Protecting Your Bulbs When Winter Planting

If you're planning to plant new bulbs and new flowers this winter, it's important to know how to protect those bulbs from the frost. Planting through the winter months can be a challenge, but if you want your flowers to start blooming during early spring, you need to make sure those bulbs are protected when the frost hits.

The last thing you want is for the bulbs to be damaged by the cold winter weather, so planting your bulbs is going to be a process. Let's discuss a few tips that can help you get your bulbs off to a stronger start and keep them protected from the frost in the winter.

 

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• Dig deeper. If you want to protect your bulbs, you need to bury them deeper than you normally would. If you plant them too shallow the bulb will freeze over. You want to keep the bulbs away from pests like squirrels too, who might dig them up. Tulips, for example, need to be planted three times the height of the bowl. So if you go too shallow, you're going to risk your plants not flowering.

• Never forget to mulch. A good layer of mulch will help to protect your bulbs. If you forget to add the mulch, your bulbs won't sprout when they should. You can mulch as soon as your bulbs are in the ground, especially when the soil is cool but not quite frozen. This will not only ensure that your bulbs are protected from frost, it will also help to optimize the soil temperature and retain moisture in the ground. Mulching is good for your whole garden, but especially over the topsoil where you plant your bulbs.

• Use a cloche. You need to have netted garden cloches to help the freshly planted bulbs to grow. A cloche will help to protect them from the cold and wet weather and protect from heavy snows, giving the bulbs a chance to grow while they can.

• Plant indoors when you can. A good way to protect your bulbs from the winter is to plant them in a greenhouse rather than in the ground. Alternative options like this can keep your bulbs safely away from the frost and give you time to grow and nurture them correctly. As a result, you'll end up with some beautifully scented flowers.

 

If you want your garden to grow this winter, then you need to protect your bulbs and ensure that your spring garden sprouts up when it should.

 

 

This is a contributed post.