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dahlia's and parsley
crispin evans
Posts: 5
Hi,
I have been a bit remiss with some of my gardening in the autumn so I did not lift the dahlia tubes due to them still flowering late or tidy herb patch.
I have just cut back the dahlia's and accidentally lifted one of the tubes which appears healthy.
My question is should I lift the dahla's now ( i would ideally like to relocate some of them). Should I also be splitting the tubas.
As previously has been mentioned I also left the parsley to fend for it self. It is looking a bit yellow in places. Should I be trying to trimming parsley to refresh it or should I dig plants up and replace with new.
0
Posts
I always leave my Dahlias in the ground and so far they have kept coming back. I suppose a lot will depend on the soil you have mine drains fairly well. I can't advise on propagation. Re parsley I would just trim it back and leave it. Again, mine has been in the garden for 4 years now and keeps coming back. I suspect someone else will come along and give a bit of expert advice.
It depends on where you are and the weather you get. If the tubers are currently sound and not mushy, then you could lift them carefully as they will regrow. The will die if frosted, so unless you can guarantee the ground remaining unfrozen, your best bet is probably to store them for a while somewhere like a frost free shed. You can pot them up or lay them in a tray with a covering of almost dry sand or compost, or just wrap them in newspaper. Do check them first for any lurking slugs! Keep them dry until you see signs of sprouting and then you will need somewhere for them to grow until the last frost has passed. If you are in a warm part of the world that can be the garden, but otherwise a shed, cold greenhouse,or even as I do, the spare bedroom windowsill. Pot them up, water only moderately and if you want to increase your favourites you can take a cutting or two of the new shoots, cutting low down near the tuber with a sharp knife.
As for the parsley it is naturally biennial, so in the second year tends to flower and seed. You won't get as many leaves from it. If you leave it and it is happy it will seed itself and will provide you with new plants for next year, but you will need to sow some more for this year.