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Create dazzling displays by planting bulbs in layers
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Create dazzling displays by planting bulbs in layers
Bulbs are a great way to add colour to your garden and highly rewarding to grow. However, the plants from these little balls of energy will pop-up, flower, and then die back again. So, how can you make more impact full and longer lasting displays? The answer is layering!
Bulb Depths
Different bulbs are planted at different depths and then come up and flower at different times, with larger bulbs generally needing to be planted deeper (the general rule of thumb being 3 times as deep as the size of the bulb)
Making Use of Different Depths
We can use this to our advantage to plant bulbs in layers with the larger bulbs deepest, then medium bulbs, and finally with smaller bulbs closer to the surface, all with a layer of compost in between
Staggering
When you plant bulbs in layers stagger them so that the lower bulbs are not directly below the bulbs above them. This makes it easier for the plants to grow up to the surface. It's also a good idea to plant bulbs further apart than you normally would
Deeper, Not Shallower
You can get away with planting bulbs slightly deeper than you normally would in order to achieve more layers, but avoid planting bulbs shallower than normal. Be careful not to plant bulbs too deep though as this can result in more energy put into foliage and less into flowers!
Timing Flowering
Typically layering is done to achieve flowering in the same location for a longer period of time, with a new layer flowering as the previous one dies off. However you can also achieve overlaps in flowering times with multiple types of plants in flower at the same time
Colours & Shapes
By considering the colours, shapes and sizes of bulbs when you purchase and plant them you can create many varied displays. Contrasting colours will have a big impact, but a theme of one colour with differing shapes and heights and can be beautiful too. Taller plants may work better in the centre of a container, or if in a border or trough towards the back. The possible combinations are nearly endless!
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You've probably seen it in parks, stately home gardens or in grass verges on country roads, lush green grass with swathes of little colourful flowers and pockets of daffodils. You may well have assumed these were naturally occurring and the results of many years of seeding, but actually this is something you can easily reproduce in your own lawn at home
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