Divide and Conquer

On this glorious sunny day (after some serious rain), we divided irises and put the divisions in pots. We spent three and a half hours doing some serious work. The first iris we removed from the ground put up a fight. It took 15 minutes of digging and coaxing roots to separate. We used a long (transplanting) spade and a garden spade to pry those roots loose (in the picture you can see the long spade; the other one is a clamming shovel which helped to lift the plant.)

Once we got the plants out of the ground we trimmed the fronds and roots with scissors. We also used knives to break the root ball up. These irises were so root-bound the roots went in multiple directions; made it difficult to breakdown.  

Here are a few that were potted. We used three large bags of garden soil to create 32 iris pots with an additional ten irises that needed soil to be potted. These were from three of the root-bound irises. See how nicely the irises look after a trim. Only a few more irises to remove. There are a few irises we will not divide but instead, we will move them around the garden bed. 

Winter is coming and there are a few things we will be doing to get the bed ready for the change in season. This includes cutting dogwood bushes to the ground and removing dead plants. A gardener's work is never done. 

 

Are you wondering what we will do with those irises? Keep an eye out here or visit the GERGC website to learn more. https://www.facebook.com/greatereaglerivergardenclub