Hope this hasn't been done/answered before, but I have ordered loads of spring bulbs in different varienties, I have a smallish bed where I want to plant this. But I was wondering if you could plant ground cover etc over the bulbs so the bed doesn't look too horrible before flowering/through winter/after flowering? Do bulbs cope ok growing through ground cover? If so, any recommendations for something I can plant now? Something that preferably stays green all year and grows really low :confused: sorry I'm a complete novice at this gardening thing so don't know the right words for these things :hihi:

Ok, I'm talking to myself here lol - do violas stay green all year? If I planted these at least I'd have some winter colour? Going to a garden centre later so hoping someone will give some ideas :)

Hardy cranesbill might be an idea, or some ornamental grasses?

Hi BJan - Violas will certainly see you through the winter (flowering in milder spells), or you could pick up some wallflowers, which you can probably get quite cheaply in multipacks now. These will be green, and bulk up as the winter progresses, and will flower in the spring too. Or maybe some forget-me-nots, would look good with tulips etc. Failing that, just stick down some ornamental bark and the bulbs will push through it. It might be worth coveing the newly planted bulbs with some large wire mesh before you do this though, as cats seem very drawn to newly dug soil and could dig them up whilst doing their business, and squirrels seem to dig up my bulbs too! Good luck with whatever you do!

Hi, Womerry2 and cal3549, I must admit I had to look all of those up on google :o

I do like the forget-me-nots, they're pretty! I've thought of bark, but also wanted a bit of colour so think might go for a combination of the 2? Thanks for the tips re squirrels and cats... never thought of that. Even though my avator is a cat, we don't have one, but we get lots visiting our garden so will have to keep that in mind.

I bought a few small primrose and viola plants when I went to the garden centre, but I'll look out for the forget-me-nots. I do like ornamental grasses as well, so might get one or 2 of those!

It is a small area so I might end up crowding it :hihi: There is another small area I can plant some things, so might do that if it turns out I run out of space.

If it all works out, I'll take some pictures in Spring and post it here. It is exciting isn't it? I love spring flowers. I'm just hoping there'll be another nice day to plant the bulbs when I get them eventually! Should be any day now.

One day, when my daughter's rabbits finally become old and toothless, I'll have a garden again ... for now, I'll look forward to your pictures!

Hi BJan - Violas will certainly see you through the winter (flowering in milder spells), or you could pick up some wallflowers, which you can probably get quite cheaply in multipacks now. These will be green, and bulk up as the winter progresses, and will flower in the spring too. Or maybe some forget-me-nots, would look good with tulips etc. Failing that, just stick down some ornamental bark and the bulbs will push through it. It might be worth coveing the newly planted bulbs with some large wire mesh before you do this though, as cats seem very drawn to newly dug soil and could dig them up whilst doing their business, and squirrels seem to dig up my bulbs too! Good luck with whatever you do!


Hmm, ok, didn't plant the bulbs yet but the cats have been at the newly dug soil :( The mesh you mention, does it stay there or do you have to remove it? Any specific recommendations re where/what mesh to get? I got my bulbs today so hoping to do the planting over the weekend (it'll probably be stormy and flooding now I've said that!)

Any bigish mesh will do - I used some leftover green mesh from some fencing. I planted bulbs and plants , then put mesh over the top, and just cut out little bits so that it sould be lowered over the plants/ put round them. Because I used wallflowers they quickly grew to cove the mesh, or you could just use a sprinkling of soil over the top. I didn't fix the mesh down or anything as it was quite flat, but you could if you wanted. The bulbs just grow up through it. Why not try freecycle http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Sheffield-FreeCycle/messages and see if anyone has any spare mesh they can let you have? Good luck X

Thanks again - I was a bit confused as on the bbc website it said to use chicken wire and to lift it when the plants started to emerge! Can't wait for the weekend now :)