Yellow Rattle Seeds (Rhinanthus minor)

Additional Details

When to Sow Yellow Rattle Seeds

March/April or August/September.

Where to Sow

Wildflowers prefer a poor soil with low nutrients. Before sowing, remove any weeds. When sowing, mixing the seed with a quantity of dry sand can to help spread it more evenly.  After sowing, lightly rake over the soil and roll or firm the ground.

What to do Next

Water in very dry weather and then soak the soil thoroughly.
The first cut in autumn should be done without the mower box attached, thus allowing the mature seed heads to shed their seeds back into the soil, and leave for 2-3 weeks. The final cut will tidy the whole area and remove any dead material. It is important to return the fresh seed from each years harvest back into your soil, as this will help to maintain a regular supply of new plants for future years.

Handy Tip

Yellow rattle is a pretty wild flower that attached to grass roots and suppresses their growth, enabling wild flowers to flourish in grass lawns and meadows.