Plant Your Tulip Bulbs Dry

I suppose this is a bit early in the season for this. Fertilizing the plants and cleaning up the garden has brought it to mind.

In the fall, you may plant tulip bulbs. I've seen this on programs on television about plants and people who garden have demonstrated it to me.

They take a bucket of water with them and a small cup like object of some kind. They dig a small hole for the tulip bulb. Then they fill it with water and watch it seep into the surrounding soil. Then they put it the tulip bulb over which they pour more water. Finally they fill over the top with soil and then add more water for good measure.

So what are they actually doing here? They are putting water into the soil around the tulip bulb on a dry day. As well the day they choose is more often than not a dry sunny day. Nothing like good exercise and gardening to make one happy and fit, don't you know.

On a dry sunny day the water they used on the tulip bulb combines with the scent of the bulb. Because it's a dry day and the surrounding soil is dry, the tulip scent laden moisture will leach away from the tulip and some of it will evaporate taking the scent with it into the air.

That scent laden vapour will find its way to any nearby squirrels. Squirrels find tulip bulbs to be quite a nice delicacy and a wonderful addition to their diet. They will follow the scent on the air to the recently planted tulips where they will dig most of them up and eat them. I hear people complaining about this all the time.

So here is what you do to reduce the chance of this happening. Hey, we're talking about squirrels here. There's no sure way to stop them. This will, as I say, put the odds in your favour of the squirrels leaving your bulbs alone.

Plant your tulip bulbs but do not use any water. I can sense you cringing over this but go against everything you've been taught and leave the bucket and cup like thingy that goes with it in storage. It will rain. It will snow. Your bulbs will get all the water they need.

In the rain the whole environment will be wet. The likelihood of any tulip bulb scent rising into the air in a downpour is minimal. Plant your tulip bulbs dry and enjoy more of them coming up the following spring.