Garden Centre

Friday, May 9, 2008

Dividing plants in May

Today I’ve been taking advantage of the early rain and later sun (a perfect combination) to lift and divide snowdrops. They are an exception to just about all the rules in the way you treat them – they are much better split when their foliage is still green, and extremely difficult to establish once the bulbs dry out, so if you don’t have snowdrops in your garden or need more, this is the time to buy them from specialist nurseries who sell them ‘in the green’ or beg them from neighbours who have established clumps. They should be divided every four years, or sooner if they start to look congested and you don’t need to sort them by size or plant them individually, break them into clumps about the size of your palm and bung them back in – they’ll do fine!

And of course the other job at present is hardening off which means a lot of carrying pots and trays around: while some plants like to come out of the greenhouse or propagator straight into the sun, others like to ease into outdoor life in a shady, but not chilly, place. In the former group are tomatoes and pelargoniums, and in the latter, celery.

Labels: celery, dividing plants, pelargonium, snowdrops, spring bulbs

The All Seasons Gardener at 9:07 AM

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