total beginner bulb planting depth question

Hi -

I am hoping to plant some narcissi, muscari, and tulips in our condo garden this fall. I had a question about bulb depth - we have mulched generally 1.5 - 2 inches deep this spring, but I anticipate a lot of the mulch will not be there any more by next spring. Do I take into account the mulch when I plant the bulbs this fall? Or can I just go down to 6 inches if that's what is recommended?

Also, we have definitely had squirrels digging around, but they do not seem to dig that deeply and give up after a couple inches (usually the mulch is disturbed and there is a small hole). Is there a planting depth where any of you find it best to use chicken wire to protect the bulbs? I figured we'd have to protect our bareroot peony plantings, for example.

Thank you very much.

Hi scubadoobie (love the name!). If the peony is planted deep, you will get no flowers. However, I have never known anything to eat peonies, so plant it at the normal depth (the top buds should be just beneath the surface) and I'm sure it will be fine.

Planting depth for bulbs is variable. Generally speaking, the bigger the bulb, the deeper it goes, but you can plant even small bulbs as much as 6 inches deep and they will still come up. I don't use mulch or chicken wire, but my flower beds have either gravel or a compacted soil surface that squirrels don't like to dig in. They prefer the lawn, which is softer!

Great - thanks very much for the comments!

Yep, planting depth of two to three times the bulb diameter is what's generally recommended.... that means little crocus bulbs can go right under a flap of sod you've lifted up with your shovel. Our soil here is pretty dense with clay, and if I planted a 2" daffodil bulb 6 inches down, I'd never see it again. So I go more with twice the diameter of the bulb, and I do generally put at least 2 inches of mulch on top... opinions vary, but most people don't seem to count mulch as part of the planting depth for the bulb.

Some people have a lot of trouble with squirrels... I think I've seen comments about their preferring tulip bubs to daffs, so you may not need to protect daffodils. If you're protecting against surface diggers, a piece of chicken wire (half inch mesh) laid on or just under the surface of the soil under your mulch should do the trick. For voles, which tunnel, some people make boxes or cages to protect the bulbs on all sides (roots and shoots can grow through the mesh, but the main bulb gets protected).

I have also had some luck planting tulips and daffs together. Squirrels don't like the daffs and generally leave the tulips and other tasties alone. I hear that folks get good results with the cages as well.
Bev

Yes, but having recently made a dozen hardware cloth baskets for my MIL's new hostas, I can tell you that the wire is a pain to work with! For bulbs, you might go to your local $1 store and see if you can find those little storage crates that look like plastic milk crates... seems like those might help... ?