Horticulture : News
DATE: August 17, 2010
HARDIN COUNTY COOPERATIVE EXTENSION SERVICE
201 Peterson Drive
Elizabethtown, Kentucky 42701-9370
BY: Amy Aldenderfer
County Extension Agent for Horticulture
Dividing (and Re-Planting) Perennials
If your perennials didn’t putting on their usual show this spring, it may be time to dig and divide. Perennials need space, and once they become crowded, blooms can become smaller and infrequent. Dividing the plants to create more room usually restores their vigor.
Fall is a good time to divide many perennials. If you are unsure about the timing, here is a good rule of thumb. If the plant blooms in the spring, divide it after it blooms or in the fall. If the plant blooms in the summer or fall, divide it in the spring.
Perennials grow from underground structures like fleshy roots, rhizomes or bulbs. This is the part of the plant that needs to be divided. Dig up the plant, remove old leaves and shake off loose dirt to expose the underground parts. Gently pull or cut the plant apart into several sections making sure each section has some recent growth at the top. Use one section to replace the original plant and set it in so that the crown is just at soil level. You can use the remaining “new” plants created from your divisions to expand your landscaping or share with gardening friends and relatives.
Many of us are sprucing up our gardens and yards with flowering annuals and perennials. But how can we tell if they are getting enough water?
There is one simple rule to follow: When it doesn't rain, gardens need irrigation. Using a garden sprinkler is a great way to provide flowers with the water they need. As plants are being established from transplantation, they will probably need two, one-inch waterings during a week without rain. After a few weeks, cut back to one, one-inch watering or a couple of one-half inch waterings. A previously established garden requires 1-2 inches of water a week.
Whether your garden is new or has been there for a few years, try watering on the same day each week.
Providing the right amount of moisture is simple if you have an empty margarine container around the house. Anchor the tub with a small rock and put it where water from the sprinkler will collect inside. Remove the rock and measure the water with a ruler; turn off the sprinkler once the container holds the amount of water you intended your garden to receive.
Although you might have the urge to provide your flowers with a water source all day long, only irrigate them during the morning and early afternoon hours. Leaving foliage wet after night fall will give foliar diseases the chance to develop.
As the weather gets hotter and summer is in full swing, you may want to change the way you water your flowers. Summer usually means that we experience an extended period of dryness.
During the hot and dry months of July and August, flowers will need water more frequently and to a deeper degree. Soaker hoses can be the perfect gardening companion for this time of year.
Arrange soaker hoses around the bases of flowering plants. To achieve deep watering in hot conditions, you may want to leave the hoses running for a couple hours. A hand trowel will help you determine just how far into the ground the water is reaching; the moisture should penetrate at least 6-8 inches below the soil surface. Unlike other forms of garden irrigation, soaker hoses can be used at any time of the day; they do not wet the foliage and won't encourage foliar diseases.
For more information on horticultural topics, contact the Hardin County Cooperative Extension
Service. Educational programs of the Cooperative Extension Service serve all people regardless of race, color, age, sex, religion, disability or national origin.
NOTE: Visit me in the Ag Village at the Heartland Festival on Aug 28th and see fall vegetables to grow, talk to a KY Master Gardener and take home some planting tips.
Website Design