Tulips are a popular flower in UK gardens, but many gardeners struggle to get them to bloom every year. Gardening experts have explained how to get tulips to flower year after year.
Tulips will bloom year after year if gardeners avoid a key mistake(Image: Getty)
Tulips are cherished in gardens for their brilliant hues and unique form, yet numerous gardeners find it challenging to achieve annual blooming.
Horticultural specialists have disclosed that employing the proper planting method enables tulips to flourish and reappear each spring.
Nevertheless, most gardeners commit a frequent error that may cause the bulbs to “burn” rather than thrive.
A specialist from Gardening Know How stated: “Tulips are a beautiful but fickle flower bulb grown in many gardens.
“They’re also known for not always returning year after year. Properly fertilising tulips can make a big difference in ensuring they come back season after season.”
How to achieve annual tulip blooming
Based on advice from Plantura, there’s a widespread assumption that bulbous flowers such as tulips require no fertiliser.
This approach may succeed initially for several years; however, when the soil becomes depleted of nutrients, flowering begins to diminish.
The specialist added: “Long-lived tulip varieties in particular, which produce numerous flowers every year, should therefore be fertilised regularly so that you can store enough reserve substances in the bulbs for the coming flowering season.”
Tulips will bloom every year if you follow one simple step(Image: Getty)
Tulips prosper in nutrient-rich, free-draining soil, though incorporating compost during autumn planting provides optimal conditions. These beloved flowers will subsequently blossom from late March through to early May.
“Regular fertilising before and during flowering in the spring optimally supports the tulips’ growth,” reported the expert at Plantura.
“Simply work a primarily organic fertiliser lightly into the soil every two weeks; it is best to use a slow-release fertiliser.”
What fertiliser should you use?
To create a natural and cost-effective slow-release fertiliser, gardeners can use kitchen scraps like fruit and vegetable peelings, coffee grounds, and eggshells in a compost heap to enrich soil with nutrients.
Banana skins are a popular choice; they can be buried near plants or soaked in water to make a diluted liquid fertiliser.
Bone meal is also an excellent plant food as it is rich in phosphorus and calcium. It promotes strong root development, making it perfect for planting autumn bulbs like daffodils and tulips.
How to prevent tulips from “burning”(Image: Getty)Why do you need to be careful when applying fertiliser?
“While many people think that they should be applying tulip fertiliser into the hole when the tulip bulb is planted, this is not true,” advised Gardening Know How.
“This can damage the newly emerging roots of the tulip bulbs and cause them to ‘burn’ when they come in contact with the concentrated fertiliser placed below them.”
The expert clarified: “Instead, always fertilise from the top of the soil. This will allow the tulip fertiliser to become less concentrated, as it filters down to the roots [not to burn them].”
And be warned, the use of a quick-release tulip fertiliser could result in the nutrients being “leeched away” from the soil before the bulbs have a chance to absorb them.
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