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Bulb Advice

NewnorthernIrishgardenerNewnorthernIrishgardener Posts: 52
in Plants
Hello 

i have an orchard which I Sowed in wild flowers last year but have found that winter and spring is left looking a bit grim 

i was planning on buying bulk daffodils, snow drops, blue bells and crocus
the soils is fairly heavy and not the easiest to dig through 

i had planned on buying a good bulb planter and scattering the bulbs by throwing as MOnty Don advises to look natural 

my question is can i plant 1 daffodil, some soil 1 crocus, some soil and 1 blue bell bulb per hole? or am i just being lazy? 
to put into context i have been advised per plant i will need approx 700 of each bulb from a local gardening adviser

and advise welcome

Thanks!

Posts

  • FairygirlFairygirl Posts: 55,117
    No - that won't work IMO  :)
    All of those will want to colonise, and spread, so rather than a bulb planter, it would be better to lift a section of turf and plant a quantity of one type. The easiest way is to cut an H shape in the grass and fold back the sides, then replace the turf after planting. 
    You might get away with doing crocus and daffs in the same spot, but it'll depend on the type of daffs and when they flower. The foliage will tend to cover up the emerging crocus if they're early daffs. If they're much later flowering types, it might be ok.  The daffs will need to be much deeper than the crocus too. 
    You'd have the same problem if you tried putting crocus with bluebells, so it's best to have a dedicated area for each type.
    Over time, you can always add more into gaps when you see what does well and what doesn't.  :)

    It's a place where beautiful isn't enough of a word....



    I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
  • ButtercupdaysButtercupdays Posts: 4,546
    Daffodils look best planted in small clumps, which will then get larger year on year. Bluebells and snowdrops are similar, though on a smaller scale, but crocuses look good scattered, though not too far apart as you lose the impact. All will self-seed and create a pattern of their own liking eventually :)
    My snowdrops mostly come up through bare soil, my crocuses are in short grass, otherwise they get a bit lost.
    The other two can cope with longer grass and the daffs may cover quite wide patches with their leaves when they have flowered. The foliage takes quite a while to die back, but you can't remove it as it feeds next year's bulbs, so an area of longer grass is good to hide it.
    @Fairygirl gives good advice re the actual planting :)

  • philippasmith2philippasmith2 Posts: 3,742
    I'm with @Fairygirl Taking it that you want a natural look to your orchard, swathes of each type would not only look better but be much easier to plant up than the method you are considering. With a combination of earlier and later flowering and following Fairy's advice, it should look stunning once established.
    Sounds like a big project but it will certainly be worth it  :)
  • NewnorthernIrishgardenerNewnorthernIrishgardener Posts: 52
    Hi guys thanks for the advice on this 
    i will have a busy autumn coming up im sure!!
  • bédébédé Posts: 3,095
    edited February 2023
    I saw a TV proramme that showed a NT gaden with naturalised dafodils being reinvigorated.  Not the H-shape that Fairy recommends but a simple upside down U, also folded back.  I do the same with my plantings.  

    Plant in drifts off one species.

    To avoid the busy autumn, start with the snowdrop planting , do in-the-green  when they are available, soon  

    For daffs choose a small natural looking variety.   I use Topolino.  Tete-a-tete is Ok but for me only single flowers after the first season. 

    For crocusses keep to one colour, blue/mauve, say.  Crocus tommassiniana speads like wild and is fantastic right now in the sun in my garden.  The churchyard at Dulverton, Exmoor, is a good example.
     location: Surrey Hills, England, ex-woodland acidic sand.
    "Have nothing in your garden that you don't know to be useful, or believe to be beautiful."
  • NewnorthernIrishgardenerNewnorthernIrishgardener Posts: 52
    great advice @bede thanks very much!!
  • bertrand-mabelbertrand-mabel Posts: 2,697
    We were given different bulbs 3 years ago...a lot! We planted them out in the orchard on the edge line where the path was cut during the season but not the main area. We planted them in groups as others have suggested and they have done really well. They are now showing their heads and hope for a good colour to come.
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