Mick Lavelle is senior lecturer in horticulture at Writtle University College*

Spring bulbs are arguably the easiest and most rewarding of garden plants to grow, and pots of bulbs can be moved into prominent positions when in full bloom but taken away once they have faded. This needn’t be a quick flash of colour, though, as you can always try layered planting, which the Dutch refer to as a ‘flower bulb lasagne.’

The secret to a good bulb lasagne is to use a large enough pot – ideally a terracotta one with a drain hole – to allow good aeration. Layering works best if you only use bulbs once in the pot and really good quality ones. Use a multi-purpose compost for growing, but avoid bulb fibre.

Start by placing a crock over the drainage hole and fill the pot to around 17cm below its top. This is the depth that the larger bulbs need to go in, including daffodils, most tulips and alliums. It is important that the bulbs do not touch each other or the sides of the pot – keep them around a bulb’s width apart – and then add a layer of compost.

You then build your ‘lasagne’ in successive layers. Bulbs are choosy about how deep they must be planted, so fill the pot to a certain depth before adding the next layer. Dutch iris and hyacinths are planted 12–13cm deep, species (dwarf) tulips, dwarf narcissus and muscari, need about 10cm, whereas smaller ones like crocus, dwarf alliums or anemone tubers, must be 5–7cm deep. Once all the layers are added fill the pot and water it well.

A bulb pot works best when later flowering bulbs are at the lowest level with earlier flowering ones above. Two or three layers is usually enough.