Knowing when and how to lift and divide spring bulbs is a common question that thousands of new gardeners have asked me, the Garden Ninja, over the years.
The number of questions usually stops beginner gardeners from lifting bulbs and dividing them. Often, the fear of lifting already successful bulbs can scare new gardeners away. But the beauty is you're actually helping your bulbs thrive and getting more plants for free in the process!
Let me explain how to correctly lift bulbs every few years to help increase your spring blooms and create better spring flower beds!
The most successful time to lift spring bulbs for division is 6-8 weeks after they have finished flowering in late spring. Just before the flowering bulbs' foliage dies back to the ground, which is one reason why you shouldn't cut back the foliage immediately after flowering, as it starves the bulbs of resources for next year's flowers.
Wait until the leaves turn yellow and start to flop over; this is your signal that the bulb has finished its work for the season.
Whilst other guides suggest autumn is the right time, the problem is that the bulb foliage has already died back, making spotting them for lifting near impossible unless you have marked out where your daffodils, snowdrops, tulips, or crocus bulbs are!
Many spring-flowering bulbs, such as daffodils (Narcissus), snowdrops (Galanthus), and crocuses (Crocus vernus), will happily naturalise by spreading themselves out over time as they propagate from bulblettes.
Bulblettes are the most usual way that bulbs create new plants. A little offshoot starts to form on the bulb with its own stem. Eventually, this becomes big enough and detaches from the original parent bulb to form a new plant altogether.
As the years pass, these clumps of parent and child bulbs can become congested. When bulbs are too close together, they compete for space, moisture, and nutrients, leading to weak growth and fewer flowers. In some cases, they’ll keep sending up leaves but give up on flowering altogether. Also, there's only so much loose soil they can compact and push each other into!
Lifting and dividing is the gardening equivalent of decluttering. It gives each bulb the space it needs to perform well, reduces the spread of diseases, and allows you to multiply your plant stock for free, so what’s not to love?
One of the worst ways to lift spring bulbs is with a garden spade, and I've seen many gardeners just start digging with vigour to try and lift bulbs. The problem is that you end up slicing through certain bulbs and causing more damage than good, which is why the ideal tool for lifting bulbs is a garden fork, NOT a spade.
Start by gently loosening the soil around your bulb clump with a garden fork or hand fork. Avoid digging too close to the base—you want to minimise the chance of damaging the bulbs themselves. Once the soil is loosened, carefully loosen the soil and lift the bulbs. It's better to take your time and go super slowly until you're more experienced, so you don't damage the bulb's root or end up splitting them in two. Once lifted in sections, shake off any excess soil from the bulbs to get a better look at them.
I like to lift bulbs onto a tarpaulin or piece of hessian so I don't get soil all over my garden paths or lawn. Also afterwards I can shake that precious soil back into the flower beds.
Inspect them closely. Healthy bulbs should be firm, plump, and free from signs of mould, rot, or damage. Any shrivelled or soft bulbs should be discarded. You’ll often find many small offsets or bulblets—these are your bonus plants. Separate them by hand if they come away easily, or use a clean gardening knife if needed.
The goal is to create new individual bulbs or small clumps, each with enough energy stored to flower next spring. I like to group them into three bulb groups, ready to be replanted, as these look far more natural than just one bulb flowering on its own. By planting three bulbs in a larger hole you get a more naturalistic garden look that feels less forced.
If you’re not immediately replanting, store your bulbs somewhere cool, dry, and well-ventilated. An open seed tray or paper bag in a shed or garage works well. Avoid plastic bags or airtight containers as they trap moisture and can encourage rot or mould. A word of warning over storing bulbs in sheds is that often mice, rats or other overwintering mammals may decide to eat them or ruin them by biting chunks out of them. So often placing them on a shelf, never the floor of the shed or garage is best.
Label your bulbs by type and variety, especially if you’ve lifted multiple kinds. Trust me, they all look suspiciously similar once they’ve dried out!
However, my advice is to replant straight away as soon as you've lifted them. This gives you the highest chance of success with flowers next year. Although you can store them, most gardeners forget about them, and then they just rot away to dust, making all the effort pointless! Just make sure you’ve picked a spot where they’ll get plenty of sun and decent drainage. No bulb likes wet feet, especially over winter.
Whether replanting immediately or in autumn, this is your chance to improve things. Not by adding grit or compost, your bulbs don't need this, and often online gardeners advise all sorts of plant food additives, which are just unnecessary.
Let me repeat, your newly planted bulbs don't need feed, compost, grit, mulch or any other fuss. They have all the energy they need stored inside their bulbs, so save your money and effort.
The best advice is to spend a few minutes choosing the best location for your bulbs. Ideally, they should be somewhere that doesn't get waterlogged over winter and isn't in full shade, i.e., under an evergreen shrub. Planting bulbs under deciduous trees is fine, as they lose their leaves over winter, allowing enough light in early spring to help the bulbs photosynthesise. However, avoid planting bulbs under heavy evergreen conifers, for example, as they will just struggle and die.
Plant bulbs at a depth roughly 2–3 times the bulb's height.
Planting in odd numbers (3,5 or 7) or irregular groups is a good idea for a more naturalistic display in your flower beds, rather than in formal rows of one. Water them in well, even if the soil is damp, and label the area if you’re prone to forgetting what’s where! Using a simple garden cane with a bit of ribbon on is a good idea!
Over time, these newly spaced bulbs will bulk up and return to their full flowering glory. It’s a simple task that makes a big difference, and once you’ve done it a few times, it becomes a satisfying seasonal rhythm in the gardening calendar that you can do every three to five years.
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Lifting, dividing and replanting spring bulbs is a great way to increase your garden plant stock for free. It also helps you, as gardeners, develop your gardening skill set and see how these incredible little bulbs propagate themselves. The more you understand your plants, like spring bulbs, the better a gardener you will become!
I'd love to hear from you, Ninjas, about your shrub moving success stories and garden design ideas below in the comments or on Social media. You can Tweet, Facebook or Instagram me. You can also check out the other guides and vlogs on my YouTube channel.
If you have a gardening question, then why not use the Garden Ninja Gardening Forum, where hundreds of Garden Ninja members can help you!
Until next time, happy Gardening!
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