Right now we are all enjoying the riot of colour from the spring bulbs. Nodding daffodils, brightly coloured tulips, tiny crocus and muscari and sweet smelling hyacinth.
Whether you grow your bulbs in pots or in the garden, outdoors or on a windowsill - our TeamGIB member Mike has advice on what to do with them once the flowers have died.
When your Spring bulbs have finished flowering it is very important to keep their foliage growing, feed them to maximise the foliage production and let them die down naturally. Also. do not tie foliage into bunches, leave them growing naturally. This will ensure bulbs will produce a good display next year.
If they are bulbs that you do not want to produce seed, cut the old flowering heads off to save the plant having to use energy and nutrients to produce seed.
If they are growing in a lawn, again, it is necessary to leave the leaves and grass growing until the bulb leaves have died down before cutting/mowing down.
If the bulbs are growing in a container or bed where you want to immediately plant for a new display, the bulbs can be lifted and either planted into a new container or bed and allowed to die down as described above for flowering next year or they can be allowed to die back and stored dry ready for planting in the Autumn. Lifting the bulbs in this way will reduce their chance of making such a good display than if they were left in situ. It will also potentially affect the chance of them producing new bulbs for increasing their numbers/naturalising.
Do share your photos of your spring bulbs with us on our social media channels
Don't forget to enter the 2022 Guildford in Bloom competition before 19 June 2022 - full details here: https://www.guildfordinbloom.com/2022-guildford-in-bloom-competition