Fresh seed
will be despatched
between September to December.
Other
Names:
Rattle Box, Hay Rattle, Hay Shackle Distribution: Widespread throughout Britain.
Habitat:
Pastures, meadows and short turf.
Description:
Native annual of medium height (up to 60cm) with golden yellow flowers
from May to July.
Uses:
Yellow
Rattle is a useful plant to introduce when creating a wild
flower meadow. It is
semi-parasitic on the roots of plants, especially grasses, and once
established will reduce the vigour of the original grass by up to 50%.
It fixes its roots onto the
root system of an adjoining grass, extracting water and minerals from
it. All ancient meadows
have this plant.
Sow at the rate of 1g per square metre if combined with a meadow
seed mix.
Sowing Instructions for Seeds:
Yellow
Rattle needs a period of
cold to germinate successfully, so is best sown between August and
December. Yellow Rattle is an annual and so if used in a meadow,
it is best to cut the meadow after the rattle has had a chance to seed
ie after the end of July.
If
sown into an existing meadow, ensure that the grass is cut very short
(an inch or less) and create areas of bare soil by scarifying,
harrowing, raking etc. You should aim to expose up to 50% bare
soil. Sow the seed onto this bare soil and ensure good contact by
rolling or treading in.
Our
seeds are of native British origin. Please
note: small quantities of grass seed may also be present.
Fresh seed needs to be sown immediately and will have a higher
success rate than seed which has been dried for longer.
Fresh seed
is available, ie from August to December 2024 or they can be pre-ordered outside
of this period by purchasing from the pre-order links to the left of
this page. Your order will then be dispatched from August onwards.
If you would like to
purchase dry seed, please click on the link below between January to July:
