- 1). Choose a location that offers your columbine enough room to grow. Once established, the perennial can spread up to 1 1/2 feet wide. Columbine grows in either full sun or part shade, and prefers a moist, rich soil.
- 2). Turn over the soil with a shovel to prepare the earth for planting. Loosen soil clumps with your fingers and pull out rocks, weeds and anything else that can compete with the columbine seeds. Once you've aerated and loosened the soil -- it should feel fluffy, not compacted -- it's planting time.
- 3). Spread columbine seeds evenly over your garden bed, trying to get a thin, even coverage. Then cover the seeds with 1/4 inch of soil.
- 4). Water the seed bed until the soil becomes moist. Keep the soil moist until your seeds germinate, typically within three to four weeks.
- 5). Water more heavily when you see seedlings, saturating the soil. Allow the soil to dry out between watering. Care for your columbine mix in this way until the plants reach a height of 2 inches.
- 6). Thin out your columbine plants, leaving 10 inches between plants. Transplant the extra seedlings into another part of your garden or a container, or compost them.
- 7). Mulch the garden bed with straw or wood chips. This prevents weed growth from taking resources from your columbine.
- 8). Continue to water columbine through the growing season. Columbine grown in full sun likes soil that's consistently wet but not boggy, while part-shade flowers will need less watering (since the soil dries more slowly).
- 9). Cut columbine flowers when they first open to enjoy a bouquet or allow the flowers to remain on the stem.
- 10
Cut columbine down in the autumn as part of your fall cleanup, leaving 1 to 2 inches of stem. The plants will regrow next year.
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