| Author |
Message |
    
jersey Boy
Citizen
Username: Jersey_boy
Post Number: 396
Registered: 1-2006
| | Posted on Monday, March 27, 2006 - 9:49 pm: | 
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We bought our house this past June and missed the March and April blooms. We had a walk way put in and I guess some bulbs got moved around in the dirt with all the digging. Now flowers are poking up all over.
At first I was happy about this, but now I realize I can't mow the lawn with these flowers randomly coming up.
Any suggestions?
J.B. |
CLK
Supporter
Username: Clkelley
Post Number: 2076
Registered: 6-2002
| | Posted on Monday, March 27, 2006 - 9:54 pm: |
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Dig them up and move them?
I get weird things growing in my garden every year - bulb-type plants (daffodils, tulips, crocuses, hyacinths, etc ... ) that I have never seen before pop up in the middle of my lawn, in odd places in my garden, etc.
My best guess is that squirrels are responsible. I have a neighbor with the most gorgeous bulb garden I ever saw - I think I'm getting free samples.
Sometimes they grow after I dig them up and move them, sometimes they die. So it goes. |
Eponymous
Citizen
Username: Eponymous
Post Number: 153
Registered: 6-2004
| | Posted on Tuesday, March 28, 2006 - 12:14 am: |
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Um, why can't you mow the lawn? |
cody
Citizen
Username: Cody
Post Number: 975
Registered: 5-2001
| | Posted on Tuesday, March 28, 2006 - 6:59 am: |
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If your ground slopes, bulbs can shift around. My guess is the digging for the new walks relocated some of your bulbs.
Tulips are pretty, and flower pretty early in the spring. Couldn't you just live with them where they are until the flowers die? That's a good time to dig up the bulbs and replant them where you want them. I've heard transplanting bulbs before they flower isn't a good idea because they wouldn't then flower that year. Don't know if this is really true or not, since I've not done it. I have some daffodils in my back yard that pop up each year in unexpected places on a downslope. I leave them until they've flowered and then move some of them. Some I leave, because I like the effect.
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Soparents
Citizen
Username: Soparents
Post Number: 62
Registered: 5-2005
| | Posted on Tuesday, March 28, 2006 - 7:35 am: |
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Jersey Boy -
At least yours are unintentional. I had a dear dear friend of mine who planted a multitude of spring and summer bulbs in her front lawn as she likes the thought of a meadow. It was only when these (expensive!) bulbs began to poke through month upon month that she realised she couldn't mow the lawn....
As per Codys post - couldn't you leave them? They are spring time flowers and the grass isn't really growing much at this time, and it really will be pretty for such a short time. |
Elizabeth
Citizen
Username: Momof4peepers
Post Number: 53
Registered: 12-2005
| | Posted on Tuesday, March 28, 2006 - 8:48 am: |
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Are you sure they're not crocuses? If so, the foliage will die back in just about the time to mow for the first time. |
papayagirl
Citizen
Username: Papayagirl
Post Number: 519
Registered: 6-2002
| | Posted on Tuesday, March 28, 2006 - 9:10 am: |
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I think the previous owners of our house must've randomly stuck every hyacinth, tulip, and daffodil they received as an Easter gift somewhere in the front yard. It's a nice surprise when they come up, but it looks a bit random. I know how you feel about not wanting to tamper with them, because they're pretty and all, but this year i've decided not to let my flowers intimidate me. When they're done blooming, i suggest you dig them up and replant them where you'd like. If they survive, it'll be great. If they don't, at least you tried, and you'll be able to mow your lawn. |
KRNL
Citizen
Username: Krnl
Post Number: 39
Registered: 9-2005
| | Posted on Tuesday, March 28, 2006 - 12:36 pm: |
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Are they in bloom right now? If they are, its likely that they are corcuruses (sp)as Elizabeth suggested.
If they are daffodils (yellow with skinny leaves), just mow around them for awhile and they will pop up every year. If they are scattered throughout the yard it is called "naturualizing"--a wonderful random springtime surprise.
If they turn out to be tulips--just mow them without a guilty conscience since they quit blossoming after a few years. |
Eponymous
Citizen
Username: Eponymous
Post Number: 154
Registered: 6-2004
| | Posted on Tuesday, March 28, 2006 - 3:20 pm: |
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...you'll be able to mow your lawn.
How are flowers preventing anyone from mowing their lawn, except out of some odd sense of guilt?  |
johnny
Citizen
Username: Johnny
Post Number: 1604
Registered: 5-2001
| | Posted on Tuesday, March 28, 2006 - 4:22 pm: |
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This thread is just loaded with dirty jokes waiting to happen. Although, it could get me kicked off of MOL for a little while. |
KRNL
Citizen
Username: Krnl
Post Number: 40
Registered: 9-2005
| | Posted on Tuesday, March 28, 2006 - 5:50 pm: |
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Epon..
If you want some flowers such as dafodils to come back each year you need to let the leaves wither so that they feed the bulb. After the leaves wither, then you can cut them down or mow them.
OK, the flowers don't prevent you from mowing the lawn...your desire to see them emerge and flower year after year is what keeps you from mowing the lawn.
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jersey Boy
Citizen
Username: Jersey_boy
Post Number: 404
Registered: 1-2006
| | Posted on Tuesday, March 28, 2006 - 10:20 pm: |
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I'm going to cut around them with scissors this year. And stick a chopstick in the ground next to each one. When the time is right. (I"ll start a new thread asking) I'll dig up the bulbs and put them in a bed --no mowing area.
It's not guilt. It's waste. I don't want to mow a perfectly good flower. I respect the fact that they survived the upset of the new walk.
J.B. |
Elizabeth
Citizen
Username: Momof4peepers
Post Number: 54
Registered: 12-2005
| | Posted on Wednesday, March 29, 2006 - 6:31 am: |
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I'm going to cut around them with scissors this year.
Now THAT is dedication to the outdoor arts! |
cody
Citizen
Username: Cody
Post Number: 977
Registered: 5-2001
| | Posted on Wednesday, March 29, 2006 - 6:42 am: |
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If they are tulips, enjoy them quickly. The squirrels and rabbits here nip off the flower buds the day they flower, it seems. I've come home to find my poor beheaded tulips in the garden.
Once they have flowered, and the petals are gone the leaves will turn yellow and wither. I've read that letting them die in place allows the bulbs to have the best start on the next year's flowers, but I have moved them once the flowers died. Remember, they are bulbs, and a lot of the life cycle is happening underground. When you do move them, putting some bulb fertilizer in as you replant them will also help you have a good show next Spring. You can get it in any garden supply place. |
greenetree
Supporter
Username: Greenetree
Post Number: 7090
Registered: 5-2001
| | Posted on Wednesday, March 29, 2006 - 6:59 am: |
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Once the flowers are gone, you can dig them up and store them in a cool place until Fall. I do this every year with errant bulbs. You can keep the foliage on them after digging them up & they do just as well.
This way, I don't disturb the perennials that are coming up, since I often want spring bulbs in the same place. |
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