How To Plant Bulbs?

Planting bulbs is fairly easy,but there are a few rules that cannot be ignored, such as planting depth or spacing.

Planting Tips

Select preferably an area in full sun, although bulbs also do well in partial sun

• Make sure the soil is well drained to avoid rot.
• Loosen the soil and remove weeds and stones. Mix in some peat moss to improve drainage.
• Dig either a trench or individual holes and always plant the bulbs with the point facing upwards and the roots facing downwards.
• Here is a bulb planting chart in terms of planting depth, spacing and quantities. The general rules are easy to remember:
  – Plant your bulbs 3 times as deep as they are high. 
  – Space them twice their width. 

• Cover the bulbs with soil and water thoroughly.
• Add 2-3 in. (5-8 cm) of mulch to prevent the soil from drying out
• Mark the location of the bulbs you have planted with little sticks or plant markers to avoid digging them up by mistake later
• Now relax and wait patiently for your dream garden to wake up in a few months!

Care

• Tulips planted for multiple-year flowering should be deadheaded once the flowers start to fade
• If the flower bulbs have produced large clusters of bulbs, they will not grow as well. After the leaves wither back, dig up the clusters of bulbs and divide them into smaller clumps. Distribute and replant the bulbs to promote naturalizing.
• Bulbs that are planted as annuals don't require fertilizer.
• After flowering, use a balanced controlled-release bulb food in fall.
• Let the foliage die down naturally for 6 weeks before cutting back their leaves.
• Lift your tender bulbs (dahlias, gladioli, begonias) before frost and store them in a dry and cool place – between 50°F and 60°F (10°C and 15°C).
• Apply mulch over fall-planted flower bulbs once the ground gets colder in order to maintain the soil temperature consistently cool over-winter.