Help? Gardening question

[estepheia]

This may sound stupid, but I've heard so many conflicting infos that I no longer know what to believe.
What do I do with tulips and other bulb-plants onces their bloom is gone? When do I cut them off? I heard you have to leave the plants alone so they can "withdraw" energy into the bulb. But that's kinda vague. When do I cut where? Meep?

Comments

[eatenbyweasels.livejournal.com]

Cut them when they have all but died down, ie are mostly brown. You can tie them up and lay them down neatly, if you like tidiness. Personally, I just leave them to nature. Either way, cutting them green weakens the bulb.

[estepheia.livejournal.com]

Thanks.
Tying them up is a cool idea. I am not terribly tidy but the green gets a little out of hand...

Cheers.

[julia-here.livejournal.com]

Leave the top growth alone until it starts to get really yellow; if the plants are in pots, move them to where you don't have to watch, if it bother's you; in the yard, you can plant other stuff in front of them or tie them in knots.

Bulbs are really happiest if you don't do anything with them at all after they bloom, though.

Julia, who can't see any yellowing bulb tops right now but that's because the grass invading the beds is a foot tall.

[estepheia.livejournal.com]

Hee, I'd thought you might answer this, Julia.
I am not a great gardener, but this year my garden looks quite pretty. Nobody ever told me what is a weed and what isn't, but I think I got a lot figured out by now. My folks never had a garden, you see.

I like my garden, but I'm not always in the mood to work in it, or painfree (back trouble). The neighbor who is also our landlady made lots of snide remarks last year and cut off all our shrubs, but this year she has little to complain. On the contrary, my garden looks nicer than hers.

*sticks out tongue at neighbor's house*

Steffi, who carefully mows around all forget-me-nots and strawberry plants that invade her lawn.

;-)

[willowgreen.livejournal.com]

You don't have to cut them off at all, if they don't bother you. You can safely cut off the flower stem, if you want to, but leave the leaves on the plant until they are brown and withered.

[estepheia.livejournal.com]

Okay, thank you, dear. :-)

[deevalish.livejournal.com]

Get rid of the pod-y thing that replaced the bloom after the flowers fell off. It drains the bulb. You can just snip it off just under the growth. I know some people who water with a little fertilizer afterwards to feed the bulb. I've tried it and don't really see the difference. Leave the leaves alone until they are totally yellow and dry. You can dig them up if you want and store in a cool dry place till next year or leave them be. But they never really come back as strong as they did wotht he first planting. That's why a lot of people just yank them out and compost.

[estepheia.livejournal.com]

I just cut of all the pod-y things. Thanks!!!
Fertilizer, check. :-)
Digging up? I don't think so. I trip over enough stuff in our cellar already.

Cheers.

[saifai.livejournal.com]

One of my neighbors had the most beautiful tulips. I can only tell you what she used to do, and what she instructed us to do when we took on a house that had a mass amount of various tulips.

Wait until their blooms are gone. Usually, I wait until they're starting to brown at the tips of the leaves. Pull them out, put them in a brown paper bag, and set them in a relatively cool place until it's time to re-plant them.

[estepheia.livejournal.com]

Thanks for the tip. But I don't think that I want to dig them up. My cellar is already crammed full.

Cheers.

[http://users.livejournal.com/peasant_/]

What deevalish said - you can faff about and dry them off and replant but it is better to just leave them alone and trust to nature. A few may come back next year. Then just buy some new ones from a wholesaler. You will get dozens of good fat bulbs for a few euros that way. Tulips are the one bulb I consider an annual.

[estepheia.livejournal.com]

Well, I had about a hundred new crocuses and lots of daffodils, but also tiny botanic tulips which are supposed to spread out ("verwildern") and I have fluffy purple plants on long stems which were very expensive, something related to leeks, I think, alliums or something.

I had wondered about the pod-y thing that deevalish mentioned. I know that they have to be cut off if they grow on sweatpeas, I just wasn't certain about my tulips. Cheers.

I feel ignorant. I had my garden for years, but mostly I bury bulbs every year and plant flowers, sometimes with a lot of luck, sometimes without great success. Some of last year's plants survived, so this year my garden looks quite nice. I've been very dilligent this year, weeding and digging...

Cheers.