PLANTING BULBS

Sun (Auckland), Volume II, Issue 608, 9 March 1929, Page 28

PLANTING BULBS

If a bed is to be planted entirely with bulbs, they should be put in fairly thickly so as to ensure a good show, for it should be remembered that they make little foliage. Tulips may be from four to six inches apart, daffodils and narcissi four inches, and hyacinths from six to eight inches apart, according to the size of the bulbs. Bulbs should never be planted when the soil is wet; it should be on the dry side. A dibber provided it is blunt-ended—can be used for planting, but it is better to use a trowel. If a dibber is used, the greatest care must be taken to ensure that the base of the bulb rests fiat on the soil at the bottom of the hole. An air space beneath the bulb will inevitably lead to rotting. Where bulbs are to be planted closely together, in clumps, the best plan is to take out a depression of the correct depth with the spade, place the bulbs in position, then to return to soil to cover them in, firming it slightly. In regard to the depth to plant bulbs, { this is largely governed by the nature | of the soil; they have to be planted fully an inch deeper on light soil than on heavy soil.