Not only grass and dandelions grow in the wild bits of garden, but also the most special plants. In the De Wilde Tuin project, we receive new photos from the inside every day, made by participants via the Obsidentify app from observation.nl. Last week, participants saw the great centaury, a beautiful purple flowering perennial and brush wreath, also known as wild basil. Both plants are on the Red List of vulnerable and endangered species.
How is it possible that a sometimes completely unknown plant suddenly appears in the wild piece of garden? We put that question to Katja Staring. She has several books to her name about (wild) gardening, including Adventurous Gardening (together with Nienke Plantinga) and ‘Make your own jungle a DIY book for animal-friendly gardening. She also manages a wild garden of 900 square meters on the outskirts of Tilburg.
What is the main way a new plant emerges?
“Many seeds spread through the air, just think of the dandelion. There are about a hundred seeds on it, which are like parachutes. They land with their tip somewhere in the ground, where they can then germinate. Several thistles and the morning star also have fluff seeds.
“Then there are seeds that can jump a long way. The spring balsam seeds are a good example of seeds that jump out of a seed pod as soon as you touch it. There are also plants with pods, very narrow pods. They also spring open, as with the small field cress or with garlic-without-look.
“Seed is also produced by digging and digging in the ground. Then you wake up sleeping seeds, as it were. You will often see the first melded or pig grass. These are typical pioneer plants, which serve to prepare the soil for subsequent plants. They bring nutrition and structure to the soil.”
How can it be more?
“Animals are very helpful in spreading seeds. For example, there are seeds in berries that birds like. They eat them, and they defecate the indigestible seeds elsewhere. That way there is a lump of manure with it. The seed can germinate in that new spot.
Ants also help with the spread of seeds. Some seeds have an ‘ant roll’, an attached piece full of nutrients. That is food for the ant larvae. Ants drag the seeds to the nest to store the bread in the pantry. The superfluous seed is brought back outside. Sometimes the buns already fall off the seed on the way. It remains and germinates. That is why you see some plants move through your garden over time or suddenly come up. There are about 200 plants that have ant-roll seeds. Some well-known are grape hyacinths, cucumber herb, comfrey, snowdrop, celandine, violet, dead nettle and hollyhock.
“Some seeds hitch a ride with passers-by. The great burdock, for example, is a plant with seed pods that cling to animal fur and people’s clothing by clever barbs. That’s how the seed spreads. The Swiss inventor Georges de Mestral saw this principle, studied what those hooks looked like under a microscope and developed Velcro strips based on that.”
What do you think are special seeds?
“The seeds of the poppy grow from the pollinated flower heart. This eventually creates a kind of samba ball, of which the hatches at the top open and you can hear the seed when you shake it. You can collect the seed by shaking the seed pods in a jam jar or paper bag.”
Can we also do something with the seeds from the wild garden?
“Go on a seed safari in your wild garden. Seeds from plants can be beautiful! Look at all those seed pods, pods, pods and buds. You can already collect seeds this month from wild garlic, columbine, cuckoo flower, Judas penning, rapeseed and garlic-without-garlic. It is fun to discover where the seeds of a plant are and what they look like. Harvest them from your own wild patch of garden and dry them for new growth and bloom next year. Store them in a paper bag or the tip of an old envelope, or scatter them elsewhere.
“If you have evening primrose in the garden, you can harvest the crunchy little seeds in late summer to eat, for example by sprinkling them over your sandwich. You can also harvest, dry and eat nettle seeds.”