AUTUMN IN CHECK: SHAPING YOUR PLANTS

AUTUMN MUST DO: Shaping Your Plants
WHEN: Early Autumn – when the sun is still shining
DESCRIPTION: Lift and divide perennial plants
OUTCOME: Shape your plants to determine and enable their growth

 
Charlie’s 5 steps to lifting and dividing perennials

1. Firstly reduce the size of your plant by pruning the foliage with secateurs. Doing this will prevent your plant from transpiring too much and wilting when you dig it up.
2. Lift the whole plant out of the ground. It’s best to dig around with a garden fork and try to get as much of the root ball as possible. Using a fork rather than a shovel helps protect the roots.
3. We want to next split the plant in half – or more pieces if it is larger. For smaller plants it’s best to divide the plant using secateurs – just remember to sharpen them immediately afterwards! Simply cut through the root balls and then separate the plant out with your hands. For larger plants – and native grasses in particular – you can use two garden forks back to back to prise the root balls apart.
4. Then re-plant one of the plants back into the original space, piling up lots of soil around it, and either pot up the rest or move them to another spot in the garden for ‘free’ plants!
5. Water in well to settle in the roots and mulch to retain moisture. Improving the soil with lots of compost will help to hold moisture around the plant and feed the new roots as they come out.

Charlie’s top tools for working with plants

A must for any gardener’s kit, a pair of quality, robust, precision pruners such as the FELCO F2 Classic Secateurs make working with plants a snip.

For me, it’s essential to be able to get in and around my plants without losing any feel while wearing gloves. Which is exactly what the high-quality STIHL range of protective gloves deliver – hands down!