I have said in the past that when I start digging daffodils I can only work a couple of hours and I’m tired, body hurting all over, and I swear I’m not going back to the daffodil digging. But I keep going back until it’s finished. I’ve found that daffodil planting has the same progression. When I start I have muscles aching that I didn’t know I had, then when I really get going I get stronger and when I feel I’m really getting along find, the job is done and all daffodils are planted.
I mentioned over the summer that I plant in 40 foot long bed, with rows of seven across the bed 10 inches apart. This is how the bed looks with my bench on the upper right. My planting board “yellow” and my drill. And yes, I started placing my soaker hoses on the beds before I plant for two reason, 1st to test them to be sure that they are not stopped up and so that I can find leaks. Old hoses need no excuse to leak on you. I find it no problem have the soaker hoses on the bed as I plant. It also helps “line” the hoses.
This is my planting board 6 inches wide and 4 feet long with marks every 6 inches on the board for spacing of the daffodils. I use a two inch drill bit that is you measure each side of the board, it comes out to about 10 inches between rows. Don’t hold me to that as like in hand grenades and horse shoes, with daffodils, close is good enough. The first line two inches in is to mark the “curb” or the string that is stretched from one end of the row to the other to keep some sort of order and keep the labels in a “straight” line from one end of the bed to the other. Yes I still use an old fashioned electric drill that requires electric cords. I plant two rows, mark where the next row will be and move the board one time for each two rows. This is the method that Marie Bozievich taught me, however, there is more than one way to “skin” a cat. Then again it’s hard to change the way you do things when you are 79 working on 80.
