Divide Spring Flowering Bulbs

Improve next spring’s bulb garden with a bit of late spring maintenance.

Digging, dividing and replanting will help improve the beauty and performance of many spring flowering bulbs. This can be done in fall as we plant our new bulbs. But by then the leaves are gone and it is difficult to find the bulbs in the ground. So move this task to late spring as the leaves decline.

Carefully dig declining and overcrowded bulbs. Use a flat tined garden fork or shovel to carefully lift the clump of bulbs.

Carefully remove the soil to make separating the bulbs easier. Replant the larger bulbs in properly prepared soil.  Discard the smaller bulbs or plant them in a location where you won’t mind waiting a few years for them to reach flowering size.

Discard any rotten or soft bulbs. Replant healthy bulbs immediately or store them in a cool dark location for fall planting.

A bit more information: Treat daffodil bulbs a bit differently. Break apart loosely connected bulbs, but leave the firmly attached offsets attached to the larger mother bulb.

Tags

daffodils dividing bulbs flowers-ornamental-grasses

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