How to care for daffodils - growing spring primroses in the garden
Perhaps, among the bulbous plants, daffodils are the most unpretentious. They are able to grow, bloom and reproduce completely without the participation of a gardener. However, in order to preserve varietal qualities, you still have to pay a little attention to these spring primroses. Of course, they will not disappear by themselves, but over time, large-flowered beautiful varieties will fade. It is especially important to know how to care for daffodils if the crop is cut. Competent care will help you get charming flowers with large, bright heads every year.
What to look for when growing daffodils?
In general, care for these plants is minimal and most of the procedures are performed in the spring, when they emerge from the ground and bloom. At the end of flowering, the bushes go to rest and do not need care, so there is no need to disturb them.
So, having planted daffodils on a flower bed, you should pay attention to the following points:
- watering frequency;
- removing weeds;
- top dressing;
- preparation for the rest period.
Watering requirements for daffodils
Keeping your daffodil beds clean
Like all flowers, daffodils love space, so the area where they grow should be regularly weeded. It is better to do this by hand so that the hoe does not touch the bulbs. But you can also loosen the aisles with this garden tool, only very carefully and not deeply.
Mulching the beds will help prevent weed growth and free yourself from frequent weeding. In addition, mulch will keep moisture from evaporating quickly and will reduce the frequency of watering.
Do daffodils need feeding and how often?
Daffodils will produce offspring, bloom and without fertilization, but only the first few years. In the future, every year there will be fewer and fewer buds, and the flowers - smaller and smaller. To prevent this, in the second year after planting the plants, they must be fed with a mineral complex. Just one application in early spring is enough.
But if especially valuable large-flowered varieties are grown in the garden, for example, for cutting, they are fertilized in 4 stages and in a slightly different way:
- When shoots appear from the ground, a mineral complex is introduced.
- At the initial stage of peduncle formation - nitrogen-potassium fertilizing.
- Before flowering - complex fertilizer again.
- With blooming buds - phosphorus-potassium fertilizing.
Manure is not used for fertilizing daffodils.
How to care for daffodils after flowering?
There is no care for faded daffodils as such. All work consists in timely pruning of the peduncles so that they do not begin to form fruits and pull juices from the bulbs.
And one more nuance - you cannot cut the foliage until it completely dries out, because by this we deprive the bulb of nutrients. So that it does not interfere, and the bed looks neat, you can braid the leaves in pigtails or tie them into tails.
It is recommended to replant the bushes every 4 years with their parallel division. For a couple of years, the bulb is overgrown with many children, and the bush becomes thick, which affects the quality of flowering. Daffodils are dug out in early summer, the bulbs are dried and stored until early autumn. Then they are planted in a new location. Daffodils overwinter well, you do not need to cover them - unless planted or transplanted in the current season.