September 2023
Break out the bulbs!
You can start to plan and plant Spring Flowering Bulbs from this month onwards.
If you fancy taking a slightly different approach this year, why not think about creating a naturalised effect for lawns, banks or wildflower areas? It’s easy enough to do and gives a beautiful, natural look, as well as being extremely low maintenance.
Choose early flowering varieties which will naturally die down to coincide with the start of regular lawn mowing season. If foliage is not quite ready for removal and is still nourishing bulbs for the next season, then simply delay mowing the area …..the garden wildlife will thank you.
Daffodils, Bluebells, Snowdrops, Muscari, Chionodoxa, Scilla, Dwarf Iris and Species Crocus are all great for naturalising. Select a single variety for a bold look or mix it up for a softer effect.
A good tip when deciding where to plant the bulbs is to strew them by hand across the chosen area and plant them at the correct depth where they fall (a bulb planter will make lighter work of this).
Bulbs will naturally spread over time, so spending a little time planting at the outset will give you increasing enjoyment year on year.
Create a ‘bulb lasagne’
Something slightly different for bulbs in containers is to create a ‘bulb lasagne’ - no culinary skills required!
Simply choose 3 or more types of Spring Flowering Bulb and pot them up in a series of layers.
The largest of latest flowering bulbs are planted lower down in the container, moving to the smallest and earliest bulbs nearer the surface.
You can also plant some autumn/winter bedding on top so that you’re not looking at bare pots of soil until January!
Although Spring Flowering Bulbs spend the winter sitting in cold, damp soil they do like good drainage so always make sure that containers have drainage holes and are raised off the ground slightly so that the bulbs don’t rot.