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Does this need dividing

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  • FairygirlFairygirl Posts: 55,117
    Ah - that explains it @nutcutlet :)

    I usually use a spade for dividing, but some people use forks. Depends on how wet or dry your soil is. 
    It's a place where beautiful isn't enough of a word....



    I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
  • nutcutletnutcutlet Posts: 27,445
    I dig it up and keep anything with good root at one end and healthy leaves at the other. Sometimes that isn't much but it all grows. 


    In the sticks near Peterborough
  • FairygirlFairygirl Posts: 55,117
    I wonder if my conditions here are a factor @nutcutlet ?  I rarely get perennials dying back in the middle. 
    It's a place where beautiful isn't enough of a word....



    I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
  • JennyJJennyJ Posts: 10,576
    The classic way is to dig out and lift the whole clump and divide by pushing in two forks back to back and wiggling them apart, or chop up with a spade, discard any dead sections and replant the rest. I never got on with the two forks method.
    The lazy way is to chop out chunks with a spade (something like taking alternate slices of a cake then go underneath the rootball from the outside) and replant them, then fill the gaps with soil or a mix of soil and compost (I use the homemade stuff). I find it easier than lifting out the whole clump, particularly if it's got large and heavy.
    Either way, it's best done when they're just starting into growth in spring or have started dying back in autumn, then the roots can get established without having to support a lot of top growth and flowers. Give a good drink beforehand so that the soil is moist and less inclined to crumble away from what you lift, and water in afterwards to settle the soil.
    Doncaster, South Yorkshire. Soil type: sandy, well-drained
  • WildlifeloverWildlifelover Posts: 380
    That’s great, many thanks indeed. I’ll divide this particular plant in the autumn then. 
  • didywdidyw Posts: 3,573
    I use an old bread knife to saw through plants when I divide them.
    Gardening in East Suffolk on dry sandy soil.
  • nutcutletnutcutlet Posts: 27,445
    Fairygirl said:
    I wonder if my conditions here are a factor @nutcutlet ?  I rarely get perennials dying back in the middle. 
    Might be Fairy, without watering (which mine don't get) many struggle towards the end of summer


    In the sticks near Peterborough
  • FairygirlFairygirl Posts: 55,117
    Sorry - just saw your reply @nutcutlet.
    Yes, I can understand that. We don't really have that problem here.
    I don't really water apart from seedlings/cuttings etc, or annuals and bulbs etc that are in pots. Even new plants and shrubs can just be bunged in a border and left to get on with it. Watered once, twice at most,  and left.  :)
    It's a place where beautiful isn't enough of a word....



    I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
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