Planting bulbs where perennials are

Tomorrow I have a day off so intend to spend the day (weather permitting) planting all the bulbs I have brought.

The main area is out the front (as this is what I see the most of as my desk is in the bay window looking directly out onto it so want it to be bursting with colour come the spring!).

The problem I have is the all the perennials are obviously still there so I am not sure now what to do. Do I ....

A. Cut the plants back to the ground (lupins, gladiolli, lillies and iris) ?

B. Try to plant inbetween which is going to be hard as hundreds of bulbs to plant

C. Something else ? lol


This is the space I am working with (photos taken at the start of summer though so everything a lot bigger now albeit just starting to go brown in places)







The other question was .... do any bulbs do well in the shade (parts of back garden) ? I have several parts of the back garden that are in shade most of the time, so will any bulbs grow ? Or only where they will get some sun ?

 

Hi Sam
I would plant as many as you can inbetween your perrenials, especially if they disappear and come up again in spring.
Re the shade , bulbs have all their energy stored inside ,and lovely as they look on a sunny spring day, they dont need the sun to help them flower, many winters/spring we dont see much sun before March and a lot of bulbs are well in flower some even past their best

 

I couldn't have put that better!

 

You need a bulb planter so you can squeeze them in amongst the perennials I have one and it's extremely useful for doing just what you suggest.

For all those alliums you have, think where to put them. As the flower head matures, the foliage dies back, so eventually only the flower is visible. They look great rising out amongst lower perennials. That's what I do.

Daffs look good amongst low shrubs as well.

Have fun bulbs planting!

 

Thats what I was afraid everyone would say lol ... makes it much harder work :(

Yeah I brought one last year but didnt get on very well with it. Its like a silver thing that you press the handles on as you push down. Obviously being a fat cow I must have put too much weight on it cause the thing bent all out of shape and then didnt work properly :dh: :hehe:

As for the alliums - I brought the others today too. Restricted myself to 24 bulbs though as have enough already!!


Is it not wise to chop off the leaves now then for lupins and gladiolli ? They are going brown anyway but if the leaves werent in the way, the job would be so much easier to do ?? .... esp as my lupins have NEVER grown back the following year (when left to die back on their own) so am thinking I could struggle like mad planting round them and then they dont come back anyway, and in the meantime I am left with bare patches with no lupins and no bulbs either

If that makes any sense whatsoever lol

 

If the lupins are going black, cut them back. Mine have new growth appearing at the base of the crown already however. Gladioli I would cut back too, although mine are covered in Ipomaea at the moment so I can't see them. It depends how brown they are though!

My bulb planter is like a pastry cutter, that presses into the soil, lifting the desired amount out and clear so you have the ideal hole to plant said bulb, then release the soil back on top.

 

I have been having a look online tonight and I think I am going to take the lupins out. Would be far easier as I can then just dig that whole bed over and plant the bulbs on masse.

At the end of the day I only brought 3 lupins (pound shop bargain again lol) so that was £3 and then my grandad grew me the rest, so think I will just get him some more seeds and replace them next year as obviously once all the bulbs are in, I wont need to be replacing them next year or anything. Plus out the front is my new project for next year which is where the lavender will go eventually so loads of new plants etc anyway next year !

Yes the bulbs planter I have is like a pastry cutter with a long handle thingie that you push down into the ground with measurements on the side. Once you pull it out, it holds all the soil in. Then once you are finished you squeeze the handles and the soil comes out of the holder ....... it was me pushing down so hard on the handle that bent all the handle so then it didnt open to release the soil again lol

 

I`ve got one of those, but i also have a dibber :cnfs:, i think its called , its solid plastic T shaped the end is pointed and it widens , push it in the ground wobble it to make a hole ,drop your bulb in ,right way up as they are hard to get back, then fill with soil or compost, if its a large bulb put some compost in first or the bulb is stuck in a gap

 

Well I have been outside all day and boy do i ache !!!! :(

The bulb planter was beyond useless. The dibber is rubbish .... a spade and a few kitchen utensils worked much better lol

After digging trenches I have managed to plant hundreds of bulbs today although being the first time I have planted bulbs on such scale, I have no idea if I have put everything in the right places to give a balanced look! Even after spending a good hour or so this morning drawing a plan out of where everything should go, I still am unsure. Its so much easier when your planting actual plants as you can see what you are putting where!

Am just going to have a sit down now to give my poorly back a chance to try and straighten up and then I might go out the back and plant the last hundred or so

 

Well done Sam, planting bulbs is always time well spent!
And, to be honest, a spring bulb is always in the correct place because in miserable late winter every tiny crocus seems like a small miracle. You'll love them, no matter where they are. Some people ( that is "some people" ) even get quite emotional seeing the brave little ones poking through the snow.
For the following years, a tip from a serial bulb planter: child labour.

 

Yeah you would think with 4 of them in the house (all teenagers) that someone would offer to at least help !!

But no ... not even anyone around to pass me a drink :(

Makes you wonder why people have kids in the first place lol

 

Indeed!! At least I call out to OH in a loud voice and I get a cuppa brought out to me...or a glass of wine:wink:

 

I get more help from my 7yr old than from the older ones lol.

Besides, the real reason I spend so much time in the garden is to get away from them all.

 

Try gardening with chickens. Dig a hole to plant something new, with 6 of them hanging around nearby watching with great interest. Go away to get the plant/find compost/get a proper trowel/spade/have a rest/delete as applicable and return to find said chickens in the hole joyfully scratching all the soil back into the hole!

 

Maybe I need to get myself a willing 7 year old helper then! Had my 5 year old niece here the other week but she was bored aften a whole 2 minutes at the garden centre, despite telling me she loved plants and shopping !! After 20 minutes there she was totally bored and kept telling me I had enough plants now already!!

But yes your right, the garden is definately a place to escape too

Thats the joys of 'parenthood' for you Aaron. Try doing housework with kids wrecking behind you! lol

And your lucky OH brings you tea/wine .... if you ever get bored of him, send him my way. Could do with a good tea maker :D