Learn how and when to plant Summer Bulbs!
As Winter begins to give way to Spring and the early season bulbs begin peaking at you through the mulch, now is a good time to begin preparing for those spring gardening tasks that reward you with vibrant colors, fragrances, sights and sounds of pollinators.
Follow these steps and enjoy a great looking bed of flowers this summer.
Preparing to plant Summer bulbs
- Location: Identify how much sun or shade your location is going to receive. This along with matching the plants to the soil type are the two most important decisions you will make prior to turning the first spade of dirt.
- Soil: Identify the characteristics of your soil and prepare to amend the soil as needed to maximize the potential of your garden.
- Containers: If you will be using containers now would be a good time to clean them up and have them ready. Reusing containers is a great way to say money and time but failing to sanitize them before the next season is a risk not worth taking.
- Tools: Identify the tools you will need and make sure they are in good repair, clean and sanitized.
- Bulbs: If you have stored bulbs that you lifted last fall, now would be a good time to inspect them for rot. Discard any bulbs that appear to have rotted or are in bad health. If you want to add to your current variety of bulbs or replace rotted bulbs now would be a good time to begin shopping for those new bulbs, many stores will ship them as the season approaches.
- Weeds : As the weather and ground warms, work your garden or cover with black plastic to germinate any weed seeds that might be laying around. Early germination of seeds allows you to kill them off and saves you and your plants lots of work during the growing season.