Blind daffodil

[gojiberry]

I do a bit of gardening for my boss and there is a wood behind his house with some lovely drifts of daffodils. From a distance they look great but on closer inspection a lot of the daffodils were blind. How can I get a better display next year and encourage all the bulbs to flower. The trees are decidious although overcrowded so I'm wondering if light levels are affecting them.

Ian

[lynda66]

take them to specsavers?

actually there was a thread on this recently

http://www.growfruitandveg.co.uk/gra...ils_29120.html

[gojiberry]

Thanks Lynda, still not a great deal of help as the bulbs are planted in the soil and seem to be well spaced. I will lift a couple to see how deep they are planted and give them a feed to see if I get a better show next year. Not all that practical to replace as there are probably thousands of them. Six drifts about a foot wide and 100ft long.

Ian

[shirlthegirl43]

Possibly a daft question but is the area mowed? If so, perhaps the daffs are not getting left to die back long enough to feed the bulbs sufficiently for flowering next year.

[gojiberry]

Hi Shirl, no it isn't grassed as the woodland is to dense for grass to grow during the summer months.

Ian

[shirlthegirl43]

Fair enough, it was my best reason for them coming up blind

[Flummery]

It's usually that they aren't deep enough (6" of soil above the top of the bulb is ideal) or that they could do with a foliar feed as the flowers are dying off. It also a good idea to dead-head them as they lose energy setting seed. In a woodland situation you can do with with a stick. Swish it from side to side and knock of the dead heads.

[Alison]

Give them a good feed before they die down, tend to find that helps.