Large blank canvas garden and tulips

strawb_shortcake

I'm not much of a gardener, and our garden is quite large and a blank canvas at the moment.

We want to add some structure and shape to the garden, but after a trip to Keukenhof this year, I'd like to plant some Tulips. I'm thinking I may be best off with pots this year whilst we plan the rest of the garden.

What pots would be best for tulips and best place to buy them from? I'm quite conscious that pots are going to be lost in the garden and could end up costing me a fortune.

Any tips appreciated

Thank you

twopenny

Not really tips. The old establishment used to say add gravel to the soil/compost because they like good drainage.

Beyond that the choice of pot is yours.

You mat want to cover the pots with something as squirrels and mice are partial to them. I haven't had that problem but I keep the pots near the house where I can enjoy the bright colour in dismal days

You can also put dwarf daffodils, crocus in the pots for a length of colour. Or Anemone Blanda which is small and blooms at the same time.

https://www.rhs.org.uk/plants/25512/anemone-blanda/details

There are some truly beautiful colours but often they don't bloom for more than the first year. I found that the ones from Poundland come year after year but mostly plain red.

If I was you without a garden yet (and I was once) I'd go wild and buy a mixture of whatever takes your fancy. Have them close to the house

strawb_shortcake

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82158663#Comment_82158663

Thank you, I've just planted a mix of daffodils (mostly dwarf), tulips and Muscari in pots for the front right near the house.

We used to have a large flower bed, but between bindweed from the neighbours and the neighbours cats it was really hard to maintain. The best year was when I had no idea what I was doing and planted anything and it came out lovely, year 2 I tried too hard and it didn't look as good.

But the bindweed is resolved, an old cat has adopted our garden so we no longer have other cats digging up and pooping in the garden.

It's just knowing where to start, and I'm not sure if wanting the tulips might just be me being impatient

twopenny

It's hard work starting from scratch. I did it.

First year, first bed I planted all the things I'd always wanted. They didn't last but it was lovely.

I was lucky that the supermarkets had just started selling cheap plants at that time. Then it was covid and nothing available, then whatever you could get so it's been an adventure.

Looking at photos of that time it was a lot easier to look after. On the other hand now things have got a little dense the birds love it.

I had neighbours cat problem too. I cat proofed the back!

Savvy_Sue

You could look at lasagne planting in pots - basically you layer up bulbs which need different depths.

Because tulips are lovely, but not enough on their own.

Rosa_Damascena

I love love love Keukenhof, take me back there on a spring day! Others on the forum will know I've been complaining about the extortionate price of bulbs though. I am using mega-tubs purely for ease although I don't expect that will stop the local foxes from using thems as their personal playgrund / toilet.

Lasagne - start with large bulbs at the botting, planting progressively small bulbs higher up:

Useful website and video: https://www.peternyssen.com/blog/lasagne-planting-what-bulbs-should-you-plant

Cosmos1234

I haven't tried lasagna planting, but after the descriptions above I definitely will.

Was lucky many years ago to have gone to the Floriade in the Netherlands which was stunning.

I use a lot of pots as unfortunately the horsetail weed is rampant here, and so that is mown! (An elderly friend mentioned that horsetail weed has survived since prehistoric times and the roots have been found in coal mines, so this is my work around).

greenbee

I had a lot of success with lasagne pots last year - violas, early iris, narcissi, early and late tulips, alliums, and then topped with busy lizzies when the bulbs died back. The alliums didn't do well, but everything else was fantastic. I generally buy specific varieties from Peter Nyssen or J Parker to get the combinations I want. I've been advised to redo the lasagne pots every couple of years, with the old bulbs going into the garden to see how they get on - in between just top up the compost and feed well. I mixed vermiculite and perlite in with the compost to make sure it was free draining (they'd have rotted in the winter otherwise), and then topped with grit. I used the biggest pots I could find, and put them close to the house so I see them when I'm inside and look at the rest of the garden through them.

strawb_shortcake

I think I've done a bit of lasagne potting already with my daffodils, muscari not tulips as previously quoted but crocus.

One of our local garden centres had quite a small selection of bulbs but I thought not too badly priced, i had 3 bumper packs, and 3 smaller packs for £15 which filled all my existing pots and have more left over.

strawb_shortcake

This is part what inspired me, I'd love to try and create a lovely display in my garden, but baby steps...

Mrs_Z

I love tulips! I think they are one of my favourite spring flowers and I do all of mine in pots.

Personally, I would recommend to get the biggest pots you can as they create more impact and you'll have more scope to try out combinations. You can source pots from Facebook market place, eBay, etc. Any container that holds soil and has enough depth as well as drainage hole will do - think of planted wheel barrows, half barrels etc. Get them in different heights so you'll have a more interesting display, and odd numbers work better together than even!

I have a mix of plastic and terracotta pots. Terracotta pots can look nicer, but they are more expensive, fragile and heavy. A cheat's way is to fit a plastic inner pot into a terracotta pot - enables you to separate them if you need to move, and take away the unsightly dying foliage after flowering and using the terracotta for a summer bedding straight away.

For sourcing bulbs - there are many good online suppliers: Peter Nyssen (all around best value/choice), J Parker, J Parker wholesale (must buy in blocks of 25bulbs per variety), Sarah Raven (best photos and good quality bulbs too), Farmer Gracy (good photos, some unusual varieties). Lidl and your local market stalls may have some at good prices too. If you haven't yet purchased your bulbs, you could wait until November as after mid-November all main online suppliers will have sales to clear their stock at 30-50% discounts and it won't be too late to plant them either. Experts recommend planting in Nov/Dec to reduce the risk of tulip virus.

When planning your display, do take into account that different tulip varieties flower at different times so it's best to get some from each group in order to try and prolong the season. You will of course be at the mercy of weather - when we have hot weather in April, the blooming can be over in a fortnight. This year was super for tulips and they lasted a full month!

Best of luck with your display and we'd like some photos next year ;)