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Bulb Planting Methods
On this page find seven different step-by-step demonstrations of the methods used to plant bulbs corms, rhizomes, tubers, and tuberous roots in garden beds and home landscapes, including:
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- How to plant individual bulbs, corms, rhizomes, and tubers.
- How to plant beds and borders in formal designs.
- How to plant landscapes: bulbs planted in trenches and bulbs planted in an entire area.
- How to plant bulbs to naturalize in turf, grass, or lawns.
- How to plant bulbs mixed with annual or perennial flowers and shrubs.
- Special ways to plant root divisions of tuberous-rooted bulbs and rhizomes.
Choose the method that most closely matches your bulb-planting needs for sure success.
Step-by-Step Instructions
Pictures and descriptions that follow show how to deal with each common bulb-planting situation.
Find the method that you’ll use in for own planting, then note what it requires.
Individual Bulbs
The most common way to plant bulbs is individually. It’s the right approach for planting small areas, and is best used when planting up to 30 bulbs.
Planting single bulbs is the right choice when you want to create curves and drifts of bulbs within a woodland or shade garden. It’s also right when you want to add bulb accents to your borders.
Gather a bulb-planting tool, hand fork, your bulbs, and planting depth information for each species, then follow these easy steps:
Planting Individual Bulbs
Note the planting depth for the bulb species and check that each bulb is free of mold, mildew, or cuts. Discard any bulbs that are dehydrated or show signs of damage or decay.
At the planting site, use a bulb planting tool to excavate a hole 2 in. (50 mm) deeper than the recommended depth. Add 10–10–5 fertilizer and cover it with 2 in. (50 mm) of soil.
Determine the top of the bulb. Turn it until its pointed end is up, with its platelike base or the roots at bottom. For tubers, or if orientation is unclear, set the bulb on its side. Once it is positioned correctly, place the bulb into the planting hole.
Wait to fill the planting hole. Check the final planting arrangement after all the bulbs are placed and ready to cover. If necessary, relocate bulbs to fill any sparse or skipped spots.
With the layout of bulbs in the bed finalized, fill all the planting holes with soil by raking soil with a garden claw into each hole. Gently press soil over each bulb to ensure good soil contact and eliminate any air pockets. Water the planting thoroughly.
Group Plantings
Use the same layering technique with in-ground beds as used for plant bulbs in containers [see Planting Bulbs into Containers].
When making formal bulb displays, excavate the bed into one, large planting hole. It’s easier than digging individual holes for each bulb.
Once the soil is removed, plant bulbs layer by layer, covering each layer with soil and moving up to the next one.
Choose bulb varieties that bloom at the same time or season.
Gather your shovel, measuring tape, planting depth information, fertilizer, stakes, string, and bulbs, and follow these easy steps:
Planting Beds and Borders
Use a shovel to excavate the entire bed until its depth from the surface is 2–3 in. (50–75 mm) deeper than the deepest recommended planting depth required for any of the species of bulbs that will be planted.
If animal pests may dig into the planting area, line the bed bottom and sides with galvanized hardware cloth of 1/2-in. (12-mm) wire mesh to prevent them from burrowing and eating bulbs.
Apply 5–10–10 granular fertilizer at the package-recommended rate. Backfill with soil to cover the fertilizer 2–3 in. (50–75 mm) of deep, raising the bed to the planting depth required for the deepest-planted bulb species.
Using stakes and string, plastic garden tape, or other markers, lay out the edges of the planting pattern for the bed, following your planting plan.
Plant the first layer of bulbs. Here, tulips form the first layer because they are planted deepest of the species in the bed. Space bulbs evenly in their area, changing bulb colors from zone to zone. After all bulbs are placed and spaced correctly, cover them with soil until the bed is as deep as the next species recommended planting depth.
With the depth of the bed reduced, plant the second layer of bulbs. Late-blooming yellow daffodils form the central accent in this bed. After all of the bulbs have been placed and their spacing adjusted, cover them with soil to the recommended depth of the top layer’s species.
