Dividing Perennial Plants

Dividing perennial plants is a quick way to multiply the plants in your garden and is also necessary every few years to maintain the vigor of some perennials.

Not all perennials need dividing, though. Peonies, for example can grow happily in the same spot for years and years and never need dividing, and if you do move them it will take them a couple of years before they are blooming happily again.

You can usually tell if a perennial needs dividing because it will not bloom as prolifically as in the past.  It may also develop a dead ring in the center of the plant. Siberian Iris is notorious for doing this. 

Late August or early September is a good time for dividing iris and lilies if you live in the Midwest, the South or Southwest.  They have finished blooming by then and dividing and replanting them now will give them time to establish new root systems before autumn so that they will be ready to bloom with new vigor next year. 

In general though, you divide spring blooming plants immediately after they bloom and ones that bloom later in the early spring soon after the crown starts to sprout, (which is why I'm writing this now as I have a few I want to divide and replant or give away).

Early spring when pips emerge is a good time to divide plants because of several reasons.  It's easy to see where everything is, the roots are small. There is a whole growing season ahead for plants to reestablish themselves and the ground is usually easy to work.

Actually, when you divide perennials varies a little depending on where you live, but anytime is OK as long as you do it about a month before very cold or hot weather sets in. Be sure to give your newly divided plants lots of TLC for awhile after transplanting them, though.

To divide tuberous plants like iris and lilies, dig up the whole clump and carefully pull apart several tubers.  One clump can be put back in your original hole and you probably have two or three more clumps that can be planted somewhere else or traded with a friend for something they are dividing.

Dividing perennial plants that have tough fibrous roots is usually done with shovel or sharp edged spade.  As before dig up the whole clump and then look for separate crowns within the clump.  With the end of your shovel sharply push downward and split the clump into pieces making sure to have a crown in each clump.

If the roots of the perennial you dividing are shallow you can sometimes divide your clumps with two garden forks to gently pull apart sections.

When you’re dividing perennial plants, it’s also a good time to enrich your soil and add fertilizer and mulch.  Even if you are using the same planting hole, you should loosen the soil all around the hole and carefully spread out the root ball as much as possible before replanting it.

It’s ideal if your newly divided plants are going immediately back in the ground, but this isn’t always possible so make sure to take some steps to protect your divisions until you can plant them. 

Sometimes I will temporarily plant mine in large containers and keep them well watered in a shady part of the yard.  Large plastic bags work well for sharing plants with friends. It is easy to slip the whole root ball into a big bag which I add water to and then tie the top of the bag around the stems.

If you keep the roots damp until you can plant them and then water well and regularly when you do, you should be very successful dividing perennial plants.  For added protection you might want to fertilize your new plant with a solution that encourages strong root growth.

It is perhaps intimidating to dig up a growing plant and chop it up into pieces, but once you do it and succeed, you’ll realize that perennials are pretty tough.  Your labor has just rewarded you with new plants and more flowers for the next growing season.

Happy gardening and thanks for gardening with Julie!

Julie's Garden Journal: Earth Day

Julie's Garden Journal: Earth Dayhttps://www.facebook.com/JuliesGardenJournal?ref=aymt_homepage_panel

Celebrating Earth Day Everyday

Earth Day was officially yesterday, and it’s been said before,, but shouldn’t every day be Earth Day?  I went on the Internet, and there are countless organizations out there that you can join, or contribute to, in order to make a difference, but some of the older, simpler ideas are still valid and bear repeating… so I will.

There are many simple things you can do to celebrate Earth Day everyday.  Here are some that could become habitual if you worked at it.

Buy nothing today that cannot be reused, recycled, or repurposed. Then try it for two days, a week, a month…

Put several reusable bags in your car or brief case and use them whenever you buy something.

Some things do not need to be put in a bag at all!  Carry it in your hands or put it immediately in your purse.

Look for products that have less packaging. 

Ask for fast food to be delivered wrapped in a napkin not in a styrofoam box.

Buy a water bottle and fill it up from a faucet.

Investigate paperless banking.

Support organic farming and organic products.

