Spring bulb aftercare

Lift if necessary, but always water them says Ruth

- Ruth Hayes

THE combination of tulips and daffodils swaying in the sunshine is a quintessential sight of spring. Now, sadly, their best is passed and all that remains is withering leaves and untidy borders.

This is one of the most important parts of their annual cycle and how you treat them now will influence how well they perform next year.

Always deadhead your plants, so energy goes into growth not producing seedpods, and let the foliage die down naturally (see panel on the right) as this process feeds the bulbs so they have energy for next year’s show.

You should always water and feed the leaves as they die and this is especially important this year as April was such a dry month.