A-Mist
malva sylvestris.........P
mignonette
mullein ...giant weed
nasturtium
nemophila - Baby-Blue-Eyes
pansy
Rose campion..........P
salvia hominum
Shirley poppy
Snapdragon
Sweet Pea.......some times
sweet alyssum
stocks,
Wallflower

Libby

I would love to have so many reseeders helping out! I'll add another curve to the story - I have to constantly add amendments (compost, partially composted organic, fresh soil mix with conditioners, etc.) to my sand in order to grow anything. This means that at least once (preferably twice) a year I am side dressing all the perennial beds and redigging and amending annual beds. That has got to make it awfully hard for things to reseed.

Last year I skipped the fall mulching and did get cleome - in the most unexpected places! This fall I got a truckload of really choice soil mix to add to the beds so I may not get even those.

As for larkspur and poppies - I spread a layer of good soil mix on top of the mulch in November and sow the seeds then. They sprout and bloom in spring. It's not exactly reseeding but I would hate to do without those pretty spring flowers.

Libby, It sounds just lovely -- you'll have to post some pictures for us!

Lime

Thanks Lime.

You can see some pictures of my garden here:

Here is a link that might be useful: some pictures

Libby, thank you for letting us tour your garden. What a treat...You are an artist as well as a gardener.

Carol

Wow!!!!! Libby, your pictures are wonderful!!! After the snow we got last night, your garden pictures were like a breath of fresh summer air.

I ditto that, Libby that was a real treat, you have the most amazing garden. What is the beautiful flowering pink in picture 15 it's gorgeous. Thanks for sharing. We're under a foot or so of snow at the moment, hopefully it's not going to stay.

Annette

Wow, wow, wow! When my garden grows up it wants to look just like Libby's.

Crazy day here. Sweats this a.m. and now I have shorts on.

Thanks everybody.
Didn't want to post a picture since many on this message board have seen them before. If you saw my garden today, you'd never think it will look like that again in a few months. :)

Libby

Annette

Filipendula rubra 'Venusta'
Common Name: Queen of the Prairie

No snow here in Victoria, just rain. If you don't mind me asking, where are you?

Libby

Libby, I'm in Nanaimo, I was thinking it might be a Filipendula, I've only seen pictures of it so wasn't sure. It doesn't seem to be available at the nurseries around here or maybe I have been looking in the wrong places. I have seen pix of your garden before but never tire of seeing them again. Yours along with others on this forum have me wanting to tear mine out and start all over.

Annette

Holy Cow! It's even more gorgeous than your reseeders list made it sound, and that's saying something! I'm with Natvtxn, when my garden grows up I want it to look just like yours!

I need to get some taller stuff and plant more like-things together so it looks like I have more clumps, but even so, I will never have a Z9 BC garden in the midwest. :(((

What is the name of that gorgeous red poppy? It was in a vertical photo, if that helps indentify it. I really, really need to get some of those!!!

Lime

Thanks Lime.

The poppies are mixed Shirley poppies. Easy to grow. Tons of reseeds.

Libby

Libby, your gardens are straight out of a painting. Thank you for the inspiration. I'm so glad you posted the pics.

Squirrel Girl

OK Libby, it's official, I am green with envy! You have given me something to aspire to!

I keep certain areas unmulched. I take the seeds in my hands and shake them in the areas without mulch. Waiting for plants to go to seed and spreading them around is one of my summer pleasures. I have foxgloves, daisies and other plants growing in my driveway gravel!

Your garden is just beautiful. It's what I have always dreamed of having. I saved your list of reseeders. They will be at the top of my "want" list. Thank you so much for inviting us to stroll in your garden.
Donna in N CA