Advice on layering

bapw163 · November 2022

Hello, I have some window boxes which are less than a meter long and about 1pm 5cm deep.
I also have a big tub which is about 35cm deep.
Can anyone give me any advice on how many layers I should be trying to achieve in each?
I am planting tulip bulbs as well as Muscari armeniacum 'Babies Breath', Narcissus 'Sailboat' andd Puschkinia scilloides var. libanotica
Any help gratefully received

Fairygirl · November 2022

Can you clarify those dimensions in your first sentence? They don't really make sense.

I'm not a fan of layering, as it's rarely dense enough to get a good effect, but you'll have more scope in the pot for a couple of layers. Tulips need very good drainage, so I'd plant those with the pushkinia. The narcissus will be fine with the muscari and the pushkinia in the pot. Muscari can become quite invasive, so keep an eye out next year as you may need to remove a lot of them.

bapw163 · November 2022

Fairygirl said:

Can you clarify those dimensions in your first sentence? They don't really make sense.
I'm not a fan of layering, as it's rarely dense enough to get a good effect, but you'll have more scope in the pot for a couple of layers. Tulips need very good drainage, so I'd plant those with the pushkinia. The narcissus will be fine with the muscari and the pushkinia in the pot. Muscari can become quite invasive, so keep an eye out next year as you may need to remove a lot of them.

agh, fat fingers! the window boxes are 15cm high by 15cm deep by 80cm long. I'm guessing it's only the height I have to be concerned with when it comes to layering.
Thank you for your planting advice.
I'm not sure I even know why people layer. Is it simply to squeeze more plants into the box?
Will bulbs layered near the bottom even find their way to the top? It's all new to me.

bédé · November 2022

I opened this page expecting a discussion on "layering". What I found was "layering".

Fairygirl · November 2022

bédé said:

I opened this page expecting a discussion on "layering". What I found was "layering".

Aye - layering of bulbs not layering shrubs. Both are perfectly valid

15cm/6 inches is very shallow @bapw163, so the little muscaris and the pushkinias would be ok. If the tulips were some of the small species ones, they'd be ok.
Layering bulbs is often touted as a way to get a succession of flowering, but you often end up with a load of foliage obscuring the next set of flowers, so it isn't always ideal, especially as it's better to let the foliage die back naturally to fed the bulb for future years.
Personally, I do single species/varieties in separate containers, and then you can swap them around. The window boxes are slightly harder, but if you don't mind lifting the bulbs after they're done, you can put some summer annuals in them. You might even be able to put them in on top of the bulbs. Again, it's a case of picking ones which all like the same conditions to grow well

bapw163 · November 2022

Fairygirl said:

bédé said:

I opened this page expecting a discussion on "layering". What I found was "layering".

Aye - layering of bulbs not layering shrubs. Both are perfectly valid

15cm/6 inches is very shallow @bapw163, so the little muscaris and the pushkinias would be ok. If the tulips were some of the small species ones, they'd be ok.
Layering bulbs is often touted as a way to get a succession of flowering, but you often end up with a load of foliage obscuring the next set of flowers, so it isn't always ideal, especially as it's better to let the foliage die back naturally to fed the bulb for future years.
Personally, I do single species/varieties in separate containers, and then you can swap them around. The window boxes are slightly harder, but if you don't mind lifting the bulbs after they're done, you can put some summer annuals in them. You might even be able to put them in on top of the bulbs. Again, it's a case of picking ones which all like the same conditions to grow well

Yes the troughs are just those normal ones you hang over fences. I've managed to grow lots in them before, geraniums and the like.
The big tub I have I wanted to try and make a wonderful colourful array with lots of smaller plants and some tulips dotted in between to grow above the smaller plants to add height and different colour.
But I can't work out with layering what bulbs should go on the bottom layer and what ones on top or whether it really matters.
When you say "lifting the bulbs after they're done" does that mean taking the bulbs out? Why would I do that, won't they grow again next year?

Buttercupdays · November 2022

Bulbs are usually planted at 2 or 3 times their own height, (actual bulb, not flowering height), so the tulips would be at the bottom and the smallest bulbs on top, with maybe others in between. If planted to the right depth then yes, they should all make their way to the top. You can pack them in quite tightly in each layer, so you do get more in, but you may lose something of the beauty of individual flowers.

You might take out the bulbs after flowering for several reasons. You may need the pot for something else, or you may find the dying foliage untidy and choose to plant them elsewhere. Some bulbs are less reliable for flowering again after the first year. Tulips are notable for this, so many people treat them as annuals. Some types, such as the Darwin hybrids are better than others, but they all need near perfect growing conditions to form next year's flowers. Some of us plant them in a meadow area or a cutting bed and just hope for the best

Fairygirl · November 2022

As @Buttercupdays says - if you want the containers for other plants, you'd often need to take the bulbs out. It's easy to disturb the bulbs if the pots are shallow. The window boxes are a good example of that - you'd have very little room to plant bigger bulbs at the bottom, so it would be small bulbs for that, regardless of type.

Tulips are iffy, as she says, but the species ones are generally reliable. Again, you need to make sure they have the right conditions, so it's important to plant them with other suitable plants. You wouldn't put plants that like very moist soil with them, for example.
The advantage of pots is that you can plant closely. It's less ideal in an open border.

JennyJ · November 2022

In the shallow window box I would stick to small bulbs and I wouldn't try layering. You could put different varieties in little clumps, eg alternating groups of tete-a-tete daffodils and purple crocuses. You could probably put small winter/spring bedding like violas, or bedding cyclamen if you live somewhere fairly mild, in on top, and the bulbs will find their way through them.

Even for deeper pots I don't much like the layered "bulb lasagne" approach - I've never managed to have it look really nice. The foliage of the earlier ones always seems to start looking messy before the later ones flower, so I've given up trying and use single varieties with either just a top dressing of grit or with violas etc.

Fairygirl · November 2022

Absolutely @JennyJ. The small bulbs - whether single or a mix would be fine crammed into the window box, but you wouldn't be able to layer anything else, as they'd need to be at the bottom anyway.
A good tip re the violas or cyclamen. Nothing else much would suit with those crocus etc.

bédé · November 2022

Bought bulbs come fattened up with enough stored food to last one flowering. You can pack as many bulbs as you can fit in. The compost is only for support.

Advice on layering

Posts