Snowdrops in your garden – when, where and how to plant for success – The Middle-Sized Garden
Snowdrops (Galanthus) are the flowers that say ‘winter is ending’. They symbolise a garden about to spring into life again.
And these tiny, pretty white flowers are almost completely maintenance-free. Plant them and they will grow.
Snowdrop days or ‘snowdrop walks’ are the first events of the garden visiting season. The National Garden Scheme has ‘Snowdrop Days’ in February.
One of these is Doddington Place Gardens in Kent (Open Day 16th February).
Doddington Place Gardens has a Snowdrop Day on Feb 16th
So I asked Head Gardener, Lucy Adams, to tell us what we need to know about growing snowdrops in our own gardens.
Snowdrops grow in the UK and most of Europe – anywhere where winters go no lower than minus 40C/minus 40F.
And they prefer mild summers, such as the typical UK summers, where average temperatures rarely go higher than 24C/75F. That would be zones 3-8 in the US and 3-9 in Canada.
However, some snowdrop varieties are less hardy, so buy your snowdrops locally and check their hardiness.
And after growing snowdrops, don’t miss how to grow daffodils and also how to grow tulips!
How to plant snowdrops
Like most professional gardeners, Lucy plants snowdrops ‘in the green.’ That means that the flowers have died but the plant still has green leaves.
You can buy snowdrops ‘in the green’ from online suppliers, local nurseries or even specialist snowdrop fairs.
The bulbs are dug up and sold in batches – anything from around 20-100 plants.
Order them any time up to the end of winter, then they’ll arrive in early spring. When they arrive, Lucy suggests that you divide some of them up.
‘Plant some in groups and others singly,’ she advises. ‘It’ll help them spread and looks naturalistic.’
Plant some snowdrops in groups and others singly for a naturalistic look. Lift and divide the bigger clumps every year to help them spread.
However, you can also buy snowdrop bulbs in autumn (fall) and plant them then. Plant them at 2-3 times the depth of the bulb, around 10-15cm/5″ deep.
It’s generally considered better to plant them ‘in the green’, but you’ll still get snowdrops if you plant them as bulbs.
Where to plant for a magical winter garden
Plant snowdrops in grass, under trees and shrubs that lose their leaves in winter, along the sides of pathways and anywhere you’ll see them in winter, such as the front garden.
They’re perfect ‘woodland garden’ or ‘cottage garden’ plants, so the trick is to plant ‘naturalistically’.
Lucy says that if you’re planting the bulbs, throw a handful into the area you want to plant, then plant them where they fall.
With plants ‘in the green’, plant them in different sized groups and some single ones.
‘Avoid planting them in a regimented way – no blocks or straight lines,’ says Lucy. Plant them in ‘drifts’ rather than lines.
Plant snowdrops in ‘drifts’ not in straight lines, like this planting around the firepit at Doddington Place Gardens.
How I’ve lost too many snowdrops over the years!
If you’re planting in a border, then Lucy suggests you mark where they are in some way.
Otherwise, you’re likely to dig them up accidentally when you plant or weed the border. The bulbs are so tiny, you may not even notice them.
I’ve done this several times. Once the leaves die back in spring, there’s no sign of the snowdrop above ground. So I’ve dislodged them when planting annuals.
The lesson is, I think, that I shouldn’t plant snowdrops in borders. There are lots of other places where they can grow in peace.
Can snowdrops grow in the shade?
These plants won’t be happy in full shade, Lucy says. But neither do they need full sun (although when I checked this on the internet, AI seemed to think snowdrops did need full sun. Take no notice!)
The brilliant thing about snowdrops is that they grow well under deciduous trees and shrubs. They’re ideal ‘woodland edge plants.’
That’s because ‘deciduous’ means they lose their leaves in autumn. So there’s lots of sunlight for the emerging snowdrops in late winter.
Then many trees and shrubs don’t get full leaf cover until late spring, by which time the snowdrops are ready to go dormant and die back. They disappear completely under the earth, returning late in the following winter.
Snowdrops can be planted under trees. The top photo shows the Wellingtonia avenue at Doddington Place Gardens. They are evergreen but the lower branches have been cut off so you can get light to the bulbs underneath. Above shows deciduous birch trees with snowdrops at their base. They get the winter sun because the trees lose their leaves in autumn.
Lucy says that snowdrops won’t grow well in full shade so they can’t usually be planted under evergreen trees and shrubs. However, there are two exceptions.
Firstly, snowdrops will often grow at the edge of the canopy of an evergreen tree because enough sunlight will usually reach them there.
Secondly, you can often grow them under evergreen trees if the lower branches have been removed to let in more sunlight. There is a magnificent avenue of Wellingtonias at Doddington Place Gardens, all under-planted with snowdrops. But these trees have very high canopies and all the lower branches have been removed.
