Make Your Own Seed Bomb!
The bees need our help. The UK has lost 98% of its wildflower meadows in the last 70 years. March to May is a good time to plant wildflower seeds, and for kids, making seed bombs is a great way to get them excited about native flowers and so get them noticing the plight of our pollinators. You can plant these out in your garden or do some guerilla gardening by scattering them along the route to school or on a roadside verge.
What You Need: Clay (or heavy mud), compost, sand, wildflower seed mix, and an egg box to store them in.
1. Make a ball of clay by rolling it in your hands, just smaller than a golf ball. Flatten it out and mix in some compost and sand, then roll it back into a ball.
2. You want enough compost and sand to give the seeds something to grow in but enough clay to make sure the bomb holds together. Just play about with it until it looks right – the messier your hands are, the better.
3. Push your thumb into the middle to make a bowl shape and sprinkle a few pinches of seeds into the bowl. Fold up the bowl so the seeds are captured inside and roll back into a ball.
4. You can store the seed bombs in an egg box until you’re ready to plant out.
5. The best place to scatter the bombs is in a patch of bare soil. Wildflowers prefer poorer soil and don’t want to compete with grass.
6. Crumble up the bombs and scatter over the bare soil. Then either tread or rake them in.
7. They’re best planted before rain, but if the weather is dry – just add water.
