Has anyone planted daffodils scattered throughout their lawn?

[Maggiethecat]

Thinking of doing this but wonder if better to plant more orderly, perhaps in a row in the lawn alongside a border?

Will put tulips in containers.

I would love to do something like that, but how would you cut the grass?

I did but hated the weeks of letting them die back so they'd flower next year. Made the lawn look messy for a week or two or flowers.

Did you then dig them back up?

Same - it was a pain last year having to mow round them and not worth it. I've dug them up and scattered them throughout the border now. I have crocuses under a tree which are easier. Also some bulbs in a wild area I don't mow.

It’s a mess while the leaves are dying back so I wouldn’t. But crocuses look very pretty in a lawn and their leaves are far less obtrusive.

I did daffodils and snowdrops but the soil our turf was laid over was utter rubbish (literally construction rubbish mixed into compacted clay, thanks developers) and the bulbs all rotted whereas the ones in my borders (which I created with good soil) actually came up so I don’t know if I would try again as I’m concerned about mowing as well.

I’ve just done it with crocus as I think daffodils flower late and then you can’t mow. If it goes well I’ll add snow drops. I think a natural rustic look looks best. Or in clumps of a few bulbs. The advice I got was to scatter and plant where they fall.

Every year?

@red4321 - because you said “hated”I wondered if you dug them up permanently.

Bit of both. The gardener kept mowing them off before they'd had the full time to die back so those ended up as leaves with no flowers the next year.

I ended up digging them all up which made a bit of a mess of the lawn as they were quite embedded underneath the grass.

Aah, I see. Won’t do the lawn then.

From late may onwards.

I put hundreds of daffodil bulbs in our lawn last year and I was thrilled with the result. We have a narrow strip of grass down the side of our drive so I did that and a strip a couple of feet wide where the lawn meets the road (no pavement).

Our lawn is more rustic than putting green at the best of times, but the end of the lawn is very dry and doesnt need that much mowing so it’s manageable until the leaves die down.

Its a bit sad when some of the flowers are dying and some still going as it gets a bit patchy, but it’s well worth the enjoyment of seeing them all out.

I had crocuses pre-planted under the lawn in my old house and they only
looked good for about a day as they always got really leggy and fell over. I’d choose a short or sturdy variety if I was going to do that again, but there’s nothing better than seeing the first crocus popping up, it reminds me of being about 4 years old.

I’ve got daffodils in the lawn and love them. I use Narcissus pseudonarcissus, the native daffodil, a slightly smaller variety which spreads well in grass. I mow a path through the grass so the unmown bit looks deliberate, and it can all be mown about 6weeks after the daffodils have stopped flowering, although I don’t because I have a succession of bulbs and wild flowers in there.

If you’re worried about the leaves after flowering, species crocus are a better bet (not the big hybrid crocus) - their fine leaves aren’t conspicuous among the grass.

The little crocuses don’t get leggy or fall over.

Some daffodils are early, eg February Gold.

Yes, we have two swathes and love them. Yes it’s a bit messy looking for about 3 weeks after flowers have finished but worth it for the glorious display when there’s not a lot more to look at b

Yes I did and they are adorable! IMO the secret is to only plant early flowering ones, so that they have bloomed and died back before the first cutting (more or less). I also went for small ones, and they are just stunning. Cheers me up every February! I have also tried croci (sp?) which were fab for one year and didn't do much after that.

I really like a ring of daffs around a tree, if you have trees in your garden, OP.

If you want a longer succession of daffodils throughout the spring, plant a few different varieties. The tazettas and yellows will flower the earliest, moving through the colour 'variations', until the double daffodils closer to Easter.

if you have an area of grass that you mow only once a year, e.g. a verge or strip at the edge of the lawn or under trees, then yes go for it.

in a formal lawn that you want to mow once a week, it will look a mess.

Yes! I've done it in the lawn at the side of our house. As other posters have said, you must leave the leaves to die back to make sure the bulbs are 'fully charged' for next year, but tbh it's at a time of year when grass is a bit crap and wet anyway,

• cont'd So I wouldn't be mowing anyway. Another tip is to scatter the bulbs to get a nice natural effect - literally grab a handful of bulbs, throw them across the lawn and plant them where they land. It's so cheerful! I've got crocuses down too that come up before the daffs, so there's a good show of colour through early spring.

I’m tempted again!

I've got fritillary (meleagris(sp?)) in part of my front lawn. I love them and when they grow there's an exciting few weeks of hunt the lily beetle. I've become quite proficient.

I did have minature daffs. Tete à tete iirc, they were starting to spread and looked lovely but then one year they all failed, so I think my lawn has a daff. lurgy. I tried planting more but they came up blind or failed, so I've given up on them.

Love love love the time of year when the daffs start pushing up through the lawn. Do it!