Planting wildflowers around my veggie garden- Good Plan?

I'm going to have a garden 50' x90' and an addition 20x'40' with tomatoes. I was planning on planting a 2-4 foot wide strip of mixed wildflowers round the edge to help attract bees and stuff. Is this a good plan?


I'm running drip irgation to the garden, will the flowers need to be watered this way also?


I'm in zone 7 with very sandy soil.


Thanks in advance!

Planting wildflowers around my veggie garden- Good Plan?
The flowers will bring the bees to pollenate which is great. I would make sure there are also marigolds -- the scent keeps some pests away from the tomatoes. I plant the marigolds right in with the tomatoes. I also plant garlic with the tomatoes as its scent also keeps away pests and you get to reep the benefit of having garlic at the end of the season.
Reply:Your plan is very ambitious to say the least. There are numerous wilflower strips available through numeous catelogs and in most nursery or hardware stores. Unfortunately the plan is, in my opinion, non-functional.


To tend your garden and tomatoes requires unencumbered access to the site. A wildflower garden hinders your ability to bring in necessary tools, mulch, water, etc. By definition wildflowers are exactly as stated. They will not be impeded by the perimeter you wish. They will invade on your gardens and impede your access to provide maintenance.


A great solution, should you really wish to have wildflowers, is to create a mound of soil backgrounding your garden. On this elevated mound plant the wildflower strips. You can make it any shape or size you wish and obtain the wildflower effect and still attract the bees and butterflies, etc.


Tomatoes require a great deal of care and nuturing to be a success. That soil needs to be perfect to achieve your goal.


It must be full of loam and acidic. Your local nursery should be able to run a soil test for you to tell you exactly what you need for additives to reach your dream. Some claim that well placed Geraniums help keeping insects from the Tomatoes.


Be advised that Wild means exactly that. Once planted and in place they will do exactly what they want to do and go where they want to go. Sounds like a great and extensive project and I wish you luck.
Reply:yes wild flowers are a good idea, to attract beneficial insects to the garden for pollination i would suggest that you plant mainly yellow coloured flowers as this seems to attract more insects. as for your tomato's i would plant things like garlic ( common or Russian giant ) any of the allium family chives, onions. this way you keep the insects down plus you get two crops off one bed.
Reply:Its a very good idea to plant wild flowers along the edgeof ur veggie garden. Its not only gonna be pretty to look at, but its gonna help attract bees and butterflies to your veggie garden.. because veggies need polinated too..


You can water the flowers the same way that u water ur veggies.. they may not need as much water as your veggies.. but all plants need water...


If your doing your drip irrigation yourself... just add less holes where your flowers, so that way your flowers get watered, and your veggies still do as well..also it will prevent from runoff..


Hope you enjoy your garden..
Reply:i wonder if it will bring too many weeds? I usually plant marigolds around tomatoes to bring bees and ladybugs, not wild flowers because they bring the beetles here. I think I am in zone 7 too. but I dont know as much as you do about gardening so you trust your instinct. good luck
Reply:I think it sounds like a great idea. You can buy wildflower mixes that are designed for dryer areas. In my experience, if you water the area on a regular basis while the seeds are germinating, once the plants are established you can start cutting back.