Bulb meadows and how to make them
Bulb meadows and how to make them
Ways to create spring impact by planning now - planting designs for bulbs in grass for interest from January through to May
**NB** This post has been updated with the CORRECT bulb Cheat Sheet - apologies!
Before I launch in, remember that IT’S STILL TOO EARLY TO PLANT TULIPS.
Order them yes, by all means, but resist the temptation to put them in the ground. As the package arrives and your fingers fondle the lumpy packets of promise, just try to remember my words and resist; store them somewhere dry and cool for at least another month.
I explained here why you should wait, but having to wait is no reason to stop browsing and ordering, after all, bulb-choosing and bulb-buying are two of the very best cheering garden things to do in October. Now it feels properly autumnal, there’s nothing better than settling in with the bulb brochures, armed with a notebook and a pot of tea. There are plenty of bargains to be had now that many suppliers have started their sales, but there are also some less frequently-used varieties still available which could really give your garden a show-stopping touch.
This week we’re going to be looking at two totally different, and easy, ways to create a really special effect in your garden, exploring the idea of a bulb meadow.
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Last week we had a think about how to realistically make your garden look good in October.
If you’re finding yourself getting a bit down in the dumps about forcing yourself outside in grimmer weather and lowering light, fear not, for I am here to help: try this:
When I say bulb meadow, I mean ‘meadow’ in the sense that a mix of plants are planted and then allowed to do what they want in one place, colonising it if they like, growing and flowering together as conditions and space allow.1 I realised a long time ago that in the same way that plants grow together in one place with freedom, there was the same option for bulbs: instead of planting them just in flower beds and in pots, I’d be looking at drifts of narcissi growing in the wild and wondering why we couldn’t do that with other bulbs too, and in our own gardens. And so the idea of the bulb meadow began to materialise.
I’ve been experimenting with this idea for two decades now, shaking things up and not controlling the plants, instead simply providing them with space and occasionally helping out where necessary. Today I’m sharing these experiments and I’ve got two different takes on bulb meadows for you: one is bright and bold, the other as simple as can be. There’s also an accompanying Cheat Sheet (thanks for the feedback on these - I’m thrilled they are as useful as I’d hoped).
Bulb meadow basics
First of all, identify your spot. You may already have a wildflower meadow; if you don’t, do you have areas of grass that you could exclude from mowing during and after the bulbs have finished flowering? I use areas where for the rest of the season the grass is allowed to grow long, which means I don’t need to worry about the leaves looking untidy and can be left to die away in peace, which allows them in turn to gather up energy and send it down to the bulbs in preparation for the following year’s blooming.
If you’re still on the fence about leaving grass and leaves longer in some areas, do remind yourself that you’re allowed to have a bit of untidiness in your garden. Take it from me, this way you manage your stress levels (one less thing from the to-do list gets shifted to the not-to-do-list), the invertebrates will thank you, and the hedgehogs will almost throw you a party in gratitude.
In November I mix the bulbs in trugs, and then I scatter and plant them where they fall. If I'm stripping the turf back, I'll possibly cover the bulbs with chicken wire to protect them from hungry squirrels, and then I cover with soil, upping the quantities of bulbs to get as much of a feeling of coverage as possible.
If you have deer, they will almost certainly help themselves to your tulips - bump up the allium and narcissus quantities as they can't stand either of these2. I top up this scheme every year, although some bulbs, especially the narcissi, will come back.
You can plant bulb meadows in different ways:
For the simpler option, where only one or two varieties of bulbs are used, individually planting each bulb by digging hole in the grass is easy enough.
If I’m using lots of bulbs, I still do tend to plant each bulb individually, though it really does take forever and I have to be systematic about remembering where I’ve been as I work across the area I’m planting, as it can take a few days.
I scatter the bulbs by hand as I like the natural feel created by planting the bulbs where they fall as I scatter individual handfuls.
Some suggest an easier way when you’re working with a huge amount of bulbs is to carefully lift patches of turf, pop the bulbs underneath, and then re-lay the turf (and see the note above re deer) But when you’re working in a wilder area, I find you do end up with a few ‘joins’, as well as a more stilted effect when the bulbs come out. But I totally get that there comes a point when you just run out of time.
So the choice is yours, but a bit more time spent on it at the beginning usually ends up delivering a better result.
Option 1: An uplift of colour
This scheme is designed to peak in April and May, with earlier interest provided by daffodils. Random but not at all random, there is method in the bulb selection. Different species and varieties dot along and through this meadow. The pick of colours is key - in terms of timing of different flowers blooming at different times, I’d recommend banking on nothing and everything. Take a look at your list that you’re making right now and imagine a picture of everything in flower all at once. If this image ‘works’, go for it. If there’s one variety that you think is a bit of a gamble, drop it. Make a note of it, and include it next time with something else.
Include some showstoppers, some flamboyant attention-grabbers who may look surprising in the catalogue but whose exotic forms can look strangely at home against more usual forms in exotic colours.
Here we go:
In this first option for a bulb meadow, the showstopper is the enormous flower of