Yellow Rattle Plug Plants (Rhinanthus minor)

Boston Seeds' yellow rattle plugs begin their journey in autumn when fresh yellow rattle seeds from UK meadow collections are sown into individual cells alongside the essential meadow grasses. Cold weather over winter enables vernalisation for the plants to begin growing from early spring, ready for delivery to customers from April for immediate planting. 

Boston Seeds' yellow rattle plug plants are always:

- Produced from fresh seed of UK provenance.

- Supplied with first leaves and well-established, healthy root networks.

- Grown with the essential meadow grasses for yellow rattle plugs to thrive.

Buy with confidence from Boston Seeds - the UK's most trusted supplier of native British wildflower seeds for over twenty years.

1 - Location 
Where to plant yellow rattle plugs?

Plant yellow rattle plugs in full sunlight and into well-drained soils wherever possible. Our yellow rattle plugs are delivered with the essential slow growing, meadow grasses for yellow rattle to thrive, so can be planted into bare soil or into existing grass and wildflower meadows. Avoid areas containing high vigour, fast growing grasses such as ryegrass.

2 - Planting Time
When to plant yellow rattle plugs?

Yellow rattle plugs are delivered in April, ready to be planted out immediately into your garden or meadow. If you are unable to plant straight away, open the box, place in sunlight and keep moist until they can be planted out within a few days.

3 - Planting Density
How many yellow rattle plants per square metre?

Ideally, yellow rattle plugs should be planted between 3-5 plugs per sqm. However, lower densities are also suitable for a more sporadic display.

4 - Ground Preparation
How to prepare the ground to plant yellow rattle plugs?

Cut any existing grass as short as possible with cuttings removed. Reducing the growth of the existing grass provides more light and space for the plugs to establish.

5 - Planting the Plugs
How to plant yellow rattle plugs?

Remove the plugs from the tray and make a small hole to put the plug into and place the plug into the hole. Recover with soil and press down firmly around the plant to ensure good contact with the surrounding soil. Lightly water to keep the area moist if required, but avoid over-watering. Yellow rattle is an annual wildflower species and will flower in the year planted, from May onwards. 

1 - Ongoing maintenance

Yellow rattle is an annual so it will require ongoing maintenance and a regular cutting regime for it to self-seed and flower the subsequent years. Populations of yellow rattle may die out after a year if the seed heads are not allowed to drop seed.

2 - Regularly weeding throughout the growing season

Remove weeds and undesirable plants by hand throughout the yellow rattle growing season.

3 - Cut your Yellow Rattle Plants in autumn

As yellow rattle is an annual, an autumn cut is required in order for it to self-seed and flower the following year. Once it has died back, they will need cutting to around 10cm in height, leave the cuttings on the surface for around 7-10 days. This will allow the seed heads to dry out and for the seed to have drop into the soil for flowering the foillowing year. After this time, it is important to remove the cuttings else they can mulch back into the soil, making the soil richer and more fertile.

When should I plant yellow rattle plugs?

Yellow rattle plugs are delivered in April, ready to be planted out immediately into your garden or meadow. If you are unable to plant straight away, open the box, place in sunlight and keep moist until they can be planted. Make sure to plant within a few days or receiving your plugs.

Is yellow rattle hard to grow?

Yellow rattle can be hard to grow if you don’t follow the essential tips. To easily grow yellow rattle you need to ensure the yellow rattle plugs are grown from the seed of the most recent harvest, as is always the case here at Boston Seeds. Growing yellow rattle from seed can be difficult, whereas growing yellow rattle from plug plants is a easier option. 

Does yellow rattle come back every year?

As yellow rattle is an annual, unless it has been pollinated and growing seeds, it will die out after a year, and therefore should be replanted each spring. 

When to cut back yellow rattle?

It is best to leave cutting as late as possible, however, around September and October is the best time. Yellow rattle usually stops growing around June or July time.