Try to buy locally as much as possible.

Make your own compost and plant your own small garden.

Try to not fertilize your lawn.

Turn off lights, and TVs when you’re not using them.

Ride your bike. Take the bus. Car pool.  Walk.

Teach your children to love the Earth.  Don’t litter and don’t ever let them, either.

Take a garbage bag with you when you go on a walk and pick up litter wherever and whenever you find it.

Plant something. Then do it again.  Do it often.

Tune your eyes into the beauty of small growing and living things.  (Spend time with a child-they’ll show you how to do this if you’ve forgotten.)

Spend time outside and teach your children to do so also.

Unplug appliances and electronics when they’re not being used.  Did you know there is electricity still being used when things are fully charged but not unplugged?

Plant native plants and drought resistant plants in your yard.

Be creative!  Share your ideas.  Many minds are better than one!

In fact I’d love to hear from you.  What are your ideas for making Earth a better place to live for all of us?

Earth Day

Earth Day (which should be celebrated every day) is actually formally being celebrated today this year, and I’m hoping that my article will encourage you to do something special or different this year to help our Earth which has blessed us so richly and is suffering enormously from our arrogant ignorance and neglect.

Every day scientists learn more and more about the web of life and how interconnected every living thing is and I’m of the opinion that it’s up to all of us to sit up and listen and then change our opinion if necessary.

I’m only one person and my view is limited to the Midwest United States, but everywhere you look in every corner of the earth there are serious environmental issues that are affecting not just local populations but global populations as well.  My hope is that after reading my article, your imagination will be sparked and you will be motivated to do something (anything!) to help heal the Earth.

Can we make a difference?  Yes, I believe we can.  There are countless humans on our planet.  If even a third of us picked up one bag of garbage that is currently littering our highways and waterways the amount of trash blowing around would be significantly reduced.

Sometime ago I read a book called Thoughtful Gardening by Robin Lane Fox.  I agree with much of what he has to say, but I beg to differ when he says we’re fooling ourselves if we think we are making a difference.  I know when I create a “meadow garden” or any other specialized kind of garden that it is for my own enjoyment, and I’m not saving the world or a species of flora or fauna, but it does make a difference to the birds in my neighborhood and it makes a difference to me.

If each and every one of us tries their best to make a thoughtful difference than, yes, we can heal the Earth.   It won’t be the Earth of our ancestors, but still a healthy productive planet.

So with that said here are my ideas for celebrating Earth Day, today.  

Make it fun!  Gather as many of your friends, neighbors, children, or community members as you can and pick up garbage, plant trees, or donate to the world wildlife, ocean, or rainforest organizations.  Encourage co-workers to brown bag their lunches (then reuse the bag or get a non throw away lunch bag), recycle their soda cans, or better yet bring their water from home in a permanent container–not a plastic bottle.  Buy no take out in Styrofoam containers.  Turn off the lights.  Monitor your water use.  Recycle everything you can and build a compost bin.

Even if we only did it today, we would make a difference. Think what we could do if we made it a habit and did it every day.  Get the kids outside-today and every day.  If the children are to inherit the world then teach them to love it.  Enlist their help to pick up garbage, and never, ever, allow children to throw their unwanted litter on the ground.

This is not a time to say: “Do as I say, not as I do” either. Children learn from their elders and will model your behavior and then make it their own habit. So carry your own garbage home, too and don’t throw it out the window of a moving vehicle.   It might be gone, but it certainly isn’t forgotten.

Here are some more activities that school children or art students might enjoy.  Make it a point to go outside and draw something natural today.  Look at it closely.  Marvel at the complexity and detail of a stone, a blade of grass, a small insect, a flower, or a shell.  Even the homeliest objects are quite beautiful when examined closely.

Take a walk, rake the grass, plant a garden, have a picnic or make a day of it and do it all. Try to go an entire day without purchasing anything at all!

Is anyone handy with tools?  If so build a bird house, or fix a fence.  Look around.  What do you see?  Mend whatever you see that needs a little tender, loving care. It’s human nature to take better care of things that are pleasant to look at, so it makes sense that if your environment is more attractive, it is less likely to be a victim of unfortunate behavior.

