Spring Garden Preparation Checklist
Spring is right around the corner, which means the gardening season is starting! Make sure you are prepared with this article from Wayside Gardens, including information like what plants to prune in spring, how to properly plant a tree, how to make the most of your compost, how to divide daylilies, and more!
Read MoreThe Labor Day holiday comes at the perfect time for busy gardeners! Bearded Irises should be divided every 2 to 3 years, and Daylilies need division every 3 to 5 years. Late summer is the best time to do this, so make a morning of it and do both at once!
Bearded Iris is very easy to dig up, because the rhizome sits at soil level. Carefully dig it up, keeping as many roots as possible, and wash it off. Then check the rhizome carefully for soft areas and small holes. Remove all of these undesirable areas with a sharp knife, then divide the remaining rhizome at its natural joints (shown at right with a red arrow). Trim the foliage back to about 6 inches, and re-plant the new rhizomes.
Like everything else about Daylilies, division is very simple! Just dig up the plant, taking care to keep as many of the roots intact as possible. Then plunge two garden forks back-to-back through the center of the plant and gently pull them apart, dividing the plant in two. Repeat until you have smaller clumps. Trim the foliage back to about 12 inches and re-plant the new clumps, hilling up the soil and fanning at the roots.
Now that you have many more new Bearded Iris and Daylily plants, you might consider creating an accent planting of just these two perennials. They both appreciate sunshine and good drainage, and bloom successively, with the Daylilies often encoring to keep the Irises company! This way you can dig up and divide the entire planting every 3 years, and keep your garden growing in beauty.
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Bulbs should be firm and never mushy or rotten—small amounts of surface mold should be okay. If only a small part of the bulb seems to be mushy, try slicing off that part with a knife and stick it in the ground anyway. It’s better to give it a fighting chance than to just assume it’s dead and throw it away. Even chancy plants can live a healthy life if you’re diligent.
Bulbs that have already sprouted will be vulnerable during the winter, so make sure your bulbs have as little new growth as possible. Larger flower bulbs, like tulips, produce bigger plants and tend to come up later in the season than plants from smaller bulbs. Plants with smaller bulbs, like crocus, come up much earlier.
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