28-10-2004, 05:50 PM
|
|
|
In article ,
(Ted Shoemaker) wrote:
When digging up tulip bulbs, to divide them:
(1) How do you avoid damaging the bulbs? I can't think of any way to
prevent goung some bulbs, except to have them in soil so friable (such
as Miracle Gro potting soil) that you could just lift them out and not
use a spade.
(2) When you have damaged a bulb, how much damage is "okay"? How
much can get lopped of, and the thing will probably grow next spring
anyway?
Thank you!
Ted Shoemaker
A lot of the bulbs I plant are dwarfs & miniatures, so they go to the
front of gardens, sometimes near sidewalk edges or atop stone or brick
walls at the front of raised beds. For these I've found I can put a flat
spade right up against the concrete or bricks, where there's no chance at
all of slicing through any bulbs, then jiggle the hell out of the soil,
loosening it all up. I can then literally poke my hands right into the
soil & find the bulbs one by one without further shoveling, so nothing
gets damaged.
-paghat the ratgirl
--
"Of what are you afraid, my child?" inquired the kindly teacher.
"Oh, sir! The flowers, they are wild," replied the timid creature.
-from Peter Newell's "Wild Flowers"
Visit the Garden of Paghat the Ratgirl: http://www.paghat.com
|