Planning for the first signs of Spring

With the grass tinder dry, the trees dropping their yellowing leaves, and the first of the autumn tints arriving in the hedgerow, it is hard to think about the winter to come and to recall peering out into the grey winter gloom looking for the first signs of life in our gardens back in the New Year. However this is the time to be planning for those moments, when we glimpse the first snowdrops gleaming out from the base of a shadowy wall, or the green spears of the earliest daffodils piercing the snow.

Tidy up time

Early autumn is a good time to have a general tidy up by cutting back the spent flowering stems of perennials (plants that grow up every year and then die back). Having done this you may find a few areas of bare soil are revealed where nothing is growing. These areas could be perfect for the bulbs that will be appearing in our local garden centres this month.

The small triangular areas left between perennials at the front of a border might be perfect for clumps of the smaller spring bulbs such as Snowdrops, blue Scilla or Chionadoxa, yellow purple or white Crocus, blue or white Anemone blanda, or lemon yellow Aconites with their green collar, like an Elizabethan ruff. Plant them in groups of various sizes for a natural look, and stick to one species or colour per border to create a sense of unity and rhythm to the planting. Once they are finished, the foliage of the surrounding perennials will grow over the bulbs yellowing foliage until it is entirely covered. In larger areas around shrubs, these small bulbs can be combined with a low ground cover plant such as shade loving Tiarella cordifolia, which will cover the bare earth for the rest of the year.

Bulbs in the lawn

Alternatively, if you are prepared to leave part of your lawn to grow a little longer until the foliage has died down, you could plant drifts of these smaller bulbs straight through the turf. Scatter them by hand across the lawn and plant them where they land. Make sure that they go in a part of the lawn that is not a main thoroughfare so the new shoots do not get trodden on. Indeed, you could define all the main routes with drifts of bulbs, which for part of the year will impose a temporary circulation pattern of close mown paths surrounded by slightly longer grass and bulbs.

If you have a contemporary garden where relaxed curves would look out of place, you could plant them in strict geometrical shapes, such as a grid of squares or a single circle, perhaps under the canopy of a tree. Make sure the edges and corners are well defined, and fill the centre in randomly. By the summer all will have disappeared as the foliage dies back and you can set the mower blades lower.

Early daffodils

Areas a little further back in the borders can be filled by early daffodils such as the old reliable favourites Narcissi cyclamineus February Gold or February Silver. At 30 cm high, they will not get battered by the late winter gales, and in sheltered Cheltenham gardens may well live up to their name and bloom in February. The strong citrus yellows and oranges of daffodils do not make easy bedfellows with the pink cherry blossom that appears at the same time, so try them in front of the yellow flowered Forsythia, or evergreens, especially those with yellow variegation.

And finally

A final word of advice. Always plant more than you think you need – mice love bulbs and probably feel you have just extended your bird feeding activities to accommodate their need for winter sustenance!