Bombs Away! DIY Seed Bombs

Get your kids into the garden this spring with these fun and practical DIY seed bombs!

Seed balls or seed bombs (more exciting!) are a great way of sowing seeds in a fire-and-forget way. Usually they’re used to reseed or re-vegetate areas that have been denuded of vegetation, and usually they’re filled with seeds of indigenous wildflowers, but there’s no reason why you can’t use them for veggie seeds or seeds of plants that will get pollinators back to your area.

Seed bombs are an effective way to re-green areas, including in your garden. They contain enough water for the seeds to germinate, and the new plants get a little head start by having roots ready to go by the time the ball crumbles apart. Seeds aren’t blown or washed away, killed by sun or eaten by birds, and you can overseed an area without disturbing the existing plants or digging holes.

To Make Seed Bombs You Need

Fine compost
Air-dry modelling clay (from your art or craft store)
Seeds of your choice (see the box below for some ideas)
A large bowl or bucket

Green bombs

Bok choi or tat soi
Mustard
Lettuce
Spinach
Chillies

Pollinator bombs

Coreopsis
Cosmos
Alyssum
Borage
Namaqualand daisies

Herb bombs

Thyme
Coriander
Mustard
Basil
Rocket or wild rocket

What To Do For Your Seed Bombs

Break off enough clay to make 2.5cm spheres and roll these into spheres with your hands. Make sure there are no lumps (just pretend you’re baking. And maybe get the kids to break up lumps with their fingers!).

Shape the spheres into shallow dish shapes.

Add a mix of seeds to the little clay dishes.

Add a little fine compost to the clay dishes.

Pinch the clay dishes closed, with the seed/compost mix inside. Roll them into balls again.

Roll the complete balls in more fine compost to cover them.

Bombs away! Now comes the time to ‘plant’ your seed balls. You can gently lob them into the area you want to plant up. If that seems too barbaric for you, gently place them in position, but don’t bury them. In time the water in the mix will get the seeds germinated, and nature will take over.