Splendor in the grass

02/27/2002
Splendor in the grass

This isn't exactly a timely garden tip. But it's purpose is to remind you of what you could be looking at right now around your house if you follow this tip in the fall. I figure if your lawn is bereft of small, spring-flowering bulbs, looking at these photos will motivate you to tie a large string around your finger so that you will remember to order lots and lots of them when the catalogs arrive in late summer.

In my opinion, there's absolutely no better use of bulbs than in a lawn. For gardeners in most of the U.S., planting bulbs in grass is the closest we can come to having a flowery meadow look--and still have a mowed lawn later on in the spring. Granted, only certain bulbs are suited to this purpose: in general, the "small" bulbs, that flower and go dormant early, so that you're not mowing off their foliage before it has a chance to stock carbohydrates for next year's flowers.

What do I mean by small bulbs? Well, crocus is the most obvious. Crocus come in dozens of varieties and species. Large-flowered hybrids, such as the striped violet one at right, are more dramatic, but subject to being unearthed and munched on by squirrels. This is especially likely to happen right after you plant the bulbs. I am ready to swear on my experience as a gardener that squirrels--especially canny urban ones--watch the gardener innocently planting her crocus bulbs, and mark the spot with a large X in their squirrelly brains. That very evening they hurry down to dig up the bulbs and carry them off. Don't wait to prove me right; just buy some sturdy plastic netting and some U-shaped sod staples, and anchor the netting over all the areas you've planted, waiting to remove it until the ground has frozen, or even until the bulb foliage starts to peek out of the ground.

Species crocus (e.g. not hybrids) are much less likely to be ravaged by devious squirrels. They have smaller, more delicate flowers (see photo at left), but are strong perennializers, meaning that they spread rapidly and readily.

Another wonderful bulb for using in lawns is Scilla siberica, which blooms very early with intense aquamarine blue flowers. Scilla is one of the most robust bulbs for wet and cold parts of the country, self-sowing lavishly to spread into pools of intense blue in your yard. Another plus: scilla tolerates and even likes wetness, so if your yard is poorly drained or you're inclined to irrigate your lawn heavily, this is the bulb for you. Other good candidates include the common early snowbell (Galanthus nivalis), Chionodoxa sp., and Puschkinia sp.

Of course, if you're willing to put off mowing parts of your lawn for several weeks until early June, you can include daffodils, narcissus, muscari, Spanish bluebells, and even species tulips, provided you don't water too heavily during the summer. In Europe and England, all these bulbs are routinely planted in grass, which is left shaggy until the bulb foliage has ripened.

Small, early-blooming bulbs that are not well adapted to growing in lawns include windflower (Anemone blanda), the many species of dwarf early iris, and winter aconite (Eranthis hyemalis). They are either too fragile to compete with grass, can't stand summer irrigation, or both. Restrict plantings of these treasures to woodlands, or relatively dry shrub or perennial plantings.

To make your lawn look like the main photo above, you'll need lots of bulbs. Don't be stingy. Small bulbs are inexpensive, and the more you purchase, the cheaper they become. Order in the hundreds or thousands.

I know what you're thinking...how am I going to plant thousands of bulbs!? It's not as bad as you think. These bulbs are very small. The best way I know of to plant them is to put on one of our gardener's aprons. Fill the pockets with your different bulb varieties. Then arm yourself with our asparagus gouge. This long tool is the perfect solution to planting small bulbs effortlessly. Just insert the gouge, lever its handle slightly forward or back, drop in the bulb, and push the soil into place with your foot. Voila! A back-breaking job just became organized and easy. If you invite a friend to help you, it'll be downright fun.

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Products of Interest:

Provençal asparagus gouge