BARR & SONS, 11, 12 & 13 King Street, Covent Garden, London. 
3 
Naturalising Bulbs and Plants in Grass, Woodlands, etc. 
BULBS NATURALISED IN GRASS IN A LONDON DARK. 
This fascinating phase of gardening deserves more attention than has hitherto been bestowed upon it. 
No sight is more delightful than the fresh brightness of spring flowers growing freely in grass land or 
lending colour to woodland walks, hedgerows, and ditches, here and there nestling at the foot of trees, 
or establishing themselves on sloping banks. 
For naturalising in grass spring flowers are especially suitable, as they bloom and are over before the 
grass grows tall enough to hide their beauty. Amongst our spring-flowering bulbs there are many gems 
which refuse to grow in cultivated borders, but when planted in grass, where they enjoy a cooler and 
more even temperature, they soon become established, and multiply freely until a regular colony is 
formed which greatly adds to the charm of the landscape. 
All formality of arrangement should be avoided, the bulbs being scattered freely from the hand and 
planted where they fall. Large irregular breaks of one kind of bulb should be made in order to obtain the 
finest effect. In planting under trees select spots where the soil is deepest and where the drip is least. 
Those whose gardens are of limited size might make them very beautiful in spring, by utilising the 
fringes of their lawns and any grassy mounds or shady shrubbery walks for such spring favourites as 
Daffodils, Anemones, Scillas, Crocuses, Chionodoxas, etc., reserving the borders for summer- and autumn- 
flowering herbaceous plants. In large gardens and parks ample opportunities are afforded for naturalising 
spring-flowering bulbs, and very beautiful results may be attained in this way. 
In planting bulbs in grass, Barr’s Bulb Planter [see page 31) should always be used. It cuts out 
a clean piece of turf, leaving a hole to receive the bulb, and on making the second cutting clears itself 
of the first piece of turf, which lies ready at hand for covering the bulb. This handy implement saves an 
immense amount of time, and does not, as with an ordinary dibber, leave a hard resting-place for the bulb, 
while by its use the grass is not in the least disturbed Planting should not take place while the ground is 
hard, but after the first autumn rains. It the ground is poor, a compost of fresh soil with an abundance of 
Crushed Bones (7 lbs. to a bushel) or Phytobroma (3 lbs. to bushel) should be made and a little of the 
compost dropped into each hole before placing in the bulb, a little more should be given as a covering, 
and then the sod of turf be replaced and pressed down. The bulbs will then be given a fair start in their 
new quarters. It is advisable to cut the grass as late in Autumn as possible, so as to ensure it being short 
at the time the bulbs flower. In meadowdand Spring-flowering bulbs in no way affect the hay crop, which 
may be cut at the usual season. 
Among the many gems which lend themselves to wild gardening and naturalising, we would specially 
mention the following : — Alliums, Anemones, Anthericums, Chionodoxas, Crocuses, Cyclamen, 
Daffodils, Dog's Tooth Violets (Erythronium dens-canis), Fritillaries, Funkias, Helleborus, 
Hemerocallis, Irises (Tall and Dwarf Flag), Muscari, Ornithogalums, Scillas (early-flowering). 
May-flowering Cottage Tulips, and Wood Hyacinths (Late-flowering Scillas). 
