Last fall my crew and I planted a river of grape hyacinths and tulips for a customer. It was about a total of 8,000 bulbs. We roto-tilled the area first to loosen the soil to a depth of about 6 inches, then used a bulb planting auger where we wanted extra depth. We treated the bed with cayenne pepper before covering the bulbs, then after covering the bulbs, we gave it a dressing of milorganite to keep the deer away. The clients took a winter vacation in March and neglected to retreat with milorganite, and unfortunately, the deer ate quite a few of the tulips while they were away. The Muscari however bloomed well even though they obviously had been munched also. We retreated with milorganite just before the Muscari opened.
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AuthorBarbara Eaton, M.Ed. is a Master Gardener, a garden designer and an artist. She works as a professional gardener caring for the gardens of several regular clients. She is a published author, retired educator and a fool for flowers. Archives
January 2019
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