How to plant flowers and bulbs

The healing properties of planting your own flowers and bulbs extend well beyond the physical activity. They're gorgeous to look at and revamp your entire property. Here's how to get started.

1. Pull all weeds and unwanted sod, inlcuding the roots, and dispose of them. Use a spading fork to turn over and aerate the soil. When the soil is moist — not too wet and not too dry — spread five to 10 centimetres (two to four inches) of compost or well-rotted manure on first-time beds, and 2.5 centimetres (one inch) on older beds. Work in to a depth of 45 centimetres (18 inches), and then smooth the soil with a ground rake.

2. Try to plant on a cool or overcast day to prevent wilting. Arrange potted plants on the bed until you like the arrangement. Space plants per label recommendations or, for a more lush look, about 25 per cent closer. Place perennials at least one metre (three feet) from shrubs; annuals can be planted closer if you don't disturb established routes. To promote root development, pinch off any blooms.

3. Dig a hole so that the plant will sit in the soil at the same depth as in its pot, but make the hole several inches wider than the pot. Gently lift the plant out of the pot, grasping the bottom of the soil-and-root-ball and teasing the roots apart a bit in two directions to encourage them to spread outward. Set the plant in the hole, fill the hole with soil and very gently tamp it down.

1. Loosen the soil with a spade. Use a gardening trowl, or a tool made for digging bulb holes. As a rule, a bulb should be buried at a depth at least twice its height. The Madonna lily is an exception; plant it with the top of the bulb nearly even with the soil.

2. Add bulb fetilizer that contains phosphorus to the bottom of the hole. (Plain bone meal may not contain the mineral.) Plant bulbs, pointed side up, at the depth specified on the label. Make sure that the bottom of the bulb is in firm contect with the soil. Fill the hold back in and tamp it down lightly. Water throughly.