Planting tips for beginners
Tip 1
If you group a large number of flower bulbs, the appearance of your plantings will have a wonderful effect. A large mass of bulbs attracts more attention than a few scattered plantings here and there.
Moreover, with a little creativity in designing your beds, you will achieve a more natural look than by giving your plantings rigid outlines.
Tip 2
When decorative pots or terracotta pots are exposed to prolonged frost, they can crack. The cold causes the soil in the pot to expand, which cracks it. If you want to have bulbs in planters on your balcony, terrace, or patio, first place them in a plastic pot. Then insert this planter into the decorative pot. The space between the two pots will provide additional insulation, and the pot will not crack as easily.
Tip 3
To start, place the bulbs you want to plant above the spots where you want them to be. Mark (using sticks, for example) the places where you have already planted the bulbs; this prevents you from digging in a spot where bulbs are already located.
Tip 4
It is wise to place a plant marker indicating the name of the bulbs at the location where you plant them. There are decorative markers made of wood, galvanized steel, and terracotta.
Tip 5
If the wind has abundantly spread dead leaves over your lawn during the fall, you can sweep these leaves over the pot where you just planted bulbs. They will reward you by providing an extra layer of "bedding."
Tip 6
Bulbs are easier to care for than you might think: in fact, they are among nature's little wonders. Everything is wrapped up in a bulb: the flower, the leaves, and a sufficient stock of food. A "dry-flowering" bulb, such as the colchicum (autumn crocus), is proof of this: even bare (out of the ground), it blooms when placed in a small pot on the windowsill. Once these bulbs are planted, not much can go wrong. Generally, they are planted at a depth equal to twice the height of the bulb.
Tip 7
Are you troubled by neighborhood cats digging holes in your garden? The solution is to place a piece of chicken wire over the spot where the bulbs are located, or to drive a few sticks into the ground at that location. Mice go wild over crocuses. If you are bothered by these little critters in your garden, place a fine mesh trellis over the spot where you just planted the bulbs, then cover the trellis with 3 cm of soil.
Tip 8
When planting bulbs that bloom early in the year, it is advisable to place them close to the house. Due to the cold that prevails at this time of year, you probably won't go into the garden very often: it's better to enjoy your plants from your chair.
Tip 9
Many bulbous plants are suitable for shady spots. If you have a lot of bushes in your garden, be sure to choose early-blooming bulbs to plant beneath the bushes. At this time of year, the sun will still manage to sneak through the bare branches. By the time the trees and bushes are in leaf, the bulbs will have already done their job.
Tip 10
With bulbous plants that produce large flowers, you will get the best effect from these flowers if you plant them in odd numbers. This especially applies to bulbs planted in pots.