Head gardener of Sissinghurst Castle Garden Troy Scott Smith explains how to plant bulbs from the orchard in October.
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Troy is planting in October, but he would plant certain bulbs in September. Here's our guide on when to plant bulbs.
How to plant bulbs: Troy's top tips
- It's perfect if the ground is warm and moist.
- Using a bulb planter makes it so much easier to plant bulbs, but you can use a trowel or spade.
- The depth of planting should be around two and a half times the height of the bulb you are planting.
- Troy layers bulbs in the open ground as well as in pots.
- Pop a bed of grit in the bottom of your hole.
- Put soil on top of each of the bulbs as you layer them.
- Don’t worry too much about spacing. Catalogues will tell you to plant 10cm apart but I prefer a more natural look, scattering them and planting them where they fall. Tulips are strong and can grow through other plants without harming them.
- Don’t braid or remove the leaves or stems of tulips if you want them to naturalise.
Here's more on planting bulbs in perennial borders
