Crocuses on lawn
Hi there. While out walking yesterday my husband and I passed by a lawn
that was full of crocus flowers and we just loved it. I was just wondering. Are there any downfalls to planting these little bulbs in your lawn? Do they spread like the dickens and we'd eventually have only crocuses? It just looked so nice and so colorful for the brown-lawn time of year so I had to ask. Also, if we decide to plant these little bulbs next fall so that we can have a lawn like this, how deep do you plant them? I visited a number of websites but nobody said how deep to put the bulbs. Thanks for your help! Shelley |
Crocuses on lawn
The only downside is that the lawn with the crocus leaves cannot be cut for a minimum of 42 days after flowering has finished~~ as with all bulbous plants, even if still green~ surprisingly. They will not increase more than you wish and certainly will not get out of control. The clumps will just thicken and become more floriferous. Similar to daffodils. A general guide for all similar planting is at 2 or 3 the times their own size. This generally holds for seeds also. Best Wishes. "Shelley" wrote in message news:82h7c.53549$_w.851264@attbi_s53... Hi there. While out walking yesterday my husband and I passed by a lawn that was full of crocus flowers and we just loved it. I was just wondering. Are there any downfalls to planting these little bulbs in your lawn? Do they spread like the dickens and we'd eventually have only crocuses? It just looked so nice and so colorful for the brown-lawn time of year so I had to ask. Also, if we decide to plant these little bulbs next fall so that we can have a lawn like this, how deep do you plant them? I visited a number of websites but nobody said how deep to put the bulbs. Thanks for your help! Shelley |
Crocuses on lawn
we like the little scillas in the lawn the best.
http://www.johnscheepers.com/catview...ategory=Scilla their leaves spread out so the lawn can be mowed before the leaves are actually done packing away food for the next spring. also, surprisingly, they can get walked on while coming up and bloom just fine. I just use a big screwdriver in fall, punch it down wiggle, pullit out and drop a little bulb down in there. feeding the lawn is good early, it also feeds the flowers. they really dont need to be very deeply planted at all. they say to plant 4" to 5" deep but I am sure mine are more like 2-3" deep and do fine. Ingrid "Shelley" wrote: Hi there. While out walking yesterday my husband and I passed by a lawn that was full of crocus flowers and we just loved it. I was just wondering. Are there any downfalls to planting these little bulbs in your lawn? Do they spread like the dickens and we'd eventually have only crocuses? It just looked so nice and so colorful for the brown-lawn time of year so I had to ask. Also, if we decide to plant these little bulbs next fall so that we can have a lawn like this, how deep do you plant them? I visited a number of websites but nobody said how deep to put the bulbs. Thanks for your help! Shelley ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ List Manager: Puregold Goldfish List http://puregold.aquaria.net/ www.drsolo.com Solve the problem, dont waste energy finding who's to blame ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Unfortunately, I receive no money, gifts, discounts or other compensation for all the damn work I do, nor for any of the endorsements or recommendations I make. |
Crocuses on lawn
I've been planting bulbs in my lawn in Ohio for years. None of
them spread quickly if at all. I leave off mowing as long as I can stand it or untill the leaves start to wither. The earliest blooming varieties work best as they will wither first. Plant lots of them close together or they're hard to see. I use and adzlike tool in the fall to plant them. A single chopping stroke and pull the turf up a bit and put the bulb under it before tamping it back down. |
Crocuses on lawn
In article 82h7c.53549$_w.851264@attbi_s53, "Shelley"
wrote: Hi there. While out walking yesterday my husband and I passed by a lawn that was full of crocus flowers and we just loved it. I was just wondering. Are there any downfalls to planting these little bulbs in your lawn? The drawback is they're not going to be showy if you actually walk on your grass. You can't walk on flowering crocuses & expect them to look like much a second later. If there are places around the lawn you never walk on or sit on or roll around on with the dog, then that is no drawback in that spot. The second drawback is if you want the crocuses to naturalize & do very well, you may be unable to mow your lawn in spring until it is a full foot tall. The first mowing of the season cannot be so early that it cuts the post-bloom crocus grass, which is invisible because it looks just like the grass, but during the post-bloom that crocus-grass puts on a new burst of growth to eight or ten inches height & recharges the bulb for the next year. If it gets mowed too soon, the bulbs decline instead of increasing in vigor & producing offsets. In colder areas where the crocuses bloom as late as April & the grass is recharging the bulb in May, this could mean not being able to mow the lawn until almost June! Where crocuses bloom late February & March it's not so much a problem as the lawn's turf won't start growing until late in March anyway, & letting it grow a little long through much of April is no big deal unless one is a lawn fanatic who needs it constantly short-short. Do they spread like the dickens and we'd eventually have only crocuses? Most crocus cultivars won't spread as much as one would like really, but they do spread. They never really out-compete sod but merely