How do you choose and plant spring bulbs?

September 16, 2024

After a blissful summer, it seems like autumn is really starting to set in. Although the garden is still in full bloom and I want to extend the summer a bit by filling the house with bouquets, September also invites us to start thinking about next year. From this month on, you can start planting spring bulbs. Which bulbs do you choose? And where in the garden are you going to plant them?

Choosing spring bulbs

This is the most fun part of the job, I think. My golden tip is: choose what you like and don't think too much about it. You can always find a spot in the garden to fit in some extra flower bulbs, or you can plant them in a pot.

What are spring bulbs?

You buy spring bulbs at the end of summer and in the fall, when they are dormant. They are the pioneers of spring and bloom early in the spring. Think of snowdrops, grape hyacinths, dwarf irises, tulips, crocuses, and daffodils.
There are also summer bulbs: then we are talking about dahlias, gladioli, and among others, lilies.

Which color spring bulbs do you choose?

While yellow and red used to dominate the tulip collections, there are now many beautiful colors on the market. You can choose spring bulbs in the same shades or plant a surprising color here and there. I myself have a soft spot for soft pink to light orange varieties, but the range is very wide.There are tulips in soft lilac or pastel yellow, with pointed petals or very round variants that almost look like roses.

Insert some blue grape hyacinths (did you know that muscari also exists in white?) and some cheerful yellow daffodils and your spring border is complete.

I've selected a whole bunch of surprising spring bulbs that you can buy in our webshop.

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Planting spring bulbs

Where do you plant spring bulbs?

Spring bulbs are perfect to plant anywhere in your borders.They bloom early in the spring, when many other, perennial plants are not yet budding or have no leaves. Therefore, they are good fillers, bringing a lot of color before the rest of the garden awakens.

I prefer to plant spring bulbs in groups, as they also occur in nature. A good tip when planting: grab a handful of bulbs, drop them on the ground, and then plant them in those places. It looks much nicer than when you set them all at equal distances from each other.

Bulbs for every soil?

Be careful, spring bulbs do not like wet feet, so you need a light soil in which the water can drain well.If that's not the case, for example with heavy clay soil, you might choose to plant the flower bulbs in a pot instead. This is also a good tip for those who don't have a garden, but do have a terrace or balcony. Or work some sand into the soil, this ensures that the bulbs don't stay in water.

New flowers every month with the bulb lasagna

Spring bulbs do perfectly in a pot by the way. Tip: turn your pot into a bulb lasagna , with flower bulbs in different layers on top of each other! Such a lasagna will bloom layer by layer and thus provides your terrace or balcony with color for a long time.

Spring bulbs in the lawn?

You can also plant your spring bulbs in the lawn. This creates a very fun and surprising effect when all that color suddenly shoots up in the early spring between the grass. The downside is that you then have to wait a while to mow the grass. Or you plant them in groups and mow neatly around the place where the spring bulbs are and let the grass temporarily grow a bit higher there.

How do you plant spring bulbs in the lawn?

Carefully cut off the top layer of the lawn and set it aside.
In the exposed soil, you then plant the spring bulbs.
Put the grass layer back on and press gently.

How do you plant spring bulbs?

Make a planting hole
You can make a large planting hole in which you put several bulbs or you can make 1 planting hole per bulb. For this, a bulb planter is a very handy thing.
Choose the depth of the planting hole.
Calculate three times the height of the flower bulb to know how deep the planting hole should be. A large bulb therefore quickly goes about 15 cm deep, while smaller bulbs can also be planted at a five to ten centimeter depth.
Place the spring bulb(s) in the planting hole.
Plant spring bulbs with the tip facing upwards.The stem of the flower will later grow from that point, so it's important that you stick it in the ground the right way. For the distance, you use the same rule as for the depth: three times the size of the flower bulb. So, you place large bulbs of about five centimeters (like tulips) about 15 cm apart. Although I sometimes dare to plant a little closer.
Cover the hole with soil.
Are you planning to plant your spring bulbs in several stages? Then stick a stick in the ground where you have now planted, so you know in a few weeks where you should not dig anymore.
Water.
This way, the spring bulbs will root faster and they can better withstand the cold days this winter. If it's a humid period, you don't need to repeat that. However, keep an eye on the pots in which you have planted flower bulbs: they dry out faster if it doesn't rain for a few days or if it freezes soon.