Expert: Long Island Gardener - 1/18/2007

Question
Will Mulch work instead of leaves?  Unfortunately I live in one of those sprawling atrocities known as a sub-development and my only tree sheds about 3 leaves a year! :)  Thanks!

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The text above is a follow-up to ...

-----Question-----
Hi - I'm in Columbus, Ohio.  Not sure what zone that is.  I planted full grown tulip bulbs last summer (the kind that are already in bloom when you buy them - I got them at Home Depot).  Anyway - it's been pretty warm, and VERY wet around here, and now they all have about an inch of green leaves peaking up from the beds.  If I mulch over them, will it keep them warm and make them want to grow?  Or will it make them pause in their growing so that they'll be around in the spring.  Please let me know ASAP so I can mulch tonight if needed!  Thanks!
-----Answer-----
Up and down the East Coast, desperate gardeners are watching the thermometer, checking signs of garden life, hoping that when spring has sprung many weeks from now their bulbs will still have a pulse and a heartbeat.  You are in good company, Natalie.

We can pretty much count on a hard freeze being in the future for you (and me).  Some people find that the early-sprouting foliage shrivels and yellows as the temperature plunges.  Some may sprout leaves, then bloom in the spring as though nothing had ever gone wrong.  Others turn into a clump of defrosted mush.

It is safe to assume the bulbs themselves have been weakened.  But only a Connoisseur would even notice the blemishes in blooms that sprout from one of those weakened bulbs.  

I have heard about one gardener who watches her Daffodil bulbs bloom in the bitter cold and when they freeze she cuts them and thaws them in a vase indoors.  She sees no evidence of damage in subsequent years of bloom.  Others
find that more leaves sprout from the same bulbs that bloomed too early, but the spring blooms look as though they've been to Hell and back, and the bulb seems to have been damaged so badly it never does look as appealing as it did before the deep freeze.

In my area, Zone 7, which is milder than your Zone 6, unprotected early leaves will show damage but the blooms do not.

So we go back to the usual plan of action that I always have:

Fill several empty garbage pails with dry leaves and mound them over the early sprouting bulbs.  If it snows, you can toss some snow over them to keep them from blowing away.  If you can get the shovel into the ground and it is not frozen solid, sprinkle the tops with dirt - or get some sand or other mulching material from Home Depot and cover the leaves just enough to keep them in place over your bulbs.  Say 3 Hail Marys and 1 Our Father, then go inside and wait.

The dry leaves are insulation from the merciless temperatures and will help to lessen fluctuations in the thermometer for the next few weeks.  Both are bad for bulbs at this time of year.

Come spring, or at least as we approach it, remove the leaves and expose the growth.  Then come back to the computer and let me know how things are going.

And next year, assuming Columbus and Long Island will not be under water due to Global Warming and the rising ocean level, we must all plan to dig another 3-6 inches deeper into the ground when putting spring bulbs in place.

Thanks for writing, Natalie.  I look forward to hearing your results.  

Answer
Mulch is heavier, and you have to be VERY careful because of it.  I hate the idea, but if that's all that's available, go for it.

Next year, hold onto the grass clippings (which should not have any weedkiller on them or you will kill all your bulbs and perennials) and you can mulch with those in the fall after they compost.  Leaves however are preferred.  Most important, plant nice and deep and save yourself the nightmare.

Keep me posted.