How To Plant Tulips Correctly

2024 Author: Gavin MacAdam | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 13:38

It's warm, fine (and maybe rainy) autumn outside. The sun is warming, the last flowers are fading. And gardeners, summer residents with might and main are busy preparing for winter and for the next spring season. Now is the time to think about the tulips that will decorate our flower beds in spring. After all, right now, in every garden hypermarket, and in a small "country" shop, there is a huge selection of bulbs of any varieties and colors. It remains only to choose the right one from this variety and plant it correctly

Choosing the bulbs

In order not to get confused in the offered variety of varieties and colors, I suggest that you think over your future flower bed before going to the store. A spontaneous purchase is probably a good thing, but often after that you have to rack your brains: where to stick the onions acquired "at will"?

So, we think it over, you can even sketch a drawing on paper, our future flower bed. We take into account all the nuances: where there will be only tulips, and where there are other flowers, who and how best combines with each other, and which species should not be planted next to each other. You can even create a pattern from flowers.

The most common tulip planting pattern is a circle, divided into sections. For example:

Now, depending on the size of our future flower bed, we calculate the approximate amount of the required planting material. In general, experts recommend planting the bulbs at a distance of 10-15 centimeters from each other. But with such a planting, the flowerbed looks empty. Therefore, I plant at a distance of 5-7 centimeters. But keep in mind that with such a planting, the bulbs will need to be dug out after flowering. But such a flowerbed looks bright and elegant, it looks like a large living bouquet.

After we have decided on the right flowers and the number of tubers, we go for planting material. Here you need to be patient and carefully select the bulbs. What you need to pay attention to: the bulb must be whole, dry, not soft, without various spots and rot. Take a close look at the roots: there should be no mold or rot. We take only healthy and strong bulbs.

Cooking a flower bed

We have a planting scheme and planting material. We proceed to choosing a place and preparing a flower bed. When choosing a place for a flower bed, be sure to consider the proximity of groundwater to the surface. If they are closer than 60-70 centimeters, then the flower bed should be made on a dais in order to avoid the death of flowers. In addition, tulips love sunny, but well-sheltered places. In the shade, the flowers will be small and painful, and the stems will stretch upward and bend, the bulbs will not be able to accumulate enough nutrients for the winter.

We carefully dig up or loosen the ground with a walk-behind tractor. If the soil is heavy and dense, add a little sand, as tulips love light and loose soil. Before loosening, you can scatter ordinary wood ash over the area. It will not only serve as an excellent fertilizer, but also protect against bulb disease.

Planting tulips

After preparing the flower bed, we proceed to planting tulips. We make holes of the required depth in accordance with the landing pattern. By the way, there is a simple way to calculate the depth of the hole for any bulb: the tulip planting depth should be equal to the height of the bulb, increased three times. That is, we simply measure the bulb and multiply its height by three. We add 2-3 centimeters, since in the hole, before planting, you need to add a little ash and peat. We make the distance between the holes 5-6 centimeters. If the soil is dry, then the holes need to be slightly moistened before planting, if the soil is wet, then nothing else needs to be done before planting. We plant the bulbs in the prepared holes, sprinkle with earth and leave until spring. And in the spring we enjoy a beautiful bright flower bed.