Jody's Notes Dormant Seeding - An Opportunity to Seed Native Grasses with Roadside Flowers In the cold months of December, January and February lies a unique opportunity to sow grasses and forbs (roadside flowers) that normally can't be sown together. Warm-season grasses and annual forbs establish best if sown in the spring. In contrast, it is best to establish cool-season grasses and perennial forbs in the late summer or fall. Often it is not practical to sow grasses and forbs separately, so how do you manage to solve this dilemma? The answer is to sow all the species together when the seed has little chance to germinate, thus the term Dormant Seeding. Dormant Seeding can be done anytime the soil temperature remains below 55 degrees F. This often occurs after November in most areas of Virginia; however, this may not happen in the coastal areas until late December. It is better to sow the seed early in the winter months because the cold will help to stratify the seed, thus improve spring germination. The most important part of Dormant Seeding is to prepare the land prior to the soil freezing. For all seeding techniques, broadcast, slit or no-till seeding, the existing vegetation must be killed with glyphosate before the weather gets too cold. Two applications of glyphosate two weeks apart are ideal. Plateau (4 oz/A) can also be used at this time to insure that the vegetation is killed, even if Plateau sensitive plants will be sown. By the time the seeds germinate in the spring the herbicide will not be active, and the seedlings will be safe. Also, all soil amendments, lime or P fertilizer, should be applied prior to the cold weather. This will give the lime and P time to interact with the soil. Wait until after the plants emerge in the spring to apply N and K fertilizer. The best advice I can offer is to keep the mixes simple. Limit the number of plant species to insure success. After you determine which species work best in your area, more species can be added. The three mixes below were selected because they are easy to grow and perform well. Native Mix A Coreopsis lanceolata (15 lb/A, pure live seed (PLS)) Coreopsis tinctoria (5) Little Bluestem 'Aldous' or other cultivar (10) or Creeping Red Fescue (5) Native Mix B Coreopsis lanceolata (10) and Purple coneflower (10) Rudbeckia 'Gloriosa' (5) Indiangrass (5) or Switchgrass (5) Non-Native Mix Coreopsis lanceolata (10) and Ratibia columnifera (5) Silene armeria (5) Sheep Fescue 'Azur" (5) After you look at the mixes you will note that: Coreopsis lanceolata was used in every mix because it is very dependable and provides continuous color for at least a month. These high seeding rates are designed for broadcast seeding on poor soils. They should be reduced if soil conditions are good or a slit/no-till seeder is used. Two grass species are designated. You have a choice. The little bluestem and Indiangrass seed is very "fluffy". If you can't deal with the fluffy seed select the other grass which will be easier to sow The other advantage to Dormant Seeding, from a management point of view, is that it can be done when people are not busy. Try this technique on a small area at first. Hopefully you will realize good results. If you have questions please feel free to send an e-mail.