The plants should emerge next spring, and if the bulbs recharged themselves sufficiently, you’ll enjoy both foliage and flowers. When leaves are dry, brown and crisp, remove the bulbs from the pot and store in a dry location, such as a garage, and plant in a flower bed after midsummer. When leaves begin to turn yellow naturally, stop watering and allow the plant to dry down. Keep watering regularly, even after the flowers fade, so the leaves stay green and healthy for as many weeks as possible. The nutrition and light are vital for recharging the bulbs’ energy and internal buds. But there are several keys to success.Īpply water-soluble fertilizer right now to your potted tulips, and place in a sunny window. Tulips that are growing in flower beds spend the period after bloom recharging their strength and forming internal flower buds for the following year’s spring bloom.Īlthough it’s not a sure thing, potted tulips can sometimes bloom the following spring if planted outdoors. Nancy D.Ī: Tulips that are blooming in pots have expended the bulbs’ inner energy store. The leaves and flowers look very healthy, and I’m wondering if there’s any chance I can plant them outdoors this spring after they’re finished flowering? I hate to just throw the bulbs out. Q: I bought a beautiful pot of blooming tulips at the florist. To keep them safe from contamination by herbicides, consider keeping the lawn free of weeds by digging, instead of chemical treatments. Lawn clippings make a great garden mulch. I receive heartbreaking emails every year from gardeners whose vegetable plants are curled, twisted and distorted from exposure to herbicides, either by drift from the adjacent lawn or from contaminated clippings used as mulch. If any herbicides are used on a lawn, I wouldn’t use any of the clippings as a mulch in the vegetable garden. Many herbicides currently used to control lawn weeds persist for long periods. Is that true? - David P.Ī: The advice about using clippings from herbicide-treated lawns after two mowings is an old recommendation that is no longer safe to follow. But I’ve heard that after two mowings you can save and use the clippings from the third mowing. We do spray for dandelions in the spring, so I know you can’t use the grass clippings right after that. Q: I’d like to use grass clippings as a mulch in our vegetable garden this summer. If bumpiness is an irritation, the bumps can be lessened by raking, power-raking or core-aerating the lawn. There are no pesticides that are labeled for control of nightcrawlers or other earthworms in the lawn. Lawns affected by nightcrawlers become bumpy under foot, which is a common complaint. Your lawn will be fine, and the little bare mounds will quickly fill in when grass growth begins. As they move through the soil, they recycle nutrients and add fertilizer. The mounds are often more noticeable in the spring before fresh grass growth conceals the spots.Įarthworms, including nightcrawlers, are beneficial to the soil, as they provide natural aeration, allowing water and oxygen to penetrate more easily into the ground. The dirt mounds do look like those caused by nightcrawlers or other earthworm species. Do you know what they are? Could they be from earthworms, or maybe voles? - Shirley M.Ī: Voles leave winding surface channels through the turf, so the mounds are not typical of vole activity. Q: There are 2-inch-high bumps or mounds all over in our front lawn that terminate in a spot of bare earth.
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