What types should I grow?
‘Buy different kinds of snowdrops,’ Lucy advises. There are several varieties of snowdrops, each with many cultivars, so you can get lots of blooms at different heights and with different flower shapes.
Galanthus nivalis or the Common Snowdrop is the best variety for beginners, but they are all quite trouble-free, so buy the snowdrops that are available in your area.
Look for snowdrops of different heights and with different shaped flowers. At Doddington Place Gardens, they buy a mix of varieties to add to the collection every year.
A mix adds interest, although it looks best not to mix them in the clumps. For example, you might have a clump of Galanthus nivalis next to one of Galanthus Elwesii, plus a few single snowdrops dotted around.
Some people get so interested in these magical winter flowers that they collect hundreds of varieties. They’re called Galanthophiles.
How to grow snowdrops in pots
Like most plants, snowdrops grow well in pots. The important thing is to make sure that you have good drainage.
The bulbs will rot if the soil/potting compost stays wet for too long.
Otherwise plant the snowdrops at 2-3 times the depth of the bulb, as you would in the ground.
The only difference is that they will need some fertiliser after they flower. And you will have to water the pots so that they soil doesn’t dry out completely.
There’s more about growing plants in pots here.
Snowdrop care guide
This must be the shortest care guide in the history of gardening! Snowdrops need virtually no care once they are established.
You don’t need to add fertilizer to the planting hole. Nor do you need to add fertilizer later on after the flowers have died back.
There’s no dead-heading. And don’t cut back the leaves! They will take in the sunshine to create next year’s flowers.
The only care this enchanting winter flower needs is some water after planting ‘in the green’, especially if you have a dry spring.
If you plant bulbs in the autumn (fall), then you probably won’t have to water unless you get a very dry winter.
Will snowdrops grow through bark, grass, gravel or mulch?
Yes, they will, says Lucy. At Doddington Place Gardens, they don’t necessarily clear up leaves when they drop from the trees in autumn. In the areas where the snowdrops grow, leaves are left. The worms help them decompose and they turn into a rich nutritious mulch for future generations of plants.
For more about where and whether to clear up in autumn, see Leave the Leaves.
Snowdrops also grow through mulches. In the Rock Garden, there is gravel and horticultural sand. The plants grow up through it.
Snowdrops growing up through gravel and horticultural grit in the Rock Garden. See how to create a Rock Garden here.
They’re also happy growing in lawns.
How long does it take snowdrops to grow?
If you plant the bulbs in autumn, then they’ll flower a few months later. If you’re buying ‘in the green’, you’ll see the flowers at the end of next winter.
But developing a ‘snowdrop garden’ or a ‘snowdrop walk’ is a long-term project – unless you have the time and money to plant tens of thousands of bulbs at one time!
At Doddington Place Gardens, the Oldfields have been adding to their collection of snowdrops every year for almost thirty years.
There are two ways to grow your collection. One is to buy a few new plants every year. The other is to lift and divide clumps of snowdrops in spring, before the leaves die back.
What to plant with snowdrops?
Plants that flower at the same time include hellebores, winter aconites (Eranthus), primulas and primroses.
Winter aconites (Eranthus) with snowdrops.
Hellebores are a good companion plant – this white hellebore looks gorgeous with the white snowdrops.
Why can’t I grow snowdrops?
If you plant snowdrops, but you have no tiny white flowers blooming the following winter, then it’s most likely your climate. These little bulbs don’t grow if the weather is either too hot and dry or too cold and wet.
They’re not fussy about soil type, so there’s no ‘best soil for snowdrops’. But Lucy says they won’t like sitting around in very wet, heavy clay soil. And they don’t like having their bulbs baked dry in a hot summer.
Plus, of course, you may also be accidentally digging them up if they’re in borders.
Are snowdrops invasive?
No. They are native to Europe and the cooler parts of the Middle East, but they have spread around the world without causing any problems.
In many places, they are referred to as ‘naturalised’, which means they’ve grown in the wild for hundreds of years and are part of the eco-system.
More cottage garden and woodland garden ideas
Discover 25 best cottage garden plants here. And see here for ‘What is Cottage Garden Style and How to Achieve It.’
One of the best things you can do if you have lots of trees or shade in your garden is to make the most of them with a stumpery. Lucy has tips here on how to create a stumpery in your garden.
And even if your woodland garden is just a few trees in one corner, it’s important to maintain those trees. Getting in a good tree surgeon is expensive, but it’s worth paying for expertise. You’ll only need to prune trees every three or four years, but you don’t want branches hacked off by an amateur as that will lead to more problems down the line.
See what you need to know before you call in the tree surgeon and what’s the difference between an arborist, a tree surgeon and a chain saw man.
See the snowdrop gardens in more detail here.
Pin to remember growing snowdrops in your garden
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