Let's Grow Stuff

– Ben Futa: Dividing perennials is one of the easiest ways to make more of our favorite plants.

Let's get to it!

Fall is a great time to divide our garden plants because they don't mind a little disruption as they go dormant for the season.

It's also important to help them maintain vigor for years to come.

So, what is a herbaceous perennial?

Herbaceous perennials are those plants which come back year after year.

If it's not a tree, a shrub, or a bulb, then it's probably something that we can and should move this time of year.

In general, you'll know if a plant is ready to be divided, if it hasn't been flowering quite as vigorously in recent years, or if it has a dead zone near the center of the plant.

Today, we're dividing two plants: Allium summer beauty and some bearded Iris.

First, let's talk tools.

You'll want a digging fork with a handle in good shape.

If it's a wooden handle, make sure there's no fractures or cracks because we're putting a lot of tension and pressure on this as we're digging up our plants.

And you don't want your fork to snap.

A pair of pruners, a soil knife, and some rubbing alcohol for cleaning our tools.

Let's talk timing.

Choosing when to move and divide your perennials matters because this is going to be really stressful for them.

Try to aim for a cool or overcast day, or the early morning or early evening when you're going to be in shade.

Let's get started with the Allium.

Using a digging fork, dig in about six inches away from the plant at a 45-degree angle.

Push down on the handle of your digging fork to begin to lift the plant out of the soil.

You might need to rotate around the plant and do this from several different angles.

Once you feel the plant release, gently shake off any excess soil.

Now, it's time to divide our plants.

So, some plants are going to come apart more easily than others.

And in the case of this Allium, it should be relatively simple.

In most cases, we should just be able to grip both sides of the plant, gently wiggle it apart, and side to side a bit, and there we go.

We have some more new plants.

Now, we can keep repeating this process because there's still a lot of plant here.

So, I can do this several times to get many more plants out of this single clump.

As you can see, I have a few garden helpers today.

So, Kiko, what's the last thing we should do?

Is it time to plant our plants?

Should they go in the ground?

[Kiko pants excitedly] I think it is.

So, as soon as we're done dividing, it's a good idea to get your plants in the ground right away.

Again, these roots are delicate.

You can already see how quickly they're drying out.

So, as soon as we dig up, we need to divide and get it back into the ground and give it a good drink right away.

Next up, we're going to tackle this bearded Iris.

Now, this has only been in the ground for a couple of years, so it doesn't necessarily need to be divided.

I want to divide it because I want more of these plants in my garden.

Now, Iris grow from rhizomes, so they're going to look a lot different than the roots that we saw on the Allium.

In this case, we're going to start with our digging fork again.

Rhizomes are pretty shallow, so we don't need to go deep, wiggle our fork underneath, push back, jiggle it a little bit just to get off that loose soil.

And just using our hands, we can kind of move right in, fish them out, shake off the soil.

And look, right there, we've got a fresh new Iris ready to go to a new good home.

These are actually buds for next year.

Already beginning to form.

This main one that I'm holding here will be what produces the flower next spring.

These will produce flowers the year after.

Now, before we replant our Iris, we have one more thing we need to do, and that is to remove about half of the leaves.

We do this for two reasons, and it could apply to many other perennials, as well.

The first is to help keep it stable in the soil.

Now that these roots have been removed, they aren't gripping in when I replant quite like they were before.

So, if we get a strong wind or water, it's likely just to topple right out of the ground.

And if I don't catch it in time, the roots could dry out, and it could die.

So we don't want that.

The other reason for removing part of the leaves is to help it reduce how much water is being lost through the leaves.

So, this is going to help, again, smooth that transition as this plant gets re-adapted to its new setting.

So, all I'm doing is just bunching up the leaves here, taking my sharp disinfected pruners, and just right across the top.

So now, this is ready for replanting, and we should get a nice flower stock out of the center one just next spring.

Now, don't be surprised if your plants drop a few leaves or maybe go dormant earlier than usual this year.

That is a totally normal response to being moved, especially this time of season.

And they're doing that to conserve energy and get ready to grow and bloom next spring.

Well, there you have it.

You are on your way to making more of your favorite plants.

And don't forget, there is so much more to learn online at LetsGrowStuff.org.

We have more videos, tips, tricks, and a blog to help you grow a better garden.

So, until next time, happy gardening!

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