Hoping to fill your spring garden with flowers? Learn how to plant bulbs.
They’re one of the best ways to give pots and borders life at the very beginning of the season, often before other plants burst into bloom. As soon as you learn the ideal time to plant bulbs for spring, you can get started – and the process is surprisingly simple. You’ll just need to make sure you’re planting them at the right depth, for example.
We’ve thrown together a guide to planting bulbs to help you grow your best spring-flowering displays yet.
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What you’ll need
Kent & Stowe
Hand Bulb Planter
A bulb planter with a handy measurement scale on the side.
Jamieson Brothers
Bulb Planting Compost
This bulb compost feeds bulbs for up to six months.
Burgon & Ball
RHS Long Handle Bulb Planter
Or, go for a long-handled bulb planter.
1. Prepare the soil
Before you plant your bulbs, you’ll need to prepare the soil. Usually, that means removing weeds and mixing in some high-quality compost, so that the soil can best support your bulbs (and they won’t sit soggy!).
‘In heavy or poorly draining ground, add horticultural grit to improve drainage and help prevent bulb rot,’ adds Julian Palphramand, head of plants at British Garden Centres.
You can buy affordable Verve Horticultural Grit from B&Q.
2. Plant the bulbs
Then, you can learn how to actually plant your bulbs. It’s important that you know how deep to plant daffodil bulbs, for example, so that they flower well come spring – and you’ll also need to know which way up to plant them.
‘As a general rule, I always plant bulbs at around two to three times their own depth, with the pointed end facing upwards,’ advises Ross Dyke, horticulturist, founder of Get Children Growing, and host of The Plant Pod.
‘I also plant in groups rather than individually, to create a much more natural and impactful display.’
Remember to space groups of bulbs at least a bulb width apart from each other, so they have space to grow. It’s worth investing in a bulb planter like this Kent & Stowe Hand Bulb Planter from Amazon to make the task easier.
3. Fill the hole
Add a small amount of compost, like John Innes No. 2 from B&Q, to the hole, and carefully backfill the hole with the remaining soil. Avoid pressing the surrounding soil too firmly, as this may damage the bulb.
Then, you should thoroughly water the planting area. That’s why well-drained soil is key – bulbs should never be at risk of waterlog.
How to plant bulbs in containers
Planting bulbs in containers is very similar to planting them in borders, as outlined above. You can follow the same steps above, drainage is even more crucial for container-grown bulbs.
When you’re filling the holes for your container-planted bulbs, bring in a little bit of horticultural grit. By adding in grit, you ensure the bulb has optimum drainage to create the perfect growing environment.
You can also plant up a bulb lasagne to allow for a continuous flow of flowers by planting the largest and latest blooming bulbs at the bottom and the smallest and earliest flowering bulbs at the top. However, you will need to plant them further apart than if you were planting one layer – around 11 to 12 inches apart, as recommended by Sarah Raven.
FAQs
Do all bulbs need to be soaked before planting?
Should spring bulbs be soaked before planting? It’s the question that divides gardeners, but it all comes down to the type of bulb you’re growing.
‘I tend not to soak most of my bulbs before planting,’ says gardener Sarah Raven. ‘It’s bound to rain at some point, so I’d suggest just giving them good water once planted. If, however, there is a prolonged dry spell, don’t forget to water to allow your bulbs to thrive.’
However, Sarah does add that she would always soak Anemone nemorosa roots – ‘it definitely makes for stronger and more abundant plants.’
What time of year do you plant bulbs?
Which bulbs to plant when depends if you’re planting spring or summer-flowering bulbs.
Sarah says she always plants her spring bulbs when the temperature has dropped in late October and November, before the first frosts set in: ‘Planting later in the year in the cooler weather is a tried and tested method for protecting the bulbs from nasty viral and fungal diseases that lurk in the soil.’
Summer bulbs, according to Maisie, should be put in the ground and containers from late February to April. ‘Remembering of course that the sooner you plant them, the sooner they will flower.’
Now you know how to plant bulbs, you can fill your garden with gorgeous spring blooms.
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