August in the daffodil garden may not be an active period of growth or blooming but there are some things you can do now to prepare for next year's narcissus blooms.
The heat of the summer may not be the ideal time for transplanting daffodils but if you take care you can safely do it now. If you simply want to divide your bulbs or just move them from one place to another it's really not too complicated.
First,decide where you want to plant your bulbs. Prepare your planting area. If you only have a few bulbs you can dig individual holes with a spade or auger. For a large planting I like to dig one large trench for all the bulbs. Six to eight inches is the ideal depth to plant daffodil bulbs. Remember that you want to choose a spot with good drainage that will be in full sun in the spring.
Next dig your bulbs from their present spot.(Hopefully you marked that spot so you won't damage them when you plunge your spade into the soil.)If your daffodils are crowded you'll want to pull the clumps apart. Try not to remove too much of the soil from the roots. Small bulblets can remain attached to the parent bulb since they won't bloom for a couple of years.
Next you want to plant the bulbs in their new home. Just arrange them the way you want them leaving about six inches between bulbs so you won't have to divide again for several years.
Make sure you plant them at least as deep as they were planted before. Do not water or fertilize the bulbs because you don't want to wake them up now. I should have mentioned that it's best to do this on a dry day.
That's pretty much all you have to do to transplant daffodils from one spot to another.
August Is The Best Time To Order Daffodil Bulbs
If you live in the north it's only a little over a month until autumn bulb planting time. So if you want to plant on time August is the time to order daffodil bulbs.
Next time I'll talk about how to get ready for the fall bulb planting season and show you some of the great daffodil varieties you can plant this year.
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