Temporary storage of bluebell roots
 

Hi

I'm very new to this gardening business, you'd be amazed what I don't
know :)

Anyway I had my back garden completely overhauled by a pair of
gardeners in autumn last year. It had been just a huge jungle and now
it is a lawn with an area of ground covering plants (which will do this
when they've grown) and some flower-beds along the sides of the lawn.

There is an area which has some saplings in it and the gardeners put
bluebells in around the base of the saplings so that in spring/summer
there was a lovely small sea of blue around the base of the saplings.

Unfortunately in spring/summer I was very busy and many weed arrived in
the garden. Each weekend now I've been going out and digging out these
weeds. Boy there has been a lot of them!

Next year I'm going to be prepared to get rid of them in spring before
they have a chance to grow.

Anyway in the area with the saplings where the bluebells were there are
weed everywhere and so I'm having to dig up all the soil around the
saplings and when taking out the weeds out come the bulb like roots for
the bluebells.

I've spoken to the gardener who put them in and he told me that all I
needed to do is put the bluebell roots back in after I take out the
weeds and they'll be fine.

This makes sense to me but in fact it is going to take me a couple of
weekends to completely clear this area of weeds. The roots go down very
deep indeed.

So, I think I'll need to store the bluebell roots somehow while this
work is in progress and I'm wondering how best to do this?

I thought it would be bad to leave them out overnight so I put them in
a bucket of water.

Is this a good or a bad idea?

Giving the whole matter an alternative thought, perhaps there is not
much point in saving the bluebell roots as maybe bluebells are very
cheap things to replace in any case.

I've never bought a plant in my life so I don't know :)

Thank you for any assistance offered.
--
Patrick

Temporary storage of bluebell roots
 

"patrick j" wrote in message
al.Net...
Hi

I'm very new to this gardening business, you'd be amazed what I don't
know :)
snipped
I've spoken to the gardener who put them in and he told me that all I
needed to do is put the bluebell roots back in after I take out the
weeds and they'll be fine.
Patrick

Bluebells are sort of bulbous corms with a few roots. They should have died
back completely by now (no leaves left showing and probably not too much
root either)

I'd be inclined to put them temporarily into some soil and not in a bucket
of water.

Jenny

Temporary storage of bluebell roots
 

JennyC wrote:
"patrick j" wrote in message
al.Net...
Hi

I'm very new to this gardening business, you'd be amazed what I don't
know :)
snipped
I've spoken to the gardener who put them in and he told me that all I
needed to do is put the bluebell roots back in after I take out the
weeds and they'll be fine.
Patrick

Bluebells are sort of bulbous corms with a few roots. They should have died
back completely by now (no leaves left showing and probably not too much
root either)

I'd be inclined to put them temporarily into some soil and not in a bucket
of water.

Definitely soil, not water. Bluebells aren't like daffodils or onions
in having a protective skin which would enable them to survive happily
out of the ground: I'd say this lack of a "tunic" also makes them more
vulnerable to the ill-effects of immersion.

--
Mike.

Temporary storage of bluebell roots
 

patrick j writes

I've spoken to the gardener who put them in and he told me that all I
needed to do is put the bluebell roots back in after I take out the
weeds and they'll be fine.

This makes sense to me but in fact it is going to take me a couple of
weekends to completely clear this area of weeds. The roots go down very
deep indeed.

So, I think I'll need to store the bluebell roots somehow while this
work is in progress and I'm wondering how best to do this?

I thought it would be bad to leave them out overnight so I put them in
a bucket of water.

Is this a good or a bad idea?

OK overnight, but they'll rot if you leave them much longer. I've kept
them successfully in a well ventilated plastic carrier bag. The oils
suggestion of others is probably best

Giving the whole matter an alternative thought, perhaps there is not
much point in saving the bluebell roots as maybe bluebells are very
cheap things to replace in any case.

You'll still have to plant the new ones so you might as well plant the
ones you've got.
--
Kay