Autumn is the season for planting spring bulbs, running from September to December. Daffodils and crocuses should go in first, while alliums and tulips can be planted later. October offers longer daylight hours, making it a good time to fill pots, containers, planters, beds and borders with spring bulbs.
Three tools to speed up bulb planting
Spring bulbs can be planted with a hand trowel, hand fork, spade and garden fork, and they will grow and flower as expected. However, three additional tools can make the job easier. With these, bulbs get planted quicker and possibly more get planted, increasing the size of spring flower displays.
Planting into beds and borders can take considerable effort, so a long-handled bulb planter is ideal. Much like a spade, it is positioned and then pushed into the ground with the foot. The tool creates a hole for the bulb, then uses the soil inside the tool to cover it. This allows more bulbs to be planted in less time, perfect for creating waves of daffodils and tulips.
Smaller tools for close work
A smaller bulb planting tool works well while on a kneeling pad. It operates in the same way as the long-handled version but keeps the gardener closer to the planting action, again planting lots of bulbs in less time. Another small tool is the bulb planting dibber, used for smaller bulbs such as crocus, snowdrop and bluebell.
Once the dibber is in the ground, give it a wiggle and remove it, then plant the bulb before nipping the hole shut. A general rule of thumb is to plant bulbs three times the depth of their height, and these tools do this for just about all bulbs.
Spring bulbs and bulb planting tools can be ordered from www.bostonseeds.com, with a promo code available on the gardener's social media profiles for 10% off. More seasonal gardening advice and tips can be found on Instagram, TikTok and YouTube at @garden_with_tom.
