How to save seeds and store them
As you’ll know if you’ve ever got to the garden centre checkout with a trolley full of plants, things can get expensive pretty quickly. Unless of course, you propagate your own.
Now (late summer) is the time to collect and save seeds so you can fill your garden with lots of free plants next year.
Learn how to save seeds from your garden:
In case you’ve never collected seeds before, or you’re unsure if you’re doing it right, I’ve made a video to help you. We’ll cover:
- Knowing when seeds are ready to collect
- How to carefully harvest seeds without them all falling out
- The seed drying process
- How to clean your dried seeds
- Tips for how to store seeds and how long they’ll last
In 5 minutes’ time, you’ll know how to save seeds and be ready to head into your garden and hunt for what you can find.
Watch the video and read on for more discussion:
But won’t the plants just self seed?
Good question. Some plants are better than others at self-seeding (germinating and establishing wherever they drop). Certain plants are known for their self-seeding abilities, and I choose some which self-seed such as Sanguisorba (Burnett) and Knautia (Scabious).
But young self-seeded plants have to contend with the big wide world, including hungry molluscs, extreme temperatures and fluctuating moisture levels between drought and heavy rain.
Whereas seeds you save and propagate will have you looking out for them. Oh how the other half live.
So, even when a plant is known for self seeding, it still helps to hedge your bets by collecting and storing some of the seeds.
Self-seeded plants can be great for creating a natural look. But one other big benefit to collecting seed and not leaving it all to nature is that you can choose where the new plants will go and fill in gaps just the way you want.
And it’s much easier to swap your saved seeds with friends.
Leave some for the birds to eat
It’s important to leave some seeds on the plants for birds to feed on over winter. That means not cutting down dried seed heads until spring.
Growing plants which produce seeds (or berries) and which support invertebrates lower in the food web is the natural and best way to attract and feed birds in your garden.
Don’t feel bad about collecting some seeds to grow next year though. In the long run, you’ll have more plants in your garden.
And the more densely you plant, the more support your garden can offer to all kinds of wildlife. (And a bonus, dense planting will build healthy soil).
What are your thoughts?
Do you collect seed from your garden? Is it one of those things you want to do but never quite get around to? Has this video nudged you to go out and see what you can find?
Please let me know in the comments below.
Joe
P.S Do you have a gardening question you’d like the answer to? You can ask me here. I do my best to get back to them all – and I might even make a Q&A video with my answer!
Joe Vary Dip. Hort (Wisley), MCIHort, CMTGG
I'm a gardener, educator, consultant, and planting designer. Learn with me 1-to-1, or join my mentoring group and community.
This Post Has 4 Comments
Fabulous Joe – I’m going straight out there into my garden to get seed collecting! I’ll let you know how it goes .
So pleased you enjoyed it Josephine. Good luck and let me know how you get on with your seed collecting 😊
The salad box located in the bottom of your fridge is a very good place to store your seed packets. If you buy packets of seeds as soon as you get them home store them in the fridge. Keeping the seed cool greatly increases the chances of your seeds germinating successfully. This may often be the reason for saved or bought seed failing to germinate after sowing!
Nice top tip Nick! I completely agree that if you have the space in your fridge, you might as well use it 😊
All the best,
Joe