All,
The Ga Daff Soc has been asked to scope out if there’s any mechanical method/means for planting daffs on a large scale.
This is back to the roadside planting; the City parks dept is probably going to be doing the labor with oversight from the garden clubs (I think).
Any comment much appreciated~
-s
There are larger bulb planters with a tall T-shaped handle and braces near the bottom that you step on. I would think with four of these tools (one person per tool) and another person holding the bag of bulbs, one could cover a large area quickly. After the bulb is placed in the hole, a wooden dowel is useful for removing the soil plug from the bulb planter tool.
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Hi Sara,
The Oregon Dept of Transportation (ODOT) has planted miles and miles along both sides and in the median strip between North and South bound lanes on Interstate 5 (FWY that runs from the Mexican border in Calif to the Canadian border in Washington State) with daffodils.
The process is amazing. The weeds are cut and they simply rough disc the mileage to be planted. Bulbs are scattered (read: dumped) in a VERY rough fashion from 100 pound sacks. They then run the same huge discs over the plantings. That’s it. NO spacing, NO bulb orientation and many bulbs must be hopelessly cut up in the process. There is no irrigation and nature takes its course.
The results are spectacular in both Oregon and Washington. I cringe and shudder at the process but the results speak for themselves.
Steve
Sara,
I’m not sure how much is large Scale, but in 2002 when I was getting ready for the garden tour in 2004 at my place in MD for the National Convention show in Tysons Corner, VA, I planted two or three thousand bulbs on the hill above our house at the cul de sac so that I would have daffodils for those de-bussing before they walked to the show beds.
I did a lot of it, in freezing cold and a 25 mile an hour win, but it was beautiful in 2004. I planted Carlton, Dutchmasters, and Ice Follies using a shovel, dig down, pry up the soil and put the bulbs under it and left the soil down. I used Ice Follies becasue I had an idea that Tom S was going to make the tour. :-) I was able to plant in quasi rows using the method and put down a lot of bulbs at the same time.
However, my first thought were to plow a furrow, drop the bulbs in the furrow, and use another plow to plow the dirt back into the furrow witht he bulbs. Of course my background is being a redneck plow boy so what do I know.
Clay
Clay Higgins
Brent Heath is scattering out huge drifts of bulbs on top of the ground then they bring in compost/sand mix and dump and rake this over the bulbs. The compost/sand mix will provide a cushion over the bulbs that were laid out over the existing grass or ground. They use balloon tires on the front end loaders to bring in the compost sand mix. Keith Kridler Mt. Pleasant, Texas
When the soil is very, very dry or is very poor or compacted, i used a battery-powered Dewalt drill with daffodrill attachment. I add a handful of potting mix to each hole. I do this for naturalizing and have been pleasantly surprised by the results. They would have to purchase several batteries so could be charging while using. If remote and no electricity, there are converters that plug into auxillary power source (cigarette lighter). The daffodrill works when i cant begin to get a spade into the ground. In clay, reversing the drill will get rid of built up clay on drill. This method would work for small to mid size plantings.
A small tractor with plow would, of course, be even better for hole digging. Uneven short row lengths would give a random look. I would also recommend not being picky about how the bulbs are placed in holes. Mine are usually small enough to easily right themselves. My methods are not by-the-book and the garden club ladies might want it done correctly to the letter.
Just read Keith’s note about Brent’s method. That sounds great for large areas.
Celia Jones. North Louisiana
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