Tulips-
The tighter they are crammed the fewer years they will bloom if they' re competeing with other plants in the yard.
You got the gist: bone meal, mulch.. I do tend to pack them. You'll change your mind throughout the seasons, dig them up by accident, things will go wrong- I don't plant tulips on a lifetime plan. I do put them within 1-2" of each other.

Tulips are not annuals, but about 5 years of solid blooming without digging a new hole- is nothing to sneeze at. That's pretty solid performance. When they start to overcrowd and given how cheap new bulbs are..

thats what I plan for... you could dig them up, slpit them, wait for maturity- but 5 years is a good run for any plant in northern climes

plant them close, 1-2" between bulbs and enjoy your 4-6 years

@Turbosaurus thank you for the info and suggestions. Believe it or not, the tulips I planted in these beds many years ago bloomed for a crazy number of years - well over 10 with some poppling up after 15 years. I was meticulous with spacing and used plenty of fertilizer/bone meal. Apparently tulip fertilizer works better than bone meal these days.

You are right that tulips closer in together looks nicer than farther apart. And 5 years is a good run.

I'm thinking of having them go for tulips now as well as carpet roses in spring in the same lower front bed - I'm only wondering how far apart to plant the carpet roses from each other, and how much space to allow between the tulips and carpet roses.

Regarding flowers along the fence - they won't provide as much privacy as the arbor vitae shrubs especially vertically. A trellis could be installed for the climbing flowers but still wouldn't provide as much privacy as the arbor vitae. So trying to get more opinions from good garden centers on the arbor vitae.

There is enough space for the arbor vitae as some of the concrete patio near the fence can be removed to make room for more of them.

Im STILL confused about arborvitae and Thuja- I think I got Thuja- they're freeking HUGE- 30' tall, take up a TON of space and are gonna cost me a fortune to dig out. granted they're 20 years old and I have no idea what I was doing back then. Just make sure you get arborvitae.

I like the vines becasue they flower, are easy to train, you can keep them to a 12 inch depth indefinately, and getting rid of them if you change your mind is easy- no giant stumps to dig out.

Oh, and I don't think I mentioned it, but you definitely have the right idea with the hydrangea in that shady back corner; they are so tolerant and well behaved- they stay in their spots and put up a beautiful show of foliage and blooms year after year after year with very little care.

Unless you live in an area with late frosts or super cold winters....even my Endless Summer only had 2 small blooms on it this year....Revolution also only had 2, but they were larger! I keep threatening to dig out my hydrangeas, but it would take me years!

1) Do you think they can get away with planting some Carpet Roses in the same bed as these tulips, and should space be made for those carpet roses now in between bunches of tulips?

2) Should I have them repeat the pattern of years ago, which was to plant alternating early, mid and late bulbs front to back and side to side, so that the whole bed (190 in x 26 in.) was always blooming. Like this:

Early = Early
Mid = Mid
Late = Late

L-M-E-L-M-E-L-M-E-L-M-E
M-E-L-M-E-L-M-E-L-M-E-L
E-L-M-E-L-M-E-L-M-E-L-M
L-M-E-L-M-E-L-M-E-L-M-E
M-E-L-M-E-L-M-E-L-M-E-L
E-L-M-E-L-M-E-L-M-E-L-M

Turbosaurus said:Im STILL confused about arborvitae and Thuja- I think I got Thuja- they're freeking HUGE- 30' tall, take up a TON of space and are gonna cost me a fortune to dig out. granted they're 20 years old and I have no idea what I was doing back then. Just make sure you get arborvitae.

Turbosaurus you definitely have Green Giant Arbor Vitae. They grow even larger than yours and are a lot more effort to keep trim and under control. They do give you the fastest growth, tallest growth, very hardy even in heavy snow loading, but at the expense of more to do to keep them trim and a duller green color. Requires much less direct sunlight to thrive.

By contrast, from what I've read and heard, Emerald Green Arbor Vitae grow more slowly, don't get as tall, give you a tighter growth between branches (better shelter for birds), have a brighter green color but are more susceptible to damage from heavy snow loading. The Emerald Green gives a much tighter growth for better concealment as a privacy divider. Emerald Green also requires more hours of direct sunlight to thrive (at least 6 hours I was told by one grower).