Labor Done Now Will Save Work And Money Come Spring

For many of us, it gets tougher and tougher to spend lots of money on our gardens, especially on new plants. But for the next several weeks we’ve got an opportunity to go forth in the garden—and multiply.

Yes, Labor Day is upon us and for just a little bit of toil plenty of plants in your garden can be dug, divided and transplanted—thus doubling or even tripling your plants at virtually no cost.

These perennial plants set roots in the cooler fall months and most will flower next year right on schedule though a few may take two years to regain their glory.

Many hardy garden primulas develop crowns where several plants grow from the same central spot. This sweet spot can be only a few inches in diameter but with a sharp knife (I use my Japanese Hori-Hori) a cut can be made down through the crown, creating a divided plant complete with roots. All you need to do is use a small hand trowel to dig the division and transplant it. This is best done on a cloudy day and once moved, the new division should be watered in with a biostimulant, but no fertilizer.

Columbines can be similarly divided by looking at their crowns and determining where a division can be made. At the crown you’ll see one or more points where a rosette of leaves emerges, and it’s between these rosettes that the division is made.

Again, using a sharp knife, push directly down into the division between the rosettes to divide the plant into two or more plants. Each division can then be lifted from the ground with a hand trowel and transplanted just as noted above for the primulas.

When doing divisions like this it’s important to know where you are going to put the transplants and have their sites prepared before you do the divisions. The divided sections can stay out of the ground for a short period, as in minutes, but not for hours.

The secret to being successful at this is getting the divisions replanted, watered-in and out of the sun. Remember, you’ve reduced the roots that can support the foliage or shoot system and sunlight beating directly on the ground or on the plants is more than the transplant can handle.

There are a couple of strategies to overcome this problem. The first is to do this work on a cloudy day. If that’s not possible, do it toward the end of the day when it’s cooler and the sun is lower in the sky. Water-in the transplant but don’t waterlog it. Putting a light mulch layer on the soil or salt hay or seedless straw will keep the sun from hitting the soil and drying it out, thus making the chances of success even greater.

You might be asking the question, just what can be safely divided now? The rule of thumb in this endeavor has always been that you don’t transplant anything that’s in flower.

Late-flowering perennials should be divided and transplanted in the spring. Spring- and early summer-flowering perennials are transplanted late summer through early fall.

And of course, any rule that you are told is gospel in gardening is a rule that you absolutely must try to break. If you don’t believe me just try transplanting a daylily in midsummer.

If the foliage is cut back halfway and the plants are watering-in well, when moved, this plant always seems to survive. Then again, if done at this time of the year, with the foliage still cut back to half, it survives even better.

I’ve got gads of purple coneflowers now and the majority of them aren’t purple anymore so let’s just call them coneflowers or echinacea, which is even better. I had one in the corner of my trial garden but it was so far into the shade portion that the flower stems were reaching across other plants to suck up some sun.

I couldn’t take it any more so I cut the flower stalks off (on a cloudy day of course), dug the plant with a goodly amount of soil and moved it across the yard to a sunnier circumstance. It’s flowering again and thanking me profusely.

You’ll notice that your standard bleeding hearts (

dicentra spectabilis

) are starting to or have already yellowed, the first signs of dormancy. This is the perfect time to dig around the crowns, lift them from the ground and using a long, sharp knife or straight spade, divide the crowns and replant the divisions. While the foliage is gone, the roots will continue to grow for another two months and you’ll get great flowers next spring.

The same can be done with heucheras, but this plant has a more fleshy or corky crown and should be divided right down the center (top to bottom) with a sharp knife. Let the crown air for a half hour or so before replanting but keep it in a cool, shaded spot while it cures.

Hostas, like daylilies, are almost indestructible and can be moved in the fall in full foliage or in the spring when the “bullets” or new growth begins to emerge. When transplanting or dividing them now, try to do varieties that aren’t flowering and remove a third to half of the foliage before digging and dividing.

Allow the divisions to air-dry for a half hour