Learn the Lasagna Planting Method Perfect for Bulbs

18.11.2023 - 13:25 / thespruce.com / Ashley Chalmers

If you’re already looking ahead to spring flowers, then you’re probably also well aware that right now is the ideal time for planting bulbs.

Bulbs are one of the easiest ways to ensure beautiful blooms in the warmer months next year, but it’s not quite as straightforward as popping them in the ground and hoping for the best. 

We recently learned a gardening concept endearingly called «lasagna planting,» which is supposed to maximize your flowers throughout the season. And in an effort to learn more, we turned to the experts with a few questions. Here's what they had to say.

B&Q

According to Kendall Frost, a master gardener at High Country Gardens, lasagna planting has something in common with its namesake pasta dish: lots of layers.

“Italian lasagna is loved for its layers of pasta; lasagna planting is loved for its layers of fall-planted, spring-blooming bulbs,” Frost says. 

As Megan Foster, perennial and bulb expert at American Meadows, explains, lasagna planting works as follows: the later the variety blooms, the lower in the container you plant them.

“Lasagna planting packs a flowery punch—it’s an easy-to-plant project that provides a stunning array of blooms all spring,” Foster says, who also notes you can do this in an averaged-sized pot on your balcony or porch, or in a traditional garden bed. 

If you’re considering waiting a little longer to plant your bulbs, André Passos, the franchise owner of The Grounds Guys of Falls Church, says you shouldn’t delay. Fall and winter is the perfect time to lasagna plant.

Spring bulbs must be planted in the fall to allow plenty of time to develop a good root system ahead of the winter, he says. They need the freezing or near-freezing temperatures to trigger next