How To Plant Tulip Bulbs

Wondering how to plant tulip bulbs? Tulips are rewarding plants. You plant them in the fall and forget about them, and the coming up spring they reward you with beautiful blooms full of color and vibrancy. However, before you begin putting your tulip bulbs into the ground, here are a few important things you should consider.

• When to plant tulip bulbs
• Where to plant tulips in yard
• How deep to plant tulip bulbs
• How far apart to plant tulip bulbs
• How late is too late to plant tulip bulbs
• How to stop squirrels from eating tulip bulbs
• Are tulips perennials

WHEN TO PLANT TULIP BULBS

The ideal time for planting tulip bulbs is in the fall. Tulips are a spring flower which means they are going to bloom for you in the spring.

However, tulips require a period of cold temperatures in order to produce blooms. because of that, you need to plant them in the fall – that is if you live in a cold environment such as zone 6 and up.

If you live in a warmer climate such as zone 7 and under, the best thing that you can do is to store your tulip bulbs in a refrigerated area during the fall and winter months. Once spring nocks at your door, you can then plant them in the ground.

You might be able to find more information about what types of bulbs you can grow in your hardiness zone simply if you look up your hardiness zone along with the term “bulbs” next to it. Here is an example “Zone 7 bulbs”.

There are a variety of bulbs that you can grow in warmer climates. There are also a variety of tulip bulbs that can withstand some hot temperatures. Just be sure to find the right tulip bulbs for your specific hardiness zone.

WHERE TO PLANT TULIPS IN YARD

Tulips are a sun loving plant which means that you need to plant them in an area that receives at least six hours of sunlight.

Tulips get most of their energy from the sunlight. They receive the energy through their foliage. This energy gets converted into sugars and stored in the bulbs for the next years blooms, and for producing new bulbs.

However, if you live in a hot climate, you might want to plant your tulip bulbs in an area that receives some afternoon shade. Because as you know by now, tulips are a bulb that cannot handle too much heat.

Are you planting your tulip bulbs in a wet area?

Tulip bulbs are susceptible to rotting. Before planting your tulip bulbs, make sure that the area of planting does not hold on to moisture for too long.

You want a happy medium. The area of planting tulip bulbs should be able to retain moisture, but it also should be well draining.

you do not want to plant your tulip bulbs in a swampy area.

If the area you are planting tends to hold on to moisture for too long, you might be able to fix that by adding sand to your soil. Creating a French drain around that area would also help in reducing the moisture retention.

How to cover up the tulips dead foliage

One thing to consider when planting tulips is the foliage.

Whether you like tulips’ foliage or not, the heat of the summer will eventually cause their foliage to brown and whither.

If you want your flower bed to look clean and pristine, an action that you could take is to choose an area where you have either perennial, or annual foliage that can hide the tulip foliage in the background.

You can do so by choosing to plant your tulips behind a plant that has a slow beginning in the spring, but once summer hits, it starts to grow. By that time, the tulips would have already finished blooming, and are now working on storing energy in their bulbs.

HOW DEEP TO PLANT TULIP BULBS

How to plant tulip bulbs you ask? The depth of planting tulip bulbs is also a key factor in how well they are going to bloom for you in the coming spring.

The rule of thumb is to plant your tulip bulbs about two to three times deeper than the size of the bulb. Which means, you’ll want at least two to three inches of soil on top of the tulip bulbs.

Usually the place where you purchased your bulbs from would provide you with instruction on how deep to plant the bulbs. If they do not, you can always follow that rule of thumb.

You can dig individual holes for each bulb using a Hori knife, or you can dig a large hole for multiple bulbs using a regular shovel.

When using a shovel to dig the hole, make sure to not go too deep because your tulip blooms might come out looking too short.

HOW FAR APART TO PLANT TULIP BULBS

You can space your tulip bulbs about 2 to three inches apart if you are going for a full look.

The best way to plant tulips is in groups. This will give you a big flower power impact.

The easiest way to plant tulip bulbs in groups is to dig a large hole using a shovel. The hole should be two to three times deeper than the bulbs. Place the tulip bulbs – pointy side up – in the hole while spacing them two to three inches apart from each other.

After placing the tulips – pointy side up- in the hole, cover them with soil and mulch.

I like to lay out my tulip bulbs over the are where I want to plant before digging any holes. This gives me sort of a view of how they will look like when they are in bloom.

Once I am ready to plant my tulip bulbs, I move the bulbs, dig the holes, and plant.

HOW LATE IS TOO LATE TO PLANT TULIP BULBS

How late is too late you ask? As long as the soil is still workable, you can still plant tulip bulbs.

The only time where you cannot plant tulip bulbs is if the ground is frozen solid.

So if you have tulip bulbs that you haven’t already planted, go ahead and put them in the ground by following the steps and directions I gave you in this blog post.

Tulips are one of my favorite flowers (I have many favorite flowers). Planting tulip bulbs in the fall gives me the excitement and anticipation of a kid right before Christmas. I can’t wait to see those tulips bloom!

HOW TO STOP SQUIRRELS FROM EATING TULIP BULBS

What is digging up my bulbs? So you have squirrels? Maybe chipmunks? Perhaps voles? Or mice?

These rodents can definitely affect your tulip display. We love tulips, and so do they.

So “How do I stop squirrels from eating my tulip bulbs?” You ask yourself. There are several ways to do so.

One way of preventing squirrels from eating your bulbs, or any rodent for that matter is to place a dry animal repellent in the hole around the bulbs, or over the area where you planted your bulbs.

With that said, always make sure to follow the direction on the label of the specific animal repellent which you are using.

However, animal repellent is something that has to be reapplied every now and then because overtime it looses its potency.

So another way to prevent squirrels or rodents in general from digging up your bulbs is by placing a metal mesh over the planting area.

You’ll wan to staple the mesh to the ground using landscaping staples to prevent it from blowing off in the wind, and to prevent the rodents from moving it.

You can also use tulle fabric to prevent rodents from eating your bulbs. Also make sure to staple it using landscaping staples because that can easily blow off in the wind.

However, if you are using tulle fabric to protect your tulip bulbs, you’ll want make sure to remove the tulle at the first sign of green appearing from the ground.

And one more thing that you can use to prevent rodents from eating your bulbs is by placing a chicken wire cloche over the planting site.

ARE TULIPS PERENNIALS

From a horticultural stand point, tulips are perennials. This means that they come back year after year.

even though tulips might comeback every year, it does not mean that they will bloom for you every year.

One way to ensure that your tulips will rebloom in the next year is to give them a spring feeding and a fall feeding of a good organic fertilizer. Also make sure to fertilize your tulips at the time of planting.

However, if you live in a hot climate, you might want to consider tulips as an annual flowering plant. Which means that you would plant them yearly rather than plant once and forget about it.

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