Tag Archives: dividing bulbs

Garden lore

“The area of a handsom Garden may take up thirty or forty Acres, not more.”
Philip Miller, The Gardener’s Dictionary (1724).

???????????????????????????????Breaking the rules on dividing bulbs

Traditional wisdom is that bulbs are divided when they are dormant. The problem is that when they are dormant, it is easy to forget where they are in the garden. Inspired by the fact that English gardening practice is to divide and replant snowdrops when they are in full growth (usually just after flowering), I have been breaking the rules about dividing other bulbs in recent years. Now when it comes to the likes of daffodils, lachenalias, crocus, nerines – in fact most bulbs – I split them up and replant at pretty much any time of the year. Gently does it, is the rule. You need to tease apart the clump of bulbs so that each one retains as many roots as possible. If they don’t tease apart, then replant them and do it when they are dormant and less vulnerable. It does not seem a good idea to replant any growing bulbs into heavily compacted ground so I dig over the ground well and add compost before gently spacing each growing bulb in place and covering with soil. Don’t let them dry out after replanting. That is it. Flowering is generally determined by the previous season, so dividing when in growth does not usually disrupt their display. If they are going to protest and sulk, it will be next year that they skip blooming.

First published in the Waikato Times and reprinted here with their permission.

Garden lore

“I asked a schoolboy, in the sweet summertide, ‘what he thought a garden was for?’ and he said Strawberries. His younger sister suggested Croquet and the elder Garden-parties. The brother from Oxford made a prompt declaration in favour of Lawn Tennis and Cigarettes, but he was rebuked by a solemn senior…and was told that ‘a garden was designed for botanical research, and for the classification of plants.”

Is He Dead Yet by Rev Samuel Hole (1819-1904)

Late winter flowering Lachenalia bulbifera

Late winter flowering Lachenalia bulbifera

Digging and dividing part 2: bulbs

While the season has passed for planting trees and shrubs, think bulbs. All the autumn bulbs will be dormant now but ready to spring into growth with the trigger of summer rains. This takes in bulbs such as nerines, colchicums, many of the species cyclamen and ornamental oxalis. Lift them and spread them or repot them now if they were looking overcrowded last autumn. It is also a good time to do the same with the early spring bulbs such as daffodils, tulips, bluebells, lachenalias, snowdrops and snowflakes. Many of these still have vestiges of foliage hanging on so you can actually find the clump without having to exploratory excavations. If the clump is pushing itself up out of the ground, it is a sure sign you need to thin them out.

First published in the Waikato Times and reprinted here with their permission.