By Pat Dray
The Garden Spot
Pat Dray
It may seem counterintuitive, but these “dog days of summer” are the perfect days to plan next year’s garden.
If you’ve kept up with your garden journal, you already know which plants were the winners and which ones were the losers. It’s time to identify your landscape gaps and plan to fill them. Mid to late fall is a great time to plant trees, shrubs, bulbs and perennials. And many will be on sale as nurseries reduce their stock prior to shutting down for the winter.
One of the key items on the fall list should be splitting and relocation of perennials. Perennials should be divided very few years so that the root structures remain healthy and blooms remain strong. Those with “fleshy” roots, such as peonies, daylilies, iris and hosta are easily split and replanted in the fall. But remember that they should not be split until several weeks have passed since their last bloom. Dig the entire plant up and then use a pitchfork, shovel or even a hand saw to split the clump into two or three separate plants. Put the new plants in a bucket of water to remove loose soil and any insects that might be hiding in it. You can inspect the roots closely, and if there are any dead roots prune them off. Now your new plants are ready to be planted. Plant it at the same depth that it was originally growing. Or better yet, take the opportunity to do a plant swap with your fellow gardeners.
If any of your spring blooming shrubs are crowded, this is also a good time to do some pruning. Prune from the base of the shrub, rather than at the top. Most shrubs should be pruned in to a “Christmas tree” shape, letting more sunlight and air into the center of the shrub to improve plant health. If one is in the wrong place, either for plant health or aesthetics, you can transplant it. Make sure you dig up as much of the root ball as possible. The transplant hole should be the same depth as the original hole but twice the diameter. Water well and push down (but don’t compress) the soil so that any air pockets are removed. Remember, you will need to deep water the transplant several times a week until there is frost.
You can plant spring blooming bulbs up until the ground is frozen – just remember the “pointy” side is usually the side that goes up and the planting depth is generally three times the height of the bulb. If you are in an area where you see a lot of deer, you should consider your tulips to be annuals. One of my favorite places for bulbs is Colorblends in Bridgeport – they import a wide variety of high-quality bulbs from Holland.
Happy gardening.
Pat Dray is a past president of the Garden Club of Orange and a master gardener.