I imagine that newspapers will be publishing articles about activities in your area that are going on all next week.  Make a point to discover what they are and start making a plan of your own. How are you and your family going to participate?  If you see nothing that peaks your interest then take the bull by the horns, so to speak, and you be the organizer.

Do me a personal favor, too.  If what I’ve said resonates with you and I hope it does then take it viral! Write back to me, too.  Share your ideas, your projects and your pictures.  Together we can make a difference!  

Happy Earth Day and thanks for gardening with Julie!

A Raised Bed made of Recycled Pallets- A Cautionary Tale

A raised bed made out of recycled pallets seemed like a wonderful idea.  I have wanted a raised garden bed for several years, but my husband hasn’t been very keen on making one.  Before you pass judgment, he had some valid reasons for being reluctant.  First of all, I have two relatives that give me tons of vegetables that they grow every year. 

Then there’s the fact that every year my flower gardens seem to get larger, and I haven’t found any more time in a day to tend them. My husband doesn’t help in the gardens- they’re all mine. 

From past experience he knows that all of my bright ideas cause him more work and maybe a headache or two, and neither one of us have any carpentry skills. We have no good tools either-but I always seem to forget that fact!

So anyway a new gardening year was beginning and I started my old campaign:

Me: I want a raised vegetable bed.

Him: Why?

Me: To grow herbs and vegetables.

Him: Where are you going to put it?  (Good question.  We’re running out of sunny locations.)

Me:  I don’t know.

Him: (Rolls eyes.)   End of conversation.

Two days later, as fate would have it, my neighbor throws away four perfectly beautiful wood pallets.  A raised bed of recycled pallets seemed like a wonderful idea!  I mean how hard could it be?  I could probably even do it myself!

(Finished raised bed will reside where old white current bushes are to left of pallets)

Have you ever seen the scads of wonderful things people have made out of pallets and then posted on Pinterest?  I was so inspired!

Him:  What are those for?

Me:  My raised bed!  (They were free and a raised bed out of pallets seemed like a wonderful idea.)

Him:  Where are you going to put it?

Me:  I’m not sure yet.

A week later, I still didn't have them completely disassembled.  It was much more difficult than I’d anticipated to tear them apart.

Husband breaks down and tries to help me.  Then the hammer breaks- don’t ask!  It was old!

Him:  You need to buy a new hammer, tomorrow.

Me: OK…

Us: Silence!

So work resumed and after three different ideas for how to reassemble them, I come up with a place to put them-except we have tear out a white current hedge that backs up to one side of our patio. Fortunately, my son volunteered to help dig them out (or we’d still be doing it!)

In the meantime a friend of ours (?) is laughing at us and sent us an ad for an easy to assemble (no tools) raised bed kit from one of the big box stores for a unbelievably cheap price.  (Cheaper than a new hammer, nails and metal corners- oh and bandaids.)

Now, I realized that the ground sloped down from the patio and the raised bed turns into a retaining wall.  Actually, it’s still a brilliant idea and work progresses.

A week later, two trips to the hardware store for nails-wrong size the first time, three trips for dirt-it seemed like a bottomless pit to fill it, we were ready to plant our new garden.

It’s fabulous.  I love it. It was worth all the tears, slivers, bent nails and one broken hammer!  

As Kermit said:  “It’s not easy being green!”

P.S. Two years later:  We need a few more nails to reinforce one side and more dirt because winter has caused the soil to compact (or disappear completely?), but it is still worth all the effort it took to build it!

Now as a new gardening season approaches I'm ready to plant some cool weather crops such as lettuce, peas, onions, and spinach. Later these crops will be replaced with tomatoes, several herbs and peppers.

Our raised bed is not large. Proving that you don't need a ton of space for a nice garden. Sometimes you just need an idea and some hard work.  (Willing partners useful, but not necessary!)

(plastic dinosaur optional!)

Maybe this is your year to build a raised vegetable bed or two?  Thanks for reading Julie's Garden Journal and happy gardening!