raised beds with bulbs - Ask Extension
Hi, I teach Horticulture at MVU high school. I would like to have my class plan a 3ft by 40ft 10inch deep raised bed of Tupis and muscari in the scho...
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raised beds with bulbs #848622
Asked September 05, 2023, 8:23 AM EDT
Hi, I teach Horticulture at MVU high school. I would like to have my class plan a 3ft by 40ft 10inch deep raised bed of Tupis and muscari in the school colors alongside the outside of our greenhouse, I am concerned that having bulbs in raised beds might not be enough winter protection for them. What do you think?
Franklin County Vermont
Expert Response
Hi Allie! Good for you -- this sounds like a great project for your students!
Couple of clarifications first: I think you meant "tulips" ... and that "Tupis" was just a typo. If there are Tupis bulbs that I am not aware of: please let me know. Also: by a "10 inch raised bed" I am inferring that the bed will be raised above the ground -- but not in a raised bed planter. I.e.: you might use the "lasagna" method to build up the soil for your 3 x 40 foot bed....but it will be on top of existing soil -- not hovering in the air above the ground in a wooden (or other material) structure. If these assumptions are correct:
Your bulbs will probably do quite well. The raised level of the soil will help with drainage (bulbs are subject to rot if stuck in lakes of spring run-off). Make sure that the bulbs planted close to the sides of the raised bed are planted far enough in to have, minimally, the same amount of soil protecting them that they have above. (I.e.: if you plant a bulb 6" deep: be sure it has at least 6" of soil on each side of it, too.) I trust the spot you've selected gets at least 6 hours of sun per day.
Do you hope to have these bulbs return year after year? Or will this be a one-time display next spring? If the former: keep in mind that you need to let the bulbs "die down" after blooming to nourish the bulbs for the next season. This can be unsightly and is the reason that many of us either plant among perennials that will grow and cover the dying foliage....or treat the bulbs as "annuals" and remove and replace them each year. Muscari is great at establishing itself (if happy :-) and you can usually count on it to return each season. Tulips, on the other hand, tend to gradually lose their staying power....with fewer & fewer coming up each subsequent spring.
I believe MVU's colors are blue and white, right? If so....and if you are hoping for repeat shows each spring: then you might consider some of the white narcissus (daffodils). They have two advantages: they tend to return year-after-year and rodents don't like to eat them (unless really desperate....there's some toxin, I believe, that keeps them at bay). On the other hand: tulips seem to be delicious....
Have you put some thought into how you will protect the bulbs from hungry squirrels (and their kin)? I recall the first time I tried to put a school garden in (at my college) and recruited classmates to help plant in the fall. Not a bulb came up....but the rodents were fat & happy....
There are several strategies you could pursue, if you haven't got one lined up already. I've evolved to a tried & true method but it might not fit your setting. I now have a set of "bulb covers" I've cut from screening material and I use lawn pegs (metal landscape pins) to hold the screens over each set of bulbs I plant in the fall. Some people build entire cages that they bury underground containing their bulbs (if so: you need to be sure that the emerging shoots can get through the tops of the cages...). I just make my "topping" screens bigger than my plantings and that seems to fool my local squirrels. The screens I use aren't terribly visible -- especially if you cover them with mulch; .... and once the snow covers them: they are forgotten. But in the spring, I need to pull the screens off when I see bulbs pushing up against them. (Not at all difficult: they just go into my storage bins for use the next fall.) It seems that squirrels prefer the virginal bulbs....once they've sprouted, they are usually OK (unless there's a dearth of food that spring for the squirrels. Some larger mammals find bulbs to be a gourmet's delight, too....our dog's alerted me to racoon and skunks out savoring my fall bulbs...
Here are two fact sheets that might be of help:
-- Robilee Smith
Couple of clarifications first: I think you meant "tulips" ... and that "Tupis" was just a typo. If there are Tupis bulbs that I am not aware of: please let me know. Also: by a "10 inch raised bed" I am inferring that the bed will be raised above the ground -- but not in a raised bed planter. I.e.: you might use the "lasagna" method to build up the soil for your 3 x 40 foot bed....but it will be on top of existing soil -- not hovering in the air above the ground in a wooden (or other material) structure. If these assumptions are correct:
Your bulbs will probably do quite well. The raised level of the soil will help with drainage (bulbs are subject to rot if stuck in lakes of spring run-off). Make sure that the bulbs planted close to the sides of the raised bed are planted far enough in to have, minimally, the same amount of soil protecting them that they have above. (I.e.: if you plant a bulb 6" deep: be sure it has at least 6" of soil on each side of it, too.) I trust the spot you've selected gets at least 6 hours of sun per day.
Do you hope to have these bulbs return year after year? Or will this be a one-time display next spring? If the former: keep in mind that you need to let the bulbs "die down" after blooming to nourish the bulbs for the next season. This can be unsightly and is the reason that many of us either plant among perennials that will grow and cover the dying foliage....or treat the bulbs as "annuals" and remove and replace them each year. Muscari is great at establishing itself (if happy :-) and you can usually count on it to return each season. Tulips, on the other hand, tend to gradually lose their staying power....with fewer & fewer coming up each subsequent spring.
I believe MVU's colors are blue and white, right? If so....and if you are hoping for repeat shows each spring: then you might consider some of the white narcissus (daffodils). They have two advantages: they tend to return year-after-year and rodents don't like to eat them (unless really desperate....there's some toxin, I believe, that keeps them at bay). On the other hand: tulips seem to be delicious....
Have you put some thought into how you will protect the bulbs from hungry squirrels (and their kin)? I recall the first time I tried to put a school garden in (at my college) and recruited classmates to help plant in the fall. Not a bulb came up....but the rodents were fat & happy....
There are several strategies you could pursue, if you haven't got one lined up already. I've evolved to a tried & true method but it might not fit your setting. I now have a set of "bulb covers" I've cut from screening material and I use lawn pegs (metal landscape pins) to hold the screens over each set of bulbs I plant in the fall. Some people build entire cages that they bury underground containing their bulbs (if so: you need to be sure that the emerging shoots can get through the tops of the cages...). I just make my "topping" screens bigger than my plantings and that seems to fool my local squirrels. The screens I use aren't terribly visible -- especially if you cover them with mulch; .... and once the snow covers them: they are forgotten. But in the spring, I need to pull the screens off when I see bulbs pushing up against them. (Not at all difficult: they just go into my storage bins for use the next fall.) It seems that squirrels prefer the virginal bulbs....once they've sprouted, they are usually OK (unless there's a dearth of food that spring for the squirrels. Some larger mammals find bulbs to be a gourmet's delight, too....our dog's alerted me to racoon and skunks out savoring my fall bulbs...
Here are two fact sheets that might be of help:
- From the Univ. of MN's Extension (they have similar climate zones): https://extension.umn.edu/how/planting-bulbs-tubers-and-rhizomes#common-problems-1402462
- From Iowa State's Extension: https://www.extension.iastate.edu/news/yard-and-garden-planting-spring-flowering-bulbs
-- Robilee Smith