With the soil at a level correct for the recommended depth of the last species, plant the top and final layer of bulbs. Here, mixed crocus and grape hyacinth form an outer border. Cover over the layer with soil until it is mounded just above the landscape’s surrounding soil. Apply water the bed to settle the soil, adding fill as required.
Landscape Plantings
Landscape plantings usually call for bulbs to be set in trenches or large areas rather than individually planting them.
Dig a trench or entire bed, then set bulbs in place and fill the trench or bed.
Gather a shovel, bulb fertilizer, planting depth information, your bulbs, and a hose, and follow the steps shown for trench plantings or large-area plantings:
Planting Bulbs in Trenches
Open a trench along the border by digging it to a depth that is 3–4 in. (75–100 mm) deeper than the recommended planting depth for the bulb species to be planted.
Apply 5–10–10 formulation granular fertilizer at the rate recommended on the package. Backfill over the fertilizer with a layer of soil 3–4 in. (75–100 mm) deep. When filling is complete, the trench should be the same depth as the recommended planting depth for the bulb species.
Orient each bulb with its pointed end up and its basal plate or roots down. For bulbs without distinct ends, lay them on their sides. Place each into the trench, allowing space between them as recommended for the species. Press the bulbs firmly into the soil.
Cover the bulbs with soil, mounding it 1 in. (25 mm) higher than the surrounding soil of the border.
Thoroughly water the planting to help settle the soil. Add fill as necessary if the soil settles in the trench, evening it with the undisturbed nearby surface.
Broadcasting Bulbs in an Area
Excavate the entire planting area 3–4 in. (75–100 mm) deeper than the recommended planting depth for the bulb species to be planted. Work carefully to avoid cutting major roots of any nearby trees or major shrubs.
Broadcast spread 5–10–10 granular fertilizer evenly across the entire planting area at the package-recommended rate. Rake the fertilizer granules into the soil.
Cover the fertilized area with soil in a layer at least 3 in. (75 mm) deep.
Orient and place the bulbs into the prepared bed at the recommended spacing. Adjust as needed to evenly distribute the bulbs. Press each bulb firmly into the planting soil.
Fill the planting area with soil, mounding it several inches above the surrounding area. Water the planting to settle the soil, adding fill as needed, and rake it level with the surrounding soil’s surface.
Mimicking Nature
Spring bulbs are delightful when they poke out of a turfgrass lawn, meadow, or woodland.
Most grasses grow slowly and many stay dormant until the weather warms in spring, so they seldom needing mowing. Plant naturalizing bulbs beneath such grass or turf and allow them to flower as the grass awakens from winter.
Gather stakes and string, a turf cutting tool, tarp, fertilizer, planting depth information, your bulbs, and a bulb-planting tool, and follow these steps:
Planting Naturalized Bulbs
Following your planting plan, mark accent areas for bulbs or drifts to be planted with bulbs. Use stakes and string, plastic garden tape, or other easy-to-adjust markers.
Use either a turf-cutting tool or a sharp spade in each marked area to remove blocks of sod with roots. Cuts should be 4–6–in. (10–15–cm) deep to prevent harm to the turf grass being excavated. Set cut blocks of turf aside onto a tarp.
Dig planting holes according to your site’s design plan. Use a cordless drill with an auger or a bulb-planting tool to dig each hole 3 in. (75 mm) deeper than the recommended depth.
Add 5–10–10 granular fertilizer at the package-recommended rate, and cover it with soil. Backfill the hole with soil, 3 in. (75 mm) deep.
Position bulbs with their pointed ends up and base plate or roots down. If the bulbs lack a clear direction, lay them on their sides. Place the bulbs into the planting holes and push them firmly into the soil.
Backfill soil into the planting hole. Firm and settle it around the bulb by tamping the soil with the palms of your hands. Replace the turf and press it into solid soil contact.
