Do this vital November gardening job now to fill your outside space with colour & stop disease next year – says expert

IT’S November! Which means it’s officially Tulip Bulb Planting time.

Unlike daffodils, these beauties would rather be planted in a colder soil – as the lower temperatures help reduce the risk of fungal and viral diseases that can affect the bulbs.

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Tulip ‘Ballerina’ is beautiful all planted in a swathe[/caption]

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Farmer Gracy’s ‘Lemon Beauty’ is Gardening Editor Veronica’s favourite.[/caption]

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‘Acuminata’ will eventually naturalise, so it’s a great money saving tulip[/caption]

It’s the best defence against botrytis – which can cause the dreaded Tulip Fire – which produces brown spots and twisted, withered and distorted leaves.

And nowadays there’s an astonishing range of colours, heights and types.

Naomi Jones, horticulturist at bulb experts Farmer Gracy, told Sun Gardening: “Spring bulbs should be planted at 2-3 times the depth of the bulb size. For tulips, a good planting depth is 15-20cm.

“You can go for a full mixed planting scheme with a variety of different bulbs all spaced at approximately 10-15cm apart from each other, or 5cm apart from each other if growing in pots.

“If you prefer something more organised, you can plant your bulbs in groups, drifts or swathes without intermingling them with each other.

“Remember to plant bulbs which grow to a lower height closer to the front of a border than taller varieties, which should be nearer the back.

“When planting in groups, odd numbers look best for groups of 10 bulbs or less. The aim is to achieve a gradient from low to high when planting in a border.

“In large pots, you can plant tall varieties in the centre with lower-growing varieties around the edge. Choose a well draining pot, and plant your bulbs close together without them touching each other.

“You can also layer bulbs to create a succession of blooms in one pot.”
She added: “Your soil type can have an impact on how well the bulbs grow. Spring bulbs grow happily in any free draining, crumbly soil.

“For pots, we recommend using multipurpose compost. Spring bulbs won’t enjoy very wet conditions, so if you have a heavy soil type like clay which also has a tendency to become waterlogged over winter, it is best to avoid planting bulbs in this area but work at improving the texture of the soil over time.

“Digging in mulch, such as fallen leaves, during winter every year will gradually improve the texture and aid drainage so you can enjoy a wider variety of bulbs in this area in future.”