Digging up Dafs

Jonny303

Hi,

Was speaking to someone last week and he told me that he digs up his dafs before the leaves wilt, leaves them in the sun for a while and then cuts them back and stores. Anyone have any experience of this working?
Would be ideal for me as I have a long raised bed of them on a commercial premises so it's not ideal leaving them there to wilt, especially with the local tidy towns on my back!

Thanks

daheff

dont you need to leave them in the soil for a while after the flowers go so that they can grow/spread?


I've taken up daffs in the past (but not on a big scale) and replanted after a summer without any problems. Just lifted and put into a tin container.


As for the Tidy towns....tell them to F off.

HeidiHeidi

I haven't seen or touched mine (miniature ones in windowboxes) in about 8 or 10 years! They bloom and thrive every season. It's a pain having to leave them to die back before pulling the leaves though.

My mother had whole beds of them (full size) in the front garden - she used to double them over and tie the leaves down with elastic bands until they were ready to pull off - made a much for a much neater look.

Glass fused light

You could deadhead the flowers and leave the leaves for a while yet, and then treat them the same as onions
The bulb used up the store to grow and flower so the longer you leave the leaves to grow the better the bulb is for next year.
If you are planning to lift them and replant next year you could plan the beds so that the post bloom green is used the same as you would a grass or low hedge

looksee

If you cut or otherwise mess with the leaves before they have died back naturally you will lose flower quality the next year. There isn't really any very satisfactory solution, other than not putting them in a 'display' situation. Do you have anywhere you could dig a trench and lift the bulbs with soil and roots and just drop them in to die back naturally?

ytpe2r5bxkn0c1

They really need to be left in the ground until the leaves have fully died back naturally. Lifting and drying every year will lead to weak nonflowering bulbs. Put some other plants in the bed to help hide the leaves as they die back. And tell the Tidy Towns that that's what Daffodils do.

my3cents

If you are doing anything to the daffs then the old rule of thumb for cutting then down when grown in grass is to leave it until the 3rd week of June. By then they have done most of their work so I suspect that would also be a reasonable time to start digging them up.

magicbastarder

daheff wrote: »

As for the Tidy towns....tell them to F off.

amen.

peadar76

HeidiHeidi wrote: »

I haven't seen or touched mine (miniature ones in windowboxes) in about 8 or 10 years! They bloom and thrive every season. It's a pain having to leave them to die back before pulling the leaves though.

My mother had whole beds of them (full size) in the front garden - she used to double them over and tie the leaves down with elastic bands until they were ready to pull off - made a much for a much neater look.

Yeah, this is what my mam did as well. And Mams are always right!

my3cents

peadar76 wrote: »

Yeah, this is what my mam did as well. And Mams are always right!

https://www.rhs.org.uk/advice/profile?PID=91

do not tie or knot the leaves

HeidiHeidi

my3cents wrote: »

https://www.rhs.org.uk/advice/profile?PID=91

I'll certainly bow to the superior knowledge of the RHS.... but it never seemed to do ours any harm!

my3cents

HeidiHeidi wrote: »

I'll certainly bow to the superior knowledge of the RHS.... but it never seemed to do ours any harm!

I think it depends when you do it. If its as soon as they have flowered then thats not good at all but if you are getting towards the recommended 6 weeks after flowering then its going to make little difference.

Jonny303

Thanks for the feedback. All opinions seem to be on cutting and digging after for back....but anyone anything on digging them up leaves intact and cutting them back after they die back above ground?

Glass fused light

If you dig them and leave them the leaves will pull the stored energy from the bulb. The leaves are still photosynthesising with no water etc So it is best to cut them back.

kathleen37

Monty Don on gardeners world this evening, had some daffs in pots. He removed from pots (so re could reuse the pots till he replanted them) then planted them in the ground till they had died back completely. He said not to cut back as would affect flowers next year, when he would replanted back in the pots.
*edit* sorry, should have made clear that you are supposed to dead head and flowers, this was referring to the remaining foliage.

Defunkd

As soon as the leaves start yellowing, you could cut them back. All their work is done for the year.
I lift my daffs every year but i keep them in pots and i plant the pots - just below the soil level. I remove the pots when flowering is finished and store them in a bright, out of the way area (i have space tho) and let them fade naturally.

Could you fill the black plastic crates with daffs, fertiliser and plant the crate? Simply lift the crate when you have something ready to add colour and let the daffs do their boring thing out out the way? Less mess, less labour.

A neighbour mows his daffs about 2-3 weeks after flowering and his are going blind. Another neighbour cuts hers very soon after flowering but hers bloom brilliantly every year.