Naturalized Area Help?

What is the best grass to plant in an area you want to naturalize with bulbs?
I have a nice section in my garden I would like to plant a few fruit trees and
then create that beautiful meadow look with bulbs growing up though the grass.
Right now the area is nothing but rocky soil and a few.... make that alot of weeds.
Any help would be greatly appreciated!
Dovey

Hi, Dovey.

You can plant any grass you want. I would recomend you go to your local garden center and buy a "local" blend, that does well in your area. Then treat it like you would any lawn.

Just make sure that you either leave the grass alone until the crocus leaves die back, or mow that area of the lawn with a much higher setting for a few weeks after the blooms have died off. Usually 6-8 weeks.

Lori

No Kidding... I thought you needed a special grass. I read something about sheep grass and Canadian blue grass.
Well anyway that's good news, because the local garden centers carry either lawn grass or ornamental grasses.
I gather the key is not to mow the bulbs after the flowers fade, but to let the foliage die back naturally.

Thank you for the info
Dovey

It sounds like a fun project! A friend's horse got out and walked all over her lawn on a rainy night when the ground was soft. I suggested she drop daffodill bulbs into the holes before she filled them with soil. That would be quite natural don't you agree? Well, maybe just a bit too natural for a lawn that was supposed to look neat and trimmed all the time.

Mary, I think that would be quite natural! Even if it was supposed to be neat and trimmed, I'm sure it could use a bit of color in the spring? I stopped in Baker City last year, passing through. What a drive! We took a wrong turn and ended up in a place called John Day! Way off track! Anyway, it was a neat town, cold, but nice.

J

Mary,
What a great idea.
A garden, like an anitque, is always better with a story behind it.
Dovey

Dovey--here's a useful page about naturalizing daffs from my favorites file:

http://www.yougrowgirl.com/grow/bulbs/bulbs_naturalized.php

Tabasco,
Thanks for the link. You Grow Girl is a cute gardening site, the info was very helpful. I never considered planting ferns with my bulbs, but what a great idea.

Dovey