Naturalizing bulbs

I know that my season is running short, but I'd love to put some waves of spring flowering bulbs in my yard. What works the best and what method is recommended? Do you just drill holes in the lawn and drop in tulip bulbs? Is a drier area of the lawn preferred over one that stays damp?

As you can tell, I need plenty of advice. Let me have it!

Marie

If you are going to put them in the lawn then you should go for very small bulbs that flower early - otherwise you will be wanting to cut the grass before the foliage of some bulbs(tulips for instance) should be cut down. You could ofcourse plant a swath of tulips or daffodils on the edge of the grass.
Also small bulbs dont need to be planted so deep.
Crocus,muscarianemone,cinodoxa,hyacinthoides('blue'bells) puschkinia and scilla would probably do nicely. You need to check the flowering time of the bulb vs thetime you are likely to want to start cuitting your grass.

carol

Thanks Carol. Good advice to help in my planning.

Marie

If you're planting large swaths of bulbs in the lawn, rather than drilling, use an edger and edge and make an H pattern in your lawn with it. Then carefully pull back the lawn and dig out about 2 inches of soil and fill in with a soil more to the liking of the bulb you are planting. After you've done that, plant the bulbs at the desired depth (if you want to keep the critters away, you can take some chicken wire and make a circle around the bulbs you just planted). The next step is to carefully fold the two pieces of lawn back over and gently tamp them down. Fill in any bald patches wih some more soil and move to the next spot you'd like to plant some bulbs and repeat. Crocuses are a great candidate as in large groups, they can provide a nice blanket of early spring color as are glory of the snow. Both will flower, foliage and die off by the time your lawn is ready to be mowed and naturalize well in lawns.

Ooooooh, I like that jjpm....that sounds a lot better than a bunch of little holes. At least some areas of the lawn have actual turf I could fold back. Thanks, Mike

The H-method is best for big bulbs, the funniest method (best, maybe?) for a bunch of lawn-planted crocus or scilla is following an aerator and filling the holes! Mind you, additional holes will help to break the even pattern.
If I do masses of crocus, the method I've settled on takes 3.5 second per bulb- a narrow trowel, stabbed at an angle, the crocus stuffed in the hole at the bottom and the soil closed in around it, then the next one...
I think the best naturalizing garden bulb is Chionodoxa. I've still yet to see darwin or other large tulips perforn well in turf. Species miniatures are said to do better.
K. James

What great ideas! I can see applications for both methods depending on the site and type of bulb.

Thanks everyone!

Thanks for posting all of these good tips for naturalizing the small bulbs!

I especially like the detail of the 3.5 seconds per bulb,kenton! Winter is coming and time is of the essence!!

Kenton, your timed efficiency of bulb planting reminds me of the book , Cheaper By the Dozen (which has a great deal to do with Nantucket). I'll see if I can match your efforts. I have an old English dibble that I will also compare with your stab, stuff and close, trowel method. That sounds like that stupid new commercial for spot cleaning carpets. Actually I would rather be able to do the point and pay method of planting my bulbs But that isn't going to happen unless I buy a lottery ticket! Boojum told me she has a good bulb planter, that would be a good excuse to revisit her gardens, but she might do a Huck Finn on me and I would end up planting her bulbs too. I bought an auger that fits on my electrical drill that I think will be good, but I haven't used it yet. I think it will be excellent for lilies and other larger bulbs, but overkill for the little guys. I'll let you know. Patti

I bought a bulb auger this fall, but I think I need an electric drill with a cord so that I don't wear out the battery on my husband's cordless drill. Also, you have to clear weeds and grass, because that fouls it up.
Martha