How to plant spring bulbs

Tulips, daffodils, crocuses and grape hyacinths are the first color in the garden after winter. They are easy to grow, but they need to go into the ground in autumn. Here is how.

When to plant

Plant spring bulbs from late September until the ground freezes, usually in October and November. Tulips do best when planted a little later, when the soil has cooled down, which reduces disease.

Choose a spot

Most spring bulbs like sun or half shade. Under trees that lose their leaves works well, because the bulbs flower before the trees are in leaf. Avoid places where water stands after rain: bulbs rot in wet soil.

What you need

• bulbs,
• the bulb planter with foot rest, for many bulbs,
• the garden trowel with ash handle, for a few bulbs or small ones,
• the garden kneeling pad,
• the garden gloves in size M or L,
• a little compost, if your soil is poor.

How deep

The rule of thumb: plant a bulb two to three times as deep as the bulb is high. For tulips and daffodils, that is about 10 to 15 centimeters. For small bulbs, like crocuses, about 5 to 8 centimeters. The bulb planter has depth markings on the cylinder, so every bulb goes in at the same depth.

Which way up

The pointed end goes up, the flat end with the roots goes down. Can’t tell? Plant the bulb on its side. It finds its own way up.

Planting with the bulb planter

1. Place the cylinder on the ground.
2. Put your foot on the foot rest and push the planter into the soil to the right depth.
3. Pull it up. A plug of soil comes out, and a neat hole remains.
4. Drop a bulb in, pointed end up.
5. Move to the next spot. When you push the planter in again, the new plug pushes out the old one, which you drop into the last hole.

That is how you plant a hundred bulbs in an hour, standing up.

For a natural look

Bulbs look best in groups, not in straight rows. Take a handful of bulbs, toss them gently over the grass or the border, and plant each one where it lands.

After planting

Water once if the soil is dry. Then leave them alone. In spring, after flowering, let the leaves die off by themselves before you cut them. The leaves feed the bulb for next year.

For pots on the balcony, plant bulbs in layers in a terracotta plant pot 30 cm: large bulbs deep, small bulbs on top.