Make your own seeds bombs and bring an explosion of colour and food for pollinators

Planting native wildflowers is a great way to attract pollinators to your setting and provide them with lots of food. It is important to ensure that you have a variety of pollen-rich flowers, with different flower shapes, colours, and flowering periods in order to have the best results. Seed bombs are a fantastic way to plant wildflowers in your setting or the community.

What you will need:

• UK native wildflowers seeds *
• Peat-free compost **
• Potters clay/ powdered clay
• Mixing bowl
• Water

* There are lots of options for buying wildflower seed mixes, but it is important to make sure that you choose one that contains only native species – many wildflower mixes may include non-native wildflowers and although they may look spectacular, they will not provide the same benefit to wildlife. You can find a list of some of the best wildflowers to plant to attract pollinators below. Some wildflowers such as Foxgloves are poisonous and so should be avoided if planting in your setting – a list of some other poisonous wildflower can be found here.

** When planting wildflowers or growing your own food, it is vital to only use peat-free compost, which will be clearly labelled as such. Peat bogs are some of the best carbon stores we have and therefore essential to confronting the climate crisis. When peat bogs are drained and dug up it releases the huge amount of carbon stored.

Instructions:

•  In the bowl, mix together 1 part seeds, 5 parts compost and 2-3 parts potters clay
• Slowly add water whilst mixing with your hands, unitl everything sticks together
• Roll the mixture into tight balls
• Leave the balls to dry for a few days
• Next comes the fun bit, throw your seed bombs onto a bare bit of soil in your garden
• If you want to throw them in public, make sure to get the landowners permission first