Preparing Daffodil Beds for Fall Planting.
As you can see, I don't use the method of "you have to use two pounds of peat per five square yards, or one cup (whose cup - my coffee mug, or a dainty little tea cup) of fertilizer for 10 square yards." Mother-nature is fairly forgiving except for the use of excessive chemicals, such as commercial fertilizer - use chemical fertilizer very sparingly as daffodils are not heavy feeders. For example, experience shows that one 3 cubic foot bale of peat will satisfy the requirements for a daffodil bed that is 4' X 12', or 5' X 10', or 10' X 10'. You don't have to be exact. One 35 or 40 pound bag of garden gypsum is more than enough for all the sizes mentioned, as it doesn't change the ph level, therefore it does not "hurt" your plants. As for lime, use a ph meter and follow the instructions on the bag that the lime comes in, as most spreaders are geared to the instructions on the bag. As for the mixing, you want to insure that ingredients are well mixed, but don't go overboard and try to insure that each gain of clay is matched by three grains of peat. If you are a cook, you know naturally when the pancake mix is right, as you know when the lumps have been desolved - enough - and you know you don't have to take a blender to insure it's properly mixed. It's the same with mixing soil in your garden, when it looks right, it probably is. And, there isn't a blender made that is big enough to hold all your garden soil.
The last thing that I do is to take a garden rake and level the bed and dress it up so that it looks neat. After planting I go back over the bed with the garden rake to smooth it, before the application of mulch.
Using Perennials Beds for Daffodils
Many home gardeners use perennial beds to plant daffodil bulbs, like that one at the top of this page, and use that method very successfully. If perennial beds are used, plant the bulbs so that they will get as a minimum "speckled" sunlight - in other words
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