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My husband loves his lawn. Oh, he's not as bad as the guy next door, who has a tractor mower for his quarter acre lot, but there is a bit of competition on our street for whose lawn looks the most like a golf course. (We lose.) And my dearly beloved husband won't let me plant crocuses in the lawn! That ripening period when the flowers are gone and the foliage is tall and gangly and he is not allowed to mow is just too long for him. So I've been exploring ways to hide the fact that I am still planting more and more bulbs in our yard.
Seven Ways to Plant More Bulbs (and have less lawn)
Way One Plant your little bulbs under bushes the lawnmowers don't dare to go near. Bushes, especially prickly or thorny ones, can protect your precious bulbs from lawnmowers, weedwhackers, and edgers. Low-growing trees like this spiky inkberry work the same way to protect the tiny blue Siberan squillbeneath it.
Way Two Plant bulbs in the shadow of bushes, where nothing else grows. To the left, there, where the mulch is? The owners of this property don't want grass to grow there. If you have access to some neglected corner like this, sneak in some bulbs while nobody's looking. To the right, with the poor mangled forsythia bush, is a "professional building," unfortunately.
Way Three Plant in between rocks, or around tree roots. It's tough digging holes around, for example, those shallow maple roots—grass won't grow there—so nobody, absolutely nobody, can object if you manage to wedge some crocuses in there. It's hard going, I'm the first one to admit that. But just look at how pretty the results can be (and no grass was harmed, none, not one blade)!
Way Four Surely you see how easy it would be to tuck some small bulbs in between these emerging or spring-flowering perennials!
Way Five Plant in front of a hedge or between a fence and a driveway, as these two creative gardeners did below.
Way Six Pick a focal point, in this case a sundial, but it could be a lamp post, a bird bath, or a mail box—anything the lawnmower is just too unwieldy to navigate—and adorn it with bulbs.
Below, are two very similar signs, practically across the street from each other. One side of the road bursts into beauty during April, thanks to the bulbs planted around the base of the sign.
S-N-O-R-E
WOW!
Way Seven When all else fails, plant bulbs in your containers! To the right are crocus on a door step in Amsterdam.
Below are freesia in a container with cactus! Not something I would ever have thought of, but they look great. I've always been unsuccessful with freesia; the creator of this container tells me they need a Mediterranean climate. Off to the Mediterranean for me!
In my area, containers of daffodils and other little bulbs are not unusual in commercial applications: outdoor shopping areas, outside of restaurants, in fact, any commercial property with rights to a patch of outdoors can put a container there. It didn't occur to me until preparing this article that I can use that strategy at home, too! Maybe I won't need to move to the Mediterranean after all.
Conclusion: plant more bulbs! In containers, in windowboxes, in front of rocks, under trees—I'll bet if you look around this spring at the places you see bulbs, and then look at your places where there aren't bulbs, you'll think of somewhere to sneak in a few more.
Since most of us don't have lawns that look like this (left) how about this (right)?
Spring Bulbs Week on Dave's Garden!
Be sure to read all the articles this week, April 21 - 28, 2009.
Photo credits: bbrookrd, Aunt_A, sallyg, adinamiti, BeaHive, critterologist, and Kelli. Other photos are property of the author.
About Carrie Lamont
Carrie has two teenage daughters, which is exhausting all by itself. She has been married for eight delightful years to her husband, who works for an airline, facilitating Carrie's frequent need to travel. She is forever coming up with crazy and irreverent schemes and trying to get others to do it her way, but is learning to be humble as she ages. Carrie has a masters degree in Music, and sings as she gardens a small urban plot from her wheelchair.
this spiky 
of this property don't want grass to grow there. If you have access to some neglected corner like this, sneak in some bulbs while nobody's looking. To the right, with the poor mangled forsythia bush, is a 
"professional building," unfortunately. 
how pretty the results can be (and no grass was harmed, none, not one blade)!
it would be to tuck some small bulbs in between these emerging or spring-flowering perennials! 
the lawnmower is just too unwieldy to navigate—and adorn it with bulbs.
tells me they need a Mediterranean climate. Off to the Mediterranean for me!
