How to plant spring bulbs

Inspired by the Royal Horticultural Society. This guide draws on "How to plant bulbs | Grow at Home | RHS", in which Christine Woodhouse from RHS Garden Hyde Hall takes you through the basics clearly and without fuss. The RHS is the UK’s leading gardening charity, so the advice is reliable and properly suited to our climate.

1. Choose the right bulbs for your garden

Daffodils, tulips, crocuses, alliums, and hyacinths are all excellent choices for UK gardens. Daffodils are probably the most forgiving — they naturalise well, deer and squirrels mostly leave them alone, and they come back reliably year after year.

Buy bulbs that feel firm and solid. Soft, mouldy, or very lightweight bulbs are unlikely to perform well. A bag of mixed daffodils from a garden centre is a perfectly good starting point.

2. Plant in autumn for a spring display

Most spring bulbs need a cold period to trigger flowering, so autumn planting — roughly September to November in the UK — is the window. Tulips can go in as late as December. Earlier is generally better for daffodils and crocuses.

To be fair, even slightly late planting will usually produce results. Bulbs are more resilient than people give them credit for.

3. Pick a spot with good drainage

Bulbs will rot in waterlogged soil. They want a spot where rain drains away reasonably quickly after a downpour. Raised beds, borders, and well-prepared garden beds all work well. Heavy clay soil benefits from a handful of horticultural grit mixed in around each bulb.

Full sun is ideal but most spring bulbs will manage in partial shade, particularly beneath deciduous trees where they get light before the canopy fills in.

4. Dig to the correct depth

The general rule is to plant bulbs at a depth of two to three times their own height. So a daffodil bulb about 5 cm tall goes in at roughly 10–15 cm deep. Tulips at a similar depth. Crocuses and smaller bulbs much shallower — 5–8 cm is usually about right.

Too shallow and they may not flower, or can be lifted by frost. Too deep and they struggle to push through in spring. The right depth is not fussy to the nearest centimetre, but it matters broadly.

5. Plant with the pointed end up

The shoot comes from the pointed tip; the roots grow from the flat, slightly hairy base. Pointed end faces upward. If a bulb looks symmetrical and you genuinely cannot tell which end is which, plant it on its side — it will usually find its way.

Space bulbs at roughly two to three bulb-widths apart. A natural, informal scatter looks far better in spring than a rigid grid.

6. Water in and leave them to it

Give the soil a good water after planting to settle it around the bulbs. After that, autumn and winter rainfall usually does the job. You do not need to water again unless there is a prolonged dry spell.

Label the area if you can — a simple stick or a note on a garden plan. It avoids accidentally digging up bulbs when planting something else in winter.

7. Leave the foliage after flowering

After the flowers die back, let the leaves stay for at least six weeks. They are photosynthesising and feeding the bulb ready for next year. Cutting them off early means fewer or no flowers the following season.

Tying the leaves in a knot looks tidy but restricts their ability to photosynthesize. Better to let them die back naturally or mask them with surrounding planting.

When to call a handyman

Planting bulbs is well within most people’s abilities. That said, if your garden needs digging over, beds preparing, or you just want a seasonal tidy-up done properly, Richard is happy to help with that side of things before you get planting.