Gardeners should not touch spring bulbs growing in the garden in March as the bulbs will not be ready to be cut back until June, Monty Don has warned in his gardening blog
March heralds the awakening of gardens as spring officially arrives – and with it comes an array of gardening tasks to be done.
Warmer temperatures and longer daylight hours invite keen gardeners outside once more. But hold your shears!
Gardening expert Monty Don has posted on his blog a specific task to steer clear of this March – Do not interfere with the spring bulbs sprouting in your beds and borders. Bulbs are great additions for any green space, ensuring displays of colour throughout the year.
READ MORE: Shoppers heap praise on £20 gum serum that ‘works wonders’ and helps ‘reduce inflammation’
Depending upon the variety, bulbs can be slotted into the earth during autumn, spring or summer times. Come March, there may be an itch to neaten up the burgeoning buds of springtime flowers, but Monty advises against such tidying.
The expert warns garden enthusiasts: “Do not cut back, tie or tidy the leaves of any bulbs but let them die back naturally as next year’s flower is being created by the photosynthesis of the foliage.
“Leave them until the last trace of green has gone – which will be at least June – and then tidy them or cut back.” Patience is paramount. Echoing this sentiment, the Royal Horticultural Society (RHS) suggests playing the waiting game for at least six weeks post-florals fading, before attending to the spent bulb plants.
When the time is ripe, gardeners should snip away dead foliage, preferably only when it turns yellow and takes on a straw-like texture.
Until those fading fronds can no longer pass for green, continue poised with watering cans and fertiliser at the ready, keeping bulb care business as usual.
The Royal Horticultural Society (RHS) has advised garden enthusiasts against tying or knotting the leaves of spring plants. These leaves need exposure to sunlight for photosynthesis, so practices like bending them over, braiding them, or tucking them under nearby plants are discouraged.
Growing spring plants can vary in difficulty depending on the species, but daffodils and tulips are among the easiest to cultivate.
Daffodils thrive best in areas with good drainage, away from complete shade and south-facing walls. The RHS recommends planting daffodils at twice the depth of the bulb – between four and six inches deep – and spacing them between four and eight inches apart.
Tulip planting is optimal between October and November, with blooming occurring from March to May, reports the Express. These flowers favour full sun and should be planted at least twice the bulb’s width apart, at a depth of two or three times the bulb’s height.
While most tulip varieties are best replaced annually due to their unlikely reflowering after one year, there are exceptions. Varieties such as Narcissus Actaea and Narcissus Carlton are known to rebloom each year.