manage to hold their own, so very compatible with grass, though grass has the greater competitive value & occasionally crocuses can't quite fully naturalize. Some crocuses are either too small to show themselves well in turf, or a bit delicate if competing with grass for nutrients. One that spreads well in grass is Crocus tommasianna "Ruby Giant." It's a bit small (despite the name "giant") but not as small as other tommies. You have to make sure the grass was well-mowed by the time it stops growing in autumn/winter so that by the time the tommies erupt in late winter, they're not lost in grass that was never mowed. They self-seed better than most crocuses so eventually their numbers will be great enough to be showy despite their size. Exactly when they bloom varies from season to season; in our zone tommies bloom February & early March. But the grass can't be mowed until April's end if the tommies are to fully perennialize, though if you can get "wild" tommies (they're smaller & have no cultivar name) their crocus-glass lies flat almost like it knows a lawnmower could be coming by. A crocus that is immediately showier in grass is the blue & yellow C. sieberi "Firefly." It's maybe twice the size of the tommy, & blooms a few weeks earlier, meaning you'll be able to finally mow the lawn a bit earlier too, but the rule of thumb is you can't mow until the crocuses have stopped blooming for at least a month. It just looked so nice and so colorful for the brown-lawn time of year so I had to ask. Also, if we decide to plant these little bulbs next fall so that we can have a lawn like this, how deep do you plant them? Not all crocuses are planted exactly the same depth. The usual instruction is three to four inches deep. When in grass they should go the deepest recommended so they're not exclusively in lawn roots. If you have mice or squirrels who're prone to searching in lawns for bulbs, then make them closer to 5" deep & after you've put the corm in the dibbled hole, put a little topsoil mixed with bloodmeal over the top of the crocus. The bloodmeal will fertilize the bulb but the real purpose is to make it not smell like something edible to squirrels & mice. The bulbs are most apt to be dug up & eaten when first planted because that's when the soil is loosest over the bulb; the following year when the ground is not already softened for mousey fingers, they're not as apt to be dug up, but mice may still get the tiniest bulblets that would otherwise be developing from self-seeding. The people who complain their tommy crocuses don't spread are almost certainly unknowingly being visited by mice, or the tommies certainly would spread. I visited a number of websites but nobody said how deep to put the bulbs. Thanks for your help! Shelley I prefer crocuses in the garden rather than in the grass, but I like to place tommies where they seed naturally into lawn so the garden & lawn blend together. On the other hand, some crocuses are so awfully floppy when in flower that growing them in the lawn keeps them propped up. Select the tallest-flowering varieties with the most-open cups, some C. chrystanthus varieties are very short & have small round flowers ("Prinz Claus" and "Cream Beauty" for example) & so do not show as well in grass, but some other C. chrystanthus cultivars stand up tall & fully open. Some C. vernus cultivars are biggest by far but also bloom last. But really I'd go for tommies because they self-seed the best, or "Firefly" because it's earliest. Squills & Glory of the Snow also compelte nicely with turf. Glory of the Snows have floppy untidy homely leaves & stems when planted in a garden, & the flowers often flop face-down because the stems are inadequate to hold them up, but pllanted in turf, the leaves practically vanish within the lawn's grass, & the flowers stay face up. They are apt to bloom mid & late March. English Squill however may wait until April to bloom & for many that might mean having to wait way too long for the first mowing that'd have to wait for late May. -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" See the Garden of Paghat the Ratgirl: http://www.paghat.com/ |
Crocuses on lawn
"Shelley" wrote:
Hi there. While out walking yesterday my husband and I passed by a lawn that was full of crocus flowers and we just loved it. I was just wondering. Are there any downfalls to planting these little bulbs in your lawn? Do they spread like the dickens and we'd eventually have only crocuses? It just looked so nice and so colorful for the brown-lawn time of year so I had to ask. Also, if we decide to plant these little bulbs next fall so that we can have a lawn like this, how deep do you plant them? I visited a number of websites but nobody said how deep to put the bulbs. Thanks for your help! Shelley I've been wondering abot these myself. I've been thinking they can't only spread by dividing. We have WHAT I THINK are crocus on our block. They are growing wild. A large 10x10 area up by a school is the biggest block, then across the asphalt street from them is a block of them growing around bushes at the side of a driveway. One house down is a small clump of them under a tree and another house down is a few just buy a evergreen bush. They aren't anywhere else. Half of them are on the sidewalk patches that just get mowed and are clearly unintentional. They look like crocus but they are clearly spreading by more methods than just bulb division, since they appear to be crossing streets, going down the street without springing up along the way. DiGiTAL ViNYL (no email) Zone 6b/7, Westchester Co, NY, 1 mile off L.I.Sound 2nd year gardener |
Crocuses on lawn
"Shelley" wrote in message news:82h7c.53549$_w.851264@attbi_s53...
