Yes, it’s just what it sounds like. Imagine a river of blooms right in your grass.  This works great because the bulbs will bloom long before your grass starts growing, giving you an extra punch in the spring.  It’s not new; the Europeans have been doing it for years. The bulbs naturalize quickly, so the show gets better every year. These bulbs typically start blooming six weeks before you need to mow your grass.  And yes, you mow right over the spent flowers. No one will know they were even there! 

The best time to plant is after the first frost, but before the ground freezes.

What you need:

·  Sharp spade

·  Garden fork to score soil

·  Bulbs

·  Golf balls

Selecting the bulbs

Before digging in, it’s important to choose a bulb that blooms early in the spring and is a short variety.  The smaller the bulb, the shorter the plant.  Some great choices include: Scilla Siberica, Scillia nutans, Muscari armeniacum (grape hyacinth), Crocus Tommasinianus, Spanish bluebells and silver bells

Planting

Water the lawn thoroughly a day or two ahead of time. It makes the job of digging a lot easier.  

Your goal is to plant the bulbs to look as though they are growing naturally, so avoid straight lines, plant in clusters, and scatter liberally.   A good way to do this is to take some golf balls, throw them up in the air and wherever they land is where you’ll plant your bulbs. The trick is to plant about six to eight bulbs for each golf ball.  Where there’s a cluster of golf balls, you’ll want to plant more, creating a natural “drift” effect.

Planting is quite simple. Instead of digging a bunch of holes in the lawn, you’ll want to cut flaps in the grass, tucking bulbs underneath.   Begin by driving a spade just deep enough to cut through the grass, continue with the other two sides to create a flap. Pull the flaps back to expose the soil beneath. Then use your garden fork to score the soil. Toss in some bulbs with the points up, pull the flap back over the soil, and pat into place.  The size of the flap will vary in size depending on how many golf balls landed in that area. Once all the bulbs are planted, give them a good drink of water.      You don’t need to fertilize the bulbs when you plant them. Wait until you fertilize your lawn later in the fall.