Never planted spring bulbs? Here are three things you need to know before you start

Spring bulbs are without a doubt one of the easiest things to plant in the garden as long if you get a few simple things right.

These stunning flowers include daffodils, tulips and hyacinths, which all need to be planted right now in autumn to be ready to bloom in spring.

Planting spring bulbs is as easy as popping a bulb in the ground or a pot of soil, covering it with more soil and then waiting for it to grow.

You just need to know what direction the bulb goes, how deep and how far apart to put them.

Which way up should bulbs be planted?

The pointy end of the bulb should be facing up when you put it in the soil. So use this as a simple hack to remind you which direction to plant them and think of it like an arrow pointing up.

If you're unsure when it comes time to plant, you can plant bulbs sideways and the shoot will still emerge the right way up, it just makes a slight detour as it grows towards the sunlight.

And if you get this wrong and plant the bulb facing the wrong way, often it will still end up growing the right way because the bulb shoot will adapt to the environment.

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How deep should bulbs be planted?

Bulbs should be planted to a depth that is twice their height/length. So if your bulb is 5cm tall then you'll be planting them 10cm deep.

If you accidentally plant them too deep, the bulb will either bloom late, bloom poorly or not bloom at all as it will have spent too much energy trying to reach the surface – basically it'll be too exhausted.

On the other hand, bulbs that are planted too shallow will end up exposing their new growth to the cold too soon which will stunt their growth. The early growth is also at risk of being eaten by pests.

How far apart should bulbs be spaced out?

Seeing mass plantings of spring bulbs blooming is one of the highlights of the season and is generally achieved by clumping bulbs closely together.

This is despite the general rule of planting bulbs twice as far apart as they are wide.

Both are OK to do depending on what sort of look you're going for in the garden, but if you do want to clump them closer than recommended just put them one width apart instead of two.

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Spring bulbs you might not have heard of to plant now

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