What goes in the ground this autumn

A small-garden ledger of bulbs planted, how deep they went, and what I would do differently next year. Kept by hand, one bed at a time.

Last updated 1 October 2026

Planting depth in centimetres, measured from the soil surface to the base of the bulb.

Planting log

Everything planted since the third week of September. Depths are to the base of the bulb; I plant roughly three times the bulb's height, and a little deeper in light soil.

Autumn 2026, in the order it went into the ground
Date	Bulb	Count	Depth	Where
20 Sep	Snowdrop, Galanthus nivalis	40	8 cm	Under the apple tree
24 Sep	Crocus ‘Spring Beauty’	50	8 cm	Along the front path
26 Sep	Hyacinth ‘Delft Blue’	10	12 cm	Window boxes
28 Sep	Tulip ‘Queen of Night’	25	15 cm	Bed three, clay amended with sand
30 Sep	Allium ‘Globemaster’	8	20 cm	Back border
1 Oct	Narcissus ‘Tête-à-tête’	30	10 cm	Lawn edge
Total planted		163

Notes from the beds

Short entries on what worked, what did not, and what is still on the to-do list.

Clay in bed three

28 September

Tulips dislike wet feet, and this bed holds water all winter. I dug in coarse sand and a bucket of compost per square metre before planting, and raised the surface a few centimetres. We will see in April whether it was enough.

Squirrel defence

24 September

Last year half the crocuses ended up in the lawn. This year there is a sheet of chicken wire just under the soil along the path, pinned at the corners, with the bulbs planted beneath it.

Still easy to dig

1 October

Mornings are cooler, but the ground is soft and workable, which is all the bulbs ask for. The remaining tulips go in over the next two weeks, and the pots get a layer of grit at the bottom for drainage.