In winter, you can often find me curled up on the couch, a fire glowing in the fireplace and my nose buried in bulb catalogs. I can never resist daffodils, snowdrops, crocus and specialty bulbs like fritillaria, which somehow always find their way into my shopping cart.
By the time fall arrives, I’m usually surprised by just how many bulbs I ordered. Some years, multiple shipments arrive containing hundreds of bulbs!
Since I add new bulbs every year, finding places to plant them without slicing into bulbs already sleeping beneath the soil has become quite the challenge. That’s why this spring I decided to try a new technique: dividing and moving bulbs “in the green.”
If you’re unfamiliar with the method, it simply means digging up and dividing bulbs in spring after they finish blooming. Once lifted, replant them wherever you’d like — ideally in groups of three or five for a more natural look. Because all the foliage is still visible in spring, you can easily avoid damaging existing bulbs while also spotting gaps that need filling or areas where colonies could expand.
If you love naturalizing bulbs in your landscape but struggle to remember where everything is planted, give dividing in the green a try. Not only does it reduce your fall workload, but it also rewards you with an even more spectacular display the following spring.
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