If you’re a home gardener, walking out your door on a spring morning to see a garden bed full of nondescript dirt can be a real downer. Yes, your flowers will bloom spectacularly by the summer, but during the spring, they’re busy growing under the surface of the soil. Now for the good news: your garden doesn’t have to be dull and drab this spring. Instead, you can enjoy a spring garden full of vibrant colors by planting bulbs in the fall. Promier Landscapes is here to explain how.
Bulbs are a valuable, productive asset for any ornamental garden
Any bulb is going to be an annual plant. That means that once the flowers wilt, the plant is dead and won’t come back. Bulbs are impermanent. They have a short life cycle, blooming during their most favorable period and then fading. Many flowers are bulbs: tulips, daffodils, hyacinths, and lilies, among several other varieties.
Your fall planting guide for bulbs
Planting bulbs in the fall essentially “stores” them in the ground until they are ready to bloom in the spring. You want to make sure to plant in the late fall, waiting until any neighborhood squirrels and chipmunks have finished storing their winter food supply, and any migratory birds have flown south. Flowering bulbs also have a greater likelihood of thriving if they are planted in cooler weather. The month or so between Halloween and Thanksgiving is considered the ideal window for planting bulbs in Kingsport, Johnson City, and other locations in East Tennessee.
You can plant your own bulbs, and while this is a fairly simple process, there can be some complications. First, you need to select the right type of bulbs for your climate and soil. You can attempt some trial and error—planting various types of bulbs to see what thrives and what doesn’t—or you can consult professional landscaping experts in Johnson City like the ones at Promier Landscapes. They’ll already know what bulbs are ideal for your soil and weather patterns.
Then, there’s the planting process itself. First, there’s the soil, which needs to be well drained and ideally has a slightly sandy texture. Planting bulbs in soil where the moisture content is too high can make them rot. Then you need to dig the hole at the right depth (the packaging on the bulb should include this information) and plant the bulbs in tight, non-touching clusters. Cover the bulbs with soil and wait for them to burst come spring.
Garden landscaping in Kingsport
Whether you have a vast ornamental garden or just a few small flowerbeds, the pros at Promier Landscapes can handle every aspect of the job for you. That includes planting bulbs to give you a vibrant, colored garden come spring. We can do that as part of our comprehensive maintenance program, which also includes mowing, edging, weed removal, and cleanup. To find out more about our services, call (423) 872-2988 or go online to schedule an on-site estimate if you’re located in the areas of Kingsport, Johnson City, and Bristol, Tennessee.