Everything coming up and re done

Need some advice please, I have always liked gardening as i always helped my dad who had a fantastic garden. Anyway i have a raised flower bed in my back garden 2 foot high 18 foot long and 3 foot wide! I built this 5 years ago and really put a lot of time into the planting and looking after the plants. Then comes along my son so for the past 3 years even tho i still watered it in the dry weather I never really took care of the soil ie compost feed or anything like that. I want to dig all my perennials out now as they need dividing and i need to turn all my soil over and I want to put in about 6 bags or so of a good compost. What would you reccomend?, just a multi compost? I have in there now coneflower, agapanthus, lupins, delphiniums and redbeckia helenium. Will these be ok to take out now and diveded? I have a few others that will be ok just not sure on these. I am getting back into the gardening bug now as i have time and love gardening, My agapanthus had a bad year last as i have had it 7 years and it didn't get one flower. Thanks for any advice and its a great site

 

Wecome to Gardeners Corner Toad.

Not a bedding man myself but nothing wrong with digging a bit of multi purpose in

 

Thanks ziggy, Was in the garden this morning and the soil needs some atation as it just looks and feels poor. Was thinking multi get a load of bags and just giving it a good turn over and a feed. Been looking on this site regards compost there seems to be some rubbish compost out there i have been reading??

 

It`s too late to take the plants out now Toad. Give them all a good general feed, Growmore will do, and do the revamp next November/December time.

 

Thanks daitheplant that's a shame:( My agapanthus had a shocking year and think it needs dividing? Plus could do with moving a few but if you think its the wrong time i will take your advice and wait. Was looking forward to getting my hands dirty this weekend aswell!!

 

Hi Toad - I don't think you can split Lupins very easily. They have a tap root - a main very deep root, which is invariably broken when lifted. But why not get some more for next year. I grow them as a biennial, as once they have finished flowering I throw them away (as they can't be moved) and replace them by something late flowering like Dahlias). I grow them from seed, but within the last few days I bought a small pot of about 50 seedlings for £2.99 in a garden centre and have potted them all up. I am now wondering why I bother with seed.

 

Thanks pete, will it be ok to dig up all the plants i have said just to re plant them?Even if i dont split As they have just grown a bit to much and taking over each other. Think i have lost my old fav agapanthus as the other 6 are coming thro but no joy with this one i think:(

 

Dai says its a bit late to dig up plants now - and he probably knows more about it than me. But I was hoping to dig up some of mine and split them, and I probably still will.

I find it a lovely time of year now. When the weeding is finished (nearly done) - it all looks so neat, with all the plants just showing as small mounds so you can see exactly what you have got and where it is. Later in the season my garden gets so grown up that all the plants run one into the other.

I would be tempted to say that you could still dig up plants now and even split them (but not into too small pieces). In fact I would be tempted to say that you can dig up most border perennials at almost any time of the growing seasom - though you might lose some flowers that way. When I started, I did a complete makeover of my garden in the middle of summer and dug up every single perennial plant and put them in supermarket plastic bags (and watered them). They seemed to do OK for several weeks in the bags. If you dig up plants with a lot of top growth, you must cut some of the growth back otherwise you will have too much top growth that can't be supported by the roots that you will have effective reduced by the act of lifting (and breaking roots).

There are at least two plants you can dig up at almost any time, and that is Lobelia (the tall perennial) and Asters. According to Christopher Lloyd (of Great Dixter) you can dig these up even when they are in flower and they won't turn a hair.

However I am not sure about Agapanthus. I don't know much about bulbs. I don't think they have the same fibrous roots as ordinary perennials so I am more wary. I have always understood that they flower best when crowded. So they may not need to be split up like other perennials. But I don't know if that is just an old wife's tale or not.

 

Thanks pete, A lot of the plants i want to dig up will be a straight dig up and re planted in the same day, The only ones that i want to divide really are the redbeckia really all the others just need moving and replanting same day. I have read somewhere that they recommend splitting agapanthus after about 6 to 8 years or when it stops flowering? Got loads of green foliage last year but not one flower. Also it has been planted in a small pot then planted straight in soil! Took the pot out with the agapanthus in last night and think its dead? All my others are coming thro now but nothing on this one:( Not took it out of the pot yet to see tho doin that later this afternoon

 

I think I am going to have to disagree with Daitheplant - I think there is still plenty of time to dig up and split plants.

I have always had a bad memory, so I don't try to remember fact about individual things like a specific plant. Rather I try to remember the principles, which can then be applied to many plants. I have had a look through my books on propagation again and my understanding for hardy perennials is this :-

1) The reason why plants suffer if you lift or split them is because you inevitably cause some damage to the roots and even the top growth. This can allow bacteria and viruses to enter the plant, so the quicker the plant is able to repair the damage the safer it is.

2) Topgrowth (mainly leaves) on plants breathe out moisture, which must be provided by the roots. As long as the roots and the topgrowth are in balance the plant is happy. But if you reduce the roots by breaking them, you might need to reduce the topgrowth so that it doesn't demand more water than the roots can provide.

3) Some plants have tap roots. These are large, mainly single roots that can go very deep. Their advantage is that they can draw up moisure from great depths, which makes them drought resistant. Their disadvantage is that when you lift them you invariably break the tap root and often kill the plant. You can move these when they are very young, but its much more difficult when they are full grown.

These principles influence the times when plants can be divided.

A) Winter. Although it is common practice to divide in winter, it is generally a bad time, as if you damage the plant the low temperatures and low light levels mean that the plant will take a long time to heal itself. However a lot of plants are so tough that they can be divided in winter, inspite of rather than because of the time of year. Plants include Aster, Eupatorium, hardy Geraniums, Helenium, Sedum and many others.

B) Spring and early summer. This is generally the best time as plants are growing strongly and won't usually have much topgrowth yet. However plants that are flowering now are better divided later in the year.

C) Summer. Plants now have a lot of topgrowth and may be flowering. This is not such a good time, but if neccessary it can be done if you cut back the topgrowth heavily.

D) Late summer, early autumn. Now is a good time to split the plants that were flowering in early spring such as Primula. This covers most woodland plants, which have to flower early, before the leaves appear on the trees. They then tend to go somewhat dormant in the heat of mid summer and start into growth again in late summer, preparing for winter and an early start again next year. Splitting should be done in time for plants to recover and survive the winter cold, otherwise keep them in a cold frame over winter.

Sorry, its a bit of a treatise - I tend to get carried away. :D