Brighten up a dull looking lawn with colour and mimic a wild meadow or wild flowers in the woods by introducing a mixture of Crocus, Snowdrops or Fritillaries. Throw the bulbs in the air and planting them exactly where they have landed or by simply lifting up squares of turf with a Trowel, planting bulbs underneath and replacing the turf pressing it firmly back on top of the bulbs. If you decide to use Crocus, these generally look best in drifts, and a mixture of Varieties can create a striking effect. Keep in mind that these bulbs are to be left undisturbed for years so the initial planting should be well spaced. Allow plants to die down after flowering before mowing over the lawn or better still plant them in areas of rough grass that are not regularly mown. October and November are probably the best times to plant bulbs in your lawn as they will establish themselves over the winter months.Clumps may need to be divided every few years or more bulbs may be planted to fill gaps.
Crocus bulbs are big favourite as they come in a huge amount of colours and are one of the bravest bulbs emerging as they do in very early spring. A great garden idea is to naturalise crocus bulbs in a lawn area. This will brighten up a grass verge or lawn in the spring.
Naturalised Crocus
The essence of naturalising is to try and make it look like these bulbs have just grown in a given area, without interference from human hands. It gives an almost wild garden look to an area of lawn. Keep in mind though that when you put bulbs in lawn, you will not be able to mow this section of lawn until the leaves of the bulbs have turned brown. It is personal preferrence whether you keep to one colour or use a mixture. So the grasss will be quite long before it can be cut. For this reason, try to place the bulbs to the edge of the lawn. Depending on the size of your lawn, invest in a sack of crocus. Put them in a bucket and go out to the area of lawn to be planted. The fling the bulbs out from the bucket and wherever thay land, this is where they should be planted. This is the only way to make sure that the drift will look natural. Any other way will always look too contrived. Plant to a depth that is twice the depth of the bulb and since crocus bulbs are quite small, you can use a dibber to make the holes in the lawn. Once planted, all you have to do is wait till spring to enjoy a blaze of colour.
