Daffodil Beds

Daffodils like rich soil that is well drained. I have red clay that is hard and almost impossible to work. Therefore, in my gardens, rich soil is something that you buy at a store, or from a garden center and haul into you beds. I use a combination of methods, sometimes I bring in top soil, and sometimes I improve the existing red clay. It's just based on how I feel that year when I make new beds, and also, if I have the spare change to buy other than "make" it myself.

To improve my red soil I have to use a "gardening cocktail" mix, as no one product will do the trick. That mix includes sand, peat, petlite, "Virginia Fines," gypsum, lime, and fertilizer. So what's Virginia Fines? As explained to me by the Merrifield Garden center, it's finely ground-up pine bark, a little peat and a little topsoil. Dig it in and when it decomposes, it places organic matter into your soil. My experience - it works.

Good Drainage

Good drainage means just that, water does not stand where you have planted your daffodils. One of the best ways to get good drainage is to plant on a hill. Even a small hill.

In the picture above and below, it can be determined that this daffodil garden is on the side of a small hill. However, that's not good enough. I also raked up the soil into beds that are four to six inches above the ground level around it. If you look closely, you can see the furrow between the beds that resulted from heaping the soil. It starts just to the right of the white PVC pipe in the picture.

A day after this bed was completed, we received a heavy rain and the entire bed drained just as I designed it to without leaving a drop of standing water.

Good drainage also means that you should plant your daffodils where you don't have to water other plants during the summer. Irrigation of lawns and other plants have a direct link to the demise of daffodils. Therefore, it's best not to plant daffodils with other plants that needs watering.

Daffodil Beds

Daffodils can be planted in just about any bed in your gardens, and they will supply an early harbinger of spring next year. The garden and home have them in stock now and ready for planting.

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