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How to protect bulbs in the garden

You will need: Aquatic pot, spade or trowel, soap, grater

It can be very annoying when you plant bulbs in the garden ready for spring colour and then they never appear. You may not even see the culprit, but both mice and squirrels love the food value of healthy bulbs and will eat through the lot if they can.

Best time to do it:

Step 1

An aquatic basket pot is a simple way to help protect your bulbs. Part-fill it with garden soil.

Step 2

Place the bulbs inside. The more bulbs you wish to protect, the larger the pot will have to be.

Step 3

Fill the pot to the rim with soil and then sink it into the ground where you have dug the hole for soil. For extra protection, lay a piece of 2-3cm chicken wire across the pot and turn the edges down over the rim.

Step 4

Cover the pot with soil. As an extra deterrent, you can grate scented soap over the top, but this needs replacing every week as the scent wears off. Plastic pots do not biodegrade, so this will need lifting in 2-3 years to divide the clump of bulbs.

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