Apply water to the turf grass and planting area, saturating it. Keep the turf well watered for at least 2–3 weeks following the planting to help it reestablish roots. Leave markers in place to identify the planting areas.
Mixed Plantings
Both rock gardens and beds that use rocks as structural features are good homes for many bulb, shrub, and flower plantings.
The stones define the bed and draw your eye, frame the plants, and give flowers backdrops against which their color shines.
Place your landscape stones and install permanent bed plantings first before planting bulbs. Start with trees and woody shrubs. Then plant naturalizing bulbs and perennial flowers. Finish with annual bedding plants or seeds.
In autumn, when spring bulbs are planted, gather stakes, string, a shovel, bulb-planting tool, fertilizer, bulbs, plants, and seeds, and follow these easy steps to plant the mixed bed:
Planting Mixed Flowers and Bulbs
Plant the mixed bed in autumn with permanent shrubs, trees, and perennial flowers and spring bulbs. Use stakes, string, or plastic tape to mark each area where trees or shrubs will be planted from a design plan. With those areas established, also mark each bulb and flower planting area on the plan.
Plant the bed’s permanent trees and shrubs first. Install each planting in holes as deep as and twice the width of their original nursery containers or rootballs. Mark the size of each tree’s or shrub’s mature width as a circle around the center of each planting hole.
Use a shovel to excavate the marked areas for spring bulb plantings. Fertilize the soil, plant the bulbs, and cover them. Mark any spaces within the boundary where you will plant insets of summer bulbs and perennial flowers.
Plant the bed again in spring, after garden soils warm. Place perennials, annuals, and summer bulbs into their reserved and marked spots. Avoid disturbing any trees, shrubs, or bulbs planted earlier.
Finish the planting by raking the soil evenly around the plantings and removing temporary markings. Retain markings for plants, seeds, and bulbs that will be added to the bed in spring, summer, or autumn. Water the bed thoroughly to settle the soil, adding fill as required. Apply mulch to retain moisture and insulate the bed from winter cold.
Special Planting Methods for Tuberous Roots and Rhizomes
Plants with rhizomatous and tuberous roots differ from true bulbs. They sprout foliage and flower stalks from growth points, or crowns, central points atop their roots.
Most such plants are first acquired in nursery containers rather than as dormant bare roots. With careful division and planting, bulbous plants with crowns increase every season. Within a few years, the number of plants in your garden will expand to fill your landscape [see Dividing Bulbs and Roots and Curing and Storing Bulbs].
To plant rhizomes and tuberous roots from nursery containers, follow these steps:
Planting Rhizome and Tuber Root Divisions
Consult plant-care tags or this website’s bulbs guide for specific planting information for the species [see: Bulbs]. Planting depths vary by species, from partial burial to depths of 12 in. (30 cm).
At the site, dig a hole 2–3 in. (50–75 mm) deeper than the recommended planting depth for the species, and half again as wide as its nursery container. Add 5–10–10 fertilizer to the planting hole, following the package label directions. Mix the fertilizer evenly into the soil. Cover the fertilized soil with unamended soil, 2–3 in. (50–75 mm) deep.
To begin the planting, carefully invert the nursery container as you support the bulb’s rootball and stem with your hands. Tap and squeeze the container to free the plant, allow it to slide into your open hand, and support its weight.
Inspect the plant’s roots. Untangle or cut through any encircling roots to avoid them girdling the plant after planting. Carefully turn the plant upright and lower the rootball into the planting hole. The soil’s surface of the planting hole should be the same as the soil around the rootball.
Finish the planting process. Backfill with soil to fill the gap in the planting hole around the plant. With your open palms, gently firm and press the soil into close contact with the soil of the rootball. Water each rhizome or tuberous-rooted bulb division thoroughly, adding soil to fill any slumps as air escapes. Continue to water semi-daily for at least 2 weeks before irrigating normally.
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