Topic: Snowdrop Problem

[Garden Manager]

Not sure if any of you will be able to help or not, but It s worth a try anyway.

For may years we have had a thriving colony of snowdrops in our garden. Most of them were growing along the front of an old terrace bed close to the house. They thrived on very little attention except for occasional division which allowed me to plant other groups elsewhere. We then had to move them all to allow the bed they were in to be removed to make way for a new conservatory.

Once the conservatory was built the terrace bed and its retaining wall was rebuilt further back into the garden. Then at the appropriate time the snowdrops were reinstated and a gravel mulch placed over the top to create a display area for summer pots (the snowdrops were the only plants put into this area for this reason).  The snow drops were planted much more thinly than before and the surplus plants were used to start a new colony elsewhere. this was back in 2005

The first year after planting all was fine and the snowdrops produced a good show, however since then the display has diminished, up until this winter which so far has been the poorest yet, with the numbers of bulbs even coming up has been very few. This has been very disapointing, particularly as we bought new plants last year after a poor show last year. i dont think any of the new plants have reappeared this year.

I tried to think what might be the problem and as mice don't seem to be the cause began to wonder if the last 2 wet summers might be to blame. Last year we thought it might be the containers placed on top of them in the summer that was the problem and refrained from putting them on top of the snowdrops last summer. This has appeared not to have helped. So i think it must be the weather. I have noted that the snowdrops that have returned are those with some sort of shelter from other plants. I cant see that it could be a soil problem, since it is largely the same for all the snowdrops.

So in order to save the remaining snowdrops and improve the display i plan to move them to more suitable positions. I need to at least try and plant them somewhere where they will thrive and not suffer too much from high summer rainfall or drought and not be smothered or suppressed by their neighbours. So I also need to choose the right companion planting.

I know its a bit of a longshot, but if anyone can offer any tips or advice for growing snowdrops, or perhaps share how they grow these plants this would be greatly appreciated.

Apologies for the long post! I felt I needed to give some background to the problem. Thanks.

[valmarg]

My guess would be the american grey tree rat, aka the grey squirrel.

valmarg

[Garden Manager]

My guess would be the american grey tree rat, aka the grey squirrel.

valmarg

I cant see how they would get to them - not through gravel anyway and there has been no sign of digging around the bulbs. there is one spot up the garden though where they are naturalized in a border and some have disappeared. it is close to where the squirrels do appear so perhaps....

[valmarg]

The thing about snowdrop bulbs is that they are very close to the surface, so there wouldn't be any evidence of digging.

What we have in the lawn are large holes where the american grey tree rat had been looking for the hazelnuts it buried last year.

valmarg

[Slug_killer]

I have literally thousands of snowdrops and nearly as many tree rats.

They dont appear to eat my bulbs, but then there is plenty of other things for them to eat.

Did they eat the bulbs before the conservatory was moved ?

[Palustris]

You can probably discount the tree rats, Snowdrop bulbs are poisonous. Only major pest of snowdrops is Narcissus root fly whos grub eats the bulbs to nothing.
Specifically, the bulbs needs a moist soil and shade once they have finished with the leaves. They have developed bulbs as a protection against loss of light rather than too much heat (which is why tulips and Narcissus have bulbs). I wonder if your bulbs are getting too dry and hot in Summer?

[Eristic]

I think the gravel is part of the problem.

[Georgie]

I think the gravel is part of the problem.

I don't understand.  Can you say a bit more?

G x

[Eristic]

They normally grow in grass under trees not under stones. Their habitat has changed and now they are giving up without a fight when before they thrived and multiplied. Just my opinion. No science.

[saddad]

and as they are shallow it will be too warm for them...  ???

[Garden Manager]

Thanks for replies.

Had not thought of a pest such as narcissus root fly (or perhaps eel worm?) I have lost daffs to either root fly or eel worm in the past but did not think they might affect snowdrops. Didnt think the pest was still present in the garden anyway. That said a similar reduction then complete disappearance similar to what is happening to the snowdrops happened with some other narcissi, although they were planted close to a box hedge so assumed root competion was to blame.

Too dry? After 2 wet summers I doubt it. My garden soil has barely had a chance to dry out since spring 2007!

The theory about gravel seems to ring quite true. Where I have snowdrops planted in open soil around other plants they seem to be doing well, its only where the gravel is they are disapearing. The only exception is where the bulbs are growing underneath a cistus, where they not only get shade but also regular mulching from cistus petals and leaves. 

Just one more question, can they be adversely affected by any spreading, ground cover plants, such as bugle (ajuga) creeping jenny (lysimachia) and alchemilla molis? I have a few clumps of snowdrops planted with these plants and I was wondering if I should keep them apart?

Thanks

[Palustris]

Shallow planting would only be a problem where they get too hot. Ours flower lying on the surface (moles, doncher know!)
Cannot see how gravel would affect them. We have clumps thriving in the gravel garden, but in the shady part of it rather than in full sun.
Most of ours come up under a carpet of ivy leaves, couch grass, Symphoricarpus, Cyclamen, Tiarella, Wood anemones, aconites and various other weeds, so competition does not seem to be a problem. Oh forgot about the Celandines.
Just because you have had plenty of rain does not mean that the soil for your bulbs is damp. Places in our garden are dry an hour after a downpour.
The fact that ones are thriving under a Cistus should give you a BIG clue as to what they like.

[Mrs Ava]

Just to add, my snowdrops have battled through slate chippings, thick leaves, and bugle and are flowering their little white socks off, so I don't think the gravel is the problem.  My whole garden is very shady due to the amount of mature trees in it and the spring bulbs love it so as Palustris hinted, I think you might want to move them into a damp, shady area.

[flossy]

   Plants hate being moved,   maybe recovery time is needed ?

   Just a thought -     ::)

   floss x

[hellohelenhere]

I'm thinking that the gravel might be the problem. It might only take a few baking hot days (and we did have some last year, hard though it is to remember!) for them to get thoroughly cooked... I remember a few days where our front door was hot enough to burn your hand, so in spite of the overall cool & dampness, there was some heat too.

[hopalong]

Damp and light shade is what snowdrops love, so I agree with others.  Maybe they've been allowed to dry out too much.