Prepare Soil for Spring Bulbs

Although blooms won’t appear until spring, late summer is the time to get your soil ready for spring bulb flowers.

Although blooms won’t appear until spring, late summer is the time to get your soil ready for spring bulb flowers.

Every type of plant does better when the soil is fine-tuned to provide what the plants need. Preparing soil can take some time, but it’s well worth the effort.

First choose a location for the flowerbed. Most bulbs require at least four hours of sunlight daily. Use a shovel or rototiller to remove perennial weeds from the flower bed site. Next, check your soil pH. Optimum bulb growth occurs in soil with a neutral pH between 6 and 7. If the pH level of your soil is below 5.5, add crushed limestone to raise the pH. If the pH level of your soil is above 8, add sulfur to lower the pH. Fold in amendments like compost, bone meal and peat moss to improve drainage and add nutrients.

Once the soil is ready, start pressing the spring bulbs into the bed. When the bulbs are placed in freshly tilled soil they will experience better drainage, and spring bulbs flower better when they have exposure to the cold winter temperatures. Dig holes two to three times as deep as the bulbs are wide and plant bulbs with the pointed side up.