by Louise Christensen

Created on: May 28, 2011

Once a person gets the gist of how to plant bulb flowers it seems pretty simple. Dig a hole, drop in a bulb and cover it over. Simple. Yes, it can be that simple and happily it works just that easily. Plant in the fall and come spring time up the green shoots pop and before you know it happy little flowers come shining out, sometimes even in some left over snow. For some of us who go looking through those wonderful bulb catalogs, which just magically appear in the mailbox, the greed factor kicks in when the actual investment is so low in comparison to the eventual return.Sending off that order form rarely coincides with the realization of the actual work involved.

Surprisingly there is a great deal to consider when planting bulbs.  Location is the first. Not only does the bulb need to be planted in a sunny spot, it needs to be in soil that can drain, it needs to be planted a little distance from its neighbors and it needs a bit of bulb plant food to get it through its first winter in a new home.  Country folk need to be aware that both rodents and insects will have their way with certain bulbs and to keep them away requires forethought.

For example gophers love tulip bulbs but cannot tolerate the poisonous iris. Although it might just be easier to kill the gophers, for some people this is disconcerting and so planting some iris around the tulips is a much more humane way to address a potential problem.  One way to address the problem of insects without using heavy pesticides is to import insects like lady bugs, praying mantis and even your garden variety spiders like Catface spiders.  All of these industrious creatures will help keep the hungry hoards under control and away from your blossoming bulb plants.  If you are agoraphobic then leave out the spiders. Bayer has also introduces some pesticides that won’t contaminate the ground or pose a problem to your family.

Another consideration when planting bulbs is your basic overall physical status. If you have had a very active summer then planting a bunch of bulbs won’t be an issue. However, if you are basically inactive or have reached an age where bending over to dig holes and plant bulbs is not only hard on your back but also on your legs, and knees and …well, you get the picture… then consider digging a trench instead.  Depth and proximity are the most important elements when doing either a trench or a larger dug out area for bulbs.

For example,

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