Hello Mazzy, welcome to GoY :o)

I tried a bulb lasagne for the first time this Spring, with tulips as the bottom layer and crocus as the top layer. It worked well, I'd definitely do it again. I haven't tried planting the bulbs under pansies etc though.

I'm new to gardening too but this site is full of information and ideas - have a look through some of the GoYpedia pages (e.g. if you click on 'C' at the bottom of the page you can look at Container Garden Ideas).

And your garden sounds like an interesting project, I'm sure people would be interested to see some photos of it : )

Hi, and thanks for the warm welcome. I'm pleased to hear that your lasagne planting worked for you, bet it looked great!

Thanks, I will definitely have a look at some of the GoYpedia pages, I need all the help I can get. ;-)

I do have some photos of the garden so will go through them and post them on the photo section.

I found this forum through a google search, and it does look like a great source for information and ideas, some of the gardens are just amazing, I hope to post photos like those one day!

I will go ahead and give the lasagne planting a go, it looks like it's going to be dry tomorrow, so I should be able to get on with it and am also making up some baskets too, I've never potted winter bedding plants before, so we shall see how it goes..... ;-)

hi and welcome to GoY.
I have done layered planting for years. I use plants that grow/ flower at different times. so crocus followed by daffs or tulips.
then surfaced planted with what ever I have fancied. primula, viola, heuchera, heathers, carex, ajuga, cyclamen.

This year I have also put in 3 different heights of tulips that should flower at different times so extending the pot by a month or so.

I have some with reticulated iris that get a good feed after flowering and they have been in the pot for 10yrs now.

so make sure they get fed so the buds form in the bulbs next year. or you can plant the bulbs into the open garden for next year.

I've done it too, with two sorts of tulips and iris reticulata. Would have been better if a fox hadn't dug some of them up. I happened to look out of the bedroom window in the early hours and he was sitting by the container! You could put later tulips at the bottom, earlier ones above and perhaps some early narcissi and/or iris over that - just have fun!

Sarah Raven is very keen on this type of planting. Her catalogue shows her putting it into action.

Ooh thanks everyone, it definitely sounds as though it's worth giving it a go. :-)

I have been keeping an eye on the pot I made up last week, as we do get a lot of squirrels and birds around, and also a fox (who killed my rabbits a couple of months ago!), so I know there is a chance it will all get trashed, but hopefully not!

I have just tulip bulbs at the moment, will they only do one season, do I have to dig them out after they've finished, or do they last another year or more? Sorry sounds a really basic question, but as I said, I know practically nothing about gardening. (blush)

Oh, poor rabbits :(

I've put chicken wire over bulbs before to stop squirrels getting them, but that's perhaps not so easy with other plants in the container too ...

I think they can last more than a year, and you can help them do that by making sure they have decent drainage (holes and crocks in the bottom of the pot, maybe grit/perlite in the compost mixture) so they don't get waterlogged and rot, and also after they've flowered give them a feed and let the foliage die off naturally (i.e. don't cut off the browning foliage too soon) so they can store more food in the bulb for the following year. Or as Seaburngirl said you could take them out of the pot after flowering and plant them in the ground. I have heard people say they don't flower as well year after year in pots, I wondered if that was because of nutrients or because they like being planted deep and you can't do that as much in a pot ... but I don't know?!

What colour tulips did you get? I like tulips :)

If you want to replant the container with summer bedding afterwards you can replant the tulips in the garden. If you fear fox trouble chilli powder or flakes will deter them, but do have to be renewed quite often. However, once bitten twice shy perhaps!

Gem - yes, I was so upset about our rabbits, it was quite horrific what we found in the garden that morning, it's taken me quite a while to love the garden again.

Funny you should say that about squirrels, as a neighbour said the squirrels dig up his bulbs, when I said my dog chases them he said oh hope he catches them, I said I don't want him to kill them, lol. I find squirrels really fun to watch, they are such cheeky characters, they have been digging up my lawn, but when you have a dog you can't really be 'lawn proud' so I just flatten the holes with my shoe and carry on. ;-) But if they dig up my bulbs I may start to get a little cross with them. ;-)

Thanks for the tulips advice, I think I would be tempted to take them out of the pot and re-plant in the ground, and pot up new ones to guarantee flowers the following spring. I bought two packs of mixed colours, I will start with that this year, and if they survive the wildlife and grow well, then maybe next year buy individual ones and plan the colours better, but for now the mixed will do to start. :-)

Steragram - thanks so much for the chilli powder tip, I will definitely try that, and wonder if it would work on squirrels as well? Yes I think I will plant the bulbs in the garden afterwards, as I will want to put summer bedding in the same pot in Spring. Thanks for your help. :-)