Divide to conquer problems with overcrowded clumps of lovely golden daffodils
THE daffodil season will be drawing to a close soon and it is time to consider how well they looked this year. Most gardens have daffodils that are not touched from year to year. And that is fine; there is no point in creating unnecessary work. But a little work might be required and this is the time to assess the requirement and to do something about it, if needs be.
Circumstances can arise to make a show of daffodils less attractive than it might be. For instance, shrubs, hedges and trees can grow out over the ground where daffodils are planted and eventually smother the bulbs. Clumps can become over-crowded and flowering reduced, or they might be planted in areas of lawn that make mowing difficult.
Daffodil bulbs can be lifted as soon as they have finished flowering and replanted immediately. The foliage will flop onto the ground but the bulbs will re-establish well for the following year. Badly positioned clumps, or overcrowded clumps, can be lifted soon, divided and replanted in more suitable positions where they can be seen to better advantage or have better growing conditions – a little sunshine – and they will flower more profusely as a result.
If the bulbs have become hopelessly mixed over the years by planting new bulbs and the colours do not associate well, it is an easy task to lift the interlopers now and move them to an area on their own. The bulbs can have some fertiliser scattered over the ground after replanting to bring them on and give them a boost in their new position. Even if clumps do not need to be moved, they can have a scatter of general fertiliser to increase growth and flowering in the years to come.