We want to increase biodiversity on our pasture. Johnny regularly sows grass and herb seeds with our Faunamaster seed drill. Since the turf is already quite dense, the young seedlings often cannot compete with the established plants. Above all, white and red clover have nevertheless established themselves well on our large pasture by now. Unfortunately, we haven't been able to find most of the herbs from our seed mix again on the pasture.

That is why we sowed flower seeds in our tree rings in the pasture this year. Our goal is for the flowers growing there to seed themselves onto the adjacent meadow.

First, I turned the sod over to do this.

I dug up part of the beds two spade depths deep, and the other part only one spade deep. Below that, I loosened the soil with a broadfork. This way, I can observe how well the seeds establish themselves and how quickly the new plants are crowded out by the neighboring grasses.

Before sowing, I soaked the seeds in a molasses (or honey/sugar) water mixture (1:9) along with some purchased mycorrhizal fungi. Then I mixed the mass with some dry soil so the seeds could be distributed better. In some areas, I raked the seeds in lightly. In others, I scattered the seeds and covered them with a little soil. In some circles, I just scattered them without covering them. In the final circles, I also raked in some of our Johnson-Su compost, which we opened for the first time, before sowing.

Now I can observe which method worked best.

Inside the tree rings, Johnny opened up the turf with the tiller, and then I raked away the loose grass with the rake. There I simply scattered the rest of the flower seeds and hope that some of them will germinate and take root as well.