Collaborative post
Getting children to help in the garden is a great way of getting them outdoors and connecting them with nature. This post is all about planting flowering bulbs with children. This is a great activity to do in the autumn so that the bulbs flower the next spring. Find more tips and ideas for starting gardening with children here. For now, though let’s focus on planting spring bulbs ready to enjoy a garden filled with beautiful flowers in the new year.
Bulbs are a great thing to start gardening with children as they are a good size for little hands to plant. Seeds for example can be tiny and a little bit fiddly for young gardeners but bulbs are bigger and easier for young children to see and plant.
Getting started planting flowering bulbs with children
You need to decide which types of bulbs you want to plant and then purchase some healthy bulbs from a local garden centre, local nursery or online bulb supplier.
Some flower bulbs that are good choices are:
- daffodils
- tulips
- crocus
- iris
- alliums
- grape hyacinth
Think about where you will be growing your bulbs. Some can even be grown indoors. Hyacinth and paperwhite bulbs are suitable for indoor planting. Paperwhites are particularly good for children as the bloom time is just 4-6 weeks.
You can plant bulbs straight into your own garden bed or you might choose to grow some in containers. Containers are perfect if you don’t have a lot of outdoor space, making planting flowering bulbs perfect for all families and school gardens. Spend a little time and money planting a few different types of bulbs and you will be rewarded in the spring months with beautiful blooms.
Some of my favourites for growing outdoors are daffodils and tulips. The tulip is such a beautiful flower and there is a huge variety to choose from in every colour imaginable. Daffodils are often some of the most affordable bulbs to purchase so that you can create beautiful, yellow ground covers. Daffodils will come back year after year so they are a great addition to your garden. I find tulips a bit more unreliable. I have some that come back year after year and overs that don’t so we always plant some more each year.
Remember to keep a close eye on your children when you are planting bulbs to make sure young children are tempted to eat them!
How to plant tulip bulbs
- The best time to plant tulips is in October and November before the hard frosts.
- Plant them in a sunny spot, ideally in full sun, in soil with good drainage.
- Plant each bulb at three times the height of the bulb deep. You can use a bulb planter to make creating the hole easy. They’re easy enough for young children to use under supervision.
- Leave about 10-15cm between bulbs so that they don’t compete for soil nutrients. You can place them closer together in containers but make sure they aren’t touching.
- Plant the bulbs with the pointy end up and the roots down.
- Cover with soil and water well.
How to plant daffodils
- Again these should be planted in the autumn before the cold temperatures and the ground freezes. They will flower the following year in the spring.
- Dig a whole at least twice the height of the bulb and place the bulb in with the pointy end up. Plant 12-15cm apart, or closer in containers.
- Cover with soil and water well.
Once the daffodils have flowered in the spring, remove the dead flower head but leave the leaves and flower stalks to be yellow and die back. This allows the bulb to store energy for next year’s flowers. Leave the bulbs in the ground and they will use the stored energy to flower the next year.
How to grow paperwhite bulbs indoors
- Choose a suitable container that doesn’t need to be much deeper than 10cm as paperwhites don’t grow long roots. You don’t need any drainage holes either.
- Fill the container with sandy soil.
- The bulbs should be planted with the pointy end upwards and the roots downwards. Don’t plant too deep. A couple of cm of the bulb should be visible above the soil line.
- Plant at least 3 bulbs closely in the container. Paperwhites grow best when densely packed.
- Water to keep moist but do not soak the bulbs.
- Place on a sunny window sill and wait to watch your flowers bloom in just 4-6 weeks.
Paperwhites a perfect for indoor growing during the winter months. You don’t actually need to even grow them in soil. You can grow them in a dish of stones that you keep watering.
More activities to do with kids after you have planted your bulbs
Once you have planted your bulbs, you can keep an eye on their growth and even record it in a nature journal. Here are things they can record in it:
- Draw a bulb, perhaps they can label the parts
- Record the date you planted them and what you planted
- Draw a map of the garden and what is planted where
- Perhaps your child will draw the early shoots
- Paint a beautiful flower
- Take a photo, print it out and add it to their nature journal
- They could record the date that the first shoots are seen
- Measure and record the plants growth.
Why not continue to encourage your child’s love of gardening and flowers with some inspiring picture books. These are my favourite children’s books about gardening. They’re a mixture of beautiful stories about gardening or flowers and practical guides to gardening with children.