When should I plant or move snowdrops?

Snowdrops are the standard exception to the autumn bulb-buying routine. They have thin-skinned bulbs that dehydrate readily, and dry bulbs sold in autumn frequently fail or sulk for a year or two. Buying and moving them in leaf gets round the problem entirely and is how gardeners have swapped them for generations.

What you'll need

• Garden fork
• Trowel
• Watering can
• Leafmould or garden compost (optional)

Step by step

1. Buy or move them in the green, in leaf.From roughly February to April, once flowering is over or nearly over and the leaves are still fully green. Suppliers dispatch them freshly lifted at this time and specialist nurseries sell them this way only.
2. Choose the right position.Snowdrops want dappled shade in summer and moisture-retentive soil that does not dry out. Under deciduous trees and shrubs, in a hedge bottom, or along a shaded border is ideal. They fail in dry sunbaked ground and in permanently waterlogged soil.
3. Lift an existing clump with a fork, well away from the bulbs.Push the fork in a good distance out and lever the whole clump up with soil attached, rather than spearing through the middle of it.
4. Pull the clump apart into small groups.Individual bulbs establish more slowly than small groups of three to five, which look better sooner. Tease them apart by hand rather than cutting.
5. Replant immediately at the same depth.Look at the stem: there is a white section that was below ground and a green section that was above it. Replant so the junction sits at soil level. Planting too shallow is the commonest error and reduces flowering.
6. Space the groups and let them spread.Set the groups 100 to 150mm apart. A well-sited planting will multiply into a sheet over several years, so leave room rather than packing them in.
7. Water them in thoroughly.This matters more than with an autumn-planted dry bulb, because the plant is in full leaf and has just lost part of its root system. Keep them watered for a few weeks if the spring is dry.
8. Mulch with leafmould or compost.Snowdrops thrive in leafy woodland-type soil. An annual mulch of leafmould in autumn suits them exactly.
9. Leave the foliage completely alone afterwards.As with all bulbs, the leaves rebuild the bulb. Let them yellow and die back naturally, which happens by about May.
10. Divide congested clumps every few years.A clump that has become tight and is flowering less will respond to being lifted, split and replanted in the green. This is also how you turn one good clump into a drift.

Tips

• The traditional way to acquire snowdrops is a bag from another gardener in March. It is far more reliable than dry bulbs and usually free.
• If you can only find dry bulbs, buy them as early in autumn as possible, choose the plumpest, plant them immediately and deeply, and expect a poor first year.
• Winter aconites behave identically and are planted in the green for the same reason.
• Snowdrop varieties are extraordinarily numerous and some are extremely expensive. Common Galanthus nivalis is the one that naturalises most readily and cheaply, and it is a good place to start.

Common mistakes

• Buying dry snowdrop bulbs in autumn — They dehydrate easily and often fail or lose a year. In the green is the reliable way to buy and move them.
• Replanting too shallow — The white part of the stem shows the original depth. Planting above that line reduces flowering and leaves the bulbs vulnerable to drying out.
• Letting them dry out after replanting — A plant in full leaf with a disturbed root system needs water. Snowdrops moved and then left dry in a warm March often fail.
• Planting them in a hot dry sunny border — They are woodland plants and need summer shade and moisture. In dry sun they dwindle and vanish.

Questions people ask