Exactly how does one 'plant in drifts'? Clueless amateur here!

[Slana2]

As per the title really! I'm about to buy some wildflower plugs for a rather neglected border. Whenever I've attempted to plant in drifts before its all looked rather messy. My alternative is planting in rows and then they look like they're a forlorn little group of soldiers standing on parade! How on earth does one master this 'plant in drifts' thing?

I was told to chuck small handfuls of bulbs in the general direction of the planting area, and plant them where they landed. I more-or-less did this, just making sure that none touched each other. Messy is pretty much what you're after, I think.

I love planting in rows!
Sometimes a row of the same plant, sometimes two or three.
I’ve never viewed them as ‘forlorn soldiers’, they look neat and orderly and beautiful!
In my opinion anyway!

To me, a ‘drift’ is a large amount of seeds or bulbs thrown across a space with very little, if anything growing with them.

To me, it sounds like you are wanting a wildflower meadow effect?
Loads of native, colourful wildflowers and grasses all growing together in one big drift?
It’s a very wildlife friendly and popular style right now but it’s too messy for my liking.

From a website:
"Drifts" make a statement. There is a tendency among new gardeners to fill a garden with individual specimens. The result is a collection of plants that becomes a confused jumble when seen from a distance. Apart from shrubs and a few large perennials, such as Aruncus dioicus (Goatsbeard) and ornamental Grasses, most plants put on a better show when planted in numbers of three or more in irregular groupings called "drifts." A drift is generally wider than it is deep, and the plants that comprise it are typically arranged in a staggered pattern resembling an upside-down "W," which provides a natural, flowing look. Succeeding drifts are added in overlapping layers to help conceal the joints between them. Planting in drifts means fewer varieties of plants in your border, but those that are represented have much greater impact than single specimens.

@senua

From a website: "Drifts" make a statement. There is a tendency among new gardeners to fill a garden with individual specimens. The result is a collection of plants that becomes a confused jumble when seen from a distance. Apart from shrubs and a few large perennials, such as Aruncus dioicus (Goatsbeard) and ornamental Grasses, most plants put on a better show when planted in numbers of three or more in irregular groupings called "drifts." A drift is generally wider than it is deep, and the plants that comprise it are typically arranged in a staggered pattern resembling an upside-down "W," which provides a natural, flowing look. Succeeding drifts are added in overlapping layers to help conceal the joints between them. Planting in drifts means fewer varieties of plants in your border, but those that are represented have much greater impact than single specimens.

@senua Oh wow, this is super helpful, thank you so much!