Hi there. While out walking yesterday my husband and I passed by a lawn that was full of crocus flowers and we just loved it. I was just wondering. Are there any downfalls to planting these little bulbs in your lawn? Do they spread like the dickens and we'd eventually have only crocuses? It just looked so nice and so colorful for the brown-lawn time of year so I had to ask. Also, if we decide to plant these little bulbs next fall so that we can have a lawn like this, how deep do you plant them? I visited a number of websites but nobody said how deep to put the bulbs. Thanks for your help! Shelley be aware that crocuses will multiply and form drifts only in part to full sun. They will not multiply if there is shade, even bright shade, though they will survive. Also, given that the background color (the lawn) is brown, light purple varieties are almost invisible. Stick to larger crocuses, deep violet (best) or yellow and white. These will cost more. You may pay $100 for 300 crocuses, but you will need to wait a few years for them to fill in the drifts and truly make a show. If you have acid soil shade, like I have, you will be much better off with scilla (which is blue), which spreads slowly but spreads, is undestructible, and can be mowed ten days earlier. Its drifts are just as lovely. As the other poster pointed out, if you do have crocuses in full sun, by the time you can finally mow (early June in michigan) the grass can be quite tall (unacceptably tall if you have non-cooperating neighbors). They will otherwise not suffocate the grass, which has the lawn five months all by itself. Crocus does well in well drained soil, and will die in waterlogged parts of the yard, but does not require much feeding. I am unaware of whether weed and feed (or other lawn pesticides) will kill it. The squirrels will get it, so I hear, though at my place, with an abundance of nut and seed trees, I have never seen a squirrel dig up a crocus bulb. You can provide some early protection by planting bulbs just before the ground freezes in november. |
Crocuses on lawn
Don't be discouraged. This is really very easy. Put some in
and see what happens. Take a picture so you'll know where to plant if you decide to add more in fall. |
Crocuses on lawn
On Sun, 21 Mar 2004 19:04:12 GMT, DigitalVinyl
wrote: They look like crocus but they are clearly spreading by more methods than just bulb division, since they appear to be crossing streets, going down the street without springing up along the way. Maybe humans are giving them a helping hand in crossing the street. |
Crocuses on lawn
Thank you everyone for your suggestions. After posting this we did notice
that our lawn has maybe 6 of these flowers in the front. We'll try more this fall and see how it turns out. I'm looking forward to it! Thanks again. You've all been incredibly helpful. Shelley "H Hornblower" wrote in message ... Don't be discouraged. This is really very easy. Put some in and see what happens. Take a picture so you'll know where to plant if you decide to add more in fall. |
Crocuses on lawn
On Sun, 21 Mar 2004 19:04:12 GMT, DigitalVinyl
wrote: They look like crocus but they are clearly spreading by more methods than just bulb division, since they appear to be crossing streets, going down the street without springing up along the way. Maybe humans are giving them a helping hand in crossing the street. |
Crocuses on lawn
Thank you everyone for your suggestions. After posting this we did notice
that our lawn has maybe 6 of these flowers in the front. We'll try more this fall and see how it turns out. I'm looking forward to it! Thanks again. You've all been incredibly helpful. Shelley "H Hornblower" wrote in message ... Don't be discouraged. This is really very easy. Put some in and see what happens. Take a picture so you'll know where to plant if you decide to add more in fall. |
Crocuses on lawn
I have had crocus in my parking strip for the past 4 years. I planted them
by shoving a shovel under the turf, pushing a handful of crocus into place, then pushing the turf back down. (I placed a mothball with each group to try to deter squirrels). The first year, the squirrels did their best to yank up the crocus as soon as they began to bloom, so I ended up having to put chicken wire over each clump - not very pretty - sort of a crocus concentration camp. But they have since come back every year. They spread slowly in the turf, much faster where they do not have to compete against the roots of grass. They are in mid-bloom right now. I will mow the grass the first week in May. Usually it's possible to see the crocus leaves browning or tanning, and that's the clue that it's safe to mow. Other bulbs that you can consider doing this with are chionodoxa (glory of the snow) and scilla. I have even put in early tulips in places that I can stand to mow later. "Shelley" wrote in message news:VFq7c.53260$JL2.713452@attbi_s03... Thank you everyone for your suggestions. After posting this we did notice that our lawn has maybe 6 of these flowers in the front. We'll try more this fall and see how it turns out. I'm looking forward to it! Thanks again. You've all been incredibly helpful. Shelley "H Hornblower" wrote in message ... Don't be discouraged. This is really very easy. Put some in and see what happens. Take a picture so you'll know where to plant if you decide to add more in fall. |
Crocuses on lawn
On Sun, 21 Mar 2004 13:47:48 GMT, "Shelley"
wrote: Hi there. While out walking yesterday my husband and I passed by a lawn that was full of crocus flowers and we just loved it. I was just wondering. Are there any downfalls to planting these little bulbs in your lawn? Do they spread like the dickens and we'd eventually have only crocuses? It just looked so nice and so colorful for the brown-lawn time of year so I had to ask. Also, if we decide to plant these little bulbs next fall so that we can have a lawn like this, how deep do you plant them? I visited a number of websites but nobody said how deep to put the bulbs. Thanks for your help! Shelley they will spread and make little patches of kind of short greenery you plant them a few inches down maybe three but not too deep they don't mind cold in fact mine came through the snow this year they are so very lovely they can be controled just dig up the ones you don't want with a tiny spade or a grapefruit spoon is what I use so I don't dammage the others when I want to thin them out Try some llborders around the out side of your flower beds the greenery looks a bit like grass when the blosems are gone They come in different sizes too so be sure you have the ones you want michelle |
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