Rather than planting bulbs in the garden, plant them in your lawn. You'll be creating a beautiful carpet of elegant flowers among delicate blades of grass. Harbingers of spring, bulbs decorate the lawn even before it starts growing, and they naturalize quickly so the show gets better every year.
The best time to plant these is in the fall after the first frost but before the ground freezes. Water the lawn thoroughly a day or two ahead of time; that makes the job a lot easier. Before you begin, purchase the materials and invite your friends to help.
Materials
sharp spade
garden fork to score soil
bulbs
golf balls
Step 1: Picking the bulbs
Before digging in, it's important to choose a bulb that blooms early in the spring, and remember, the smaller the bulb the shorter the plant. Scilla siberica is produces small bell-shaped brilliant blue flowers. Galanthus, better known as snowdrop, produces tiny white flowers. Another popular choice is Chionodoxa, the pink giant or glory of the snow; it offers a star-shaped flower. Puschkinia develops pale blue clusters of flowers. And then there's Ipheion, the very tiny spring star flower; it produces a soft blue-violet bloom.
Step 2: Preparing the planting pattern
You'll want to give the feel that the flowers are naturally growing. A good way to do this is to throw some golf balls up in the air and wherever they land is where you'll plant your bulbs. The trick is to plant about six to eight bulbs for each golf ball. Where there's a cluster of golf balls, you'll want to plant more, creating a natural "drift" effect.
Step 3: Digging in
Planting is quite simple. Instead of digging a bunch of holes in the lawn, you'll want to cut flaps in the grass, tucking bulbs underneath. Begin by driving a spade just deep enough to cut through the grass; continue with the other two sides to create a flap. Pull the flaps back to expose the soil beneath, then use your garden fork to score the soil. Toss in some bulbs with the points up, pull the flap back over the soil, and pat into place. Keep in mind that the size of the flap will vary in size depending on how many golf balls landed in that area.
Step 4: Give it time
You don't need to fertilize the bulbs when you plant them. Wait until you fertilize your lawn later in the fall, and remember to make sure you choose a fertilizer that's low in nitrogen. Once all the bulbs are planted, give them a good drink of water.
If you've done this right in the fall, you'll have a beautiful lawn to look forward to in the spring. Regardless of what type of bulb you've planted, give them at least six weeks after the blooms have faded before you mow. This gives them the opportunity to regenerate and multiply year after year.
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