How To Plant Lilies

Lilies are a great addition in your yard, house and even the flowers look great in your office.  You may be interested in having this fragrant and air-purifying flowers and plants, but you are unsure of your planting skills?  Here are some useful tips when planting lilies. 

• What to plant

There are different types of lilies.  If you are unsure of what to plant, then try researching about breed which are compatible in your location.  Asiatic and Oriental lilies are the most popular types of lilies in the United States.  Enchantment, Corsica, Crete, and Dawn Star are species of Asiatic lilies.  Black Beauty, Journey’s End, Stargazer and Casa Blanca are Oriental lilies.  These varieties area easy to grow and care for. 

• Location

Where exactly in your garden will you be planting your lilies?  When planting lily bulbs, you must look for a place with good drainage.  Getting a good drainage system would not only benefit your lilies but the whole garden, as well. 

Don’t plant in an area where water accumulates after raining.  You could plant on a sloping area, just make sure to have mulch on the soil around the stems, to avoid the soil from being washed away.  If you do not have a sloping area, then the best way would be to elevate the soil bed.  You could even put some rocks or blocks on the edges of the bed to make it look more appealing. 

• When to plant

Experts would often recommend planting in the spring or in the fall, usually in the middle of September until October.  Once you have bought the bulbs, it is important to immediately plant them once the ground is workable.  If it is not possible, then you could refrigerate the bulbs or place them inside the vegetable crisper. 

• Planting the bulbs

The most common questions when planting would be the about the technical stuff, like depth and distance.  Lily bulbs with sizes of 7-10 cm should be buried in about 3-4 inches deep of soil, larger bulbs with 10-15 cm should be buried in about 4-6 inches.  Make sure that the bulbs are about 12 inches apart for the smalls ones and 18 inches for the larger ones.  

After planting, water them and this would make sure that the soil is damp enough to provide moisture.  Make sure that there are no air pockets.  When the first shoots emerged, make sure to mark the bulbs since you may accidentally step on them.  

• Dividing lilies. 

Every year, lilies would grew new plants. You could replant these bulbs, give them away or sell them. You harvest new lily bulbs in every three years.  One of the best indicator that it is time to divide or harvest the lily bulb is when the plants are not giving flowers just like before. 

How to divide the lilies?  Dig the entire plant and loosen the dirt.  Divide the clump into wedge-shaped sections, three or four sections would be enough.  Make sure to plant them immediately after dividing, since you do not want to the bulb to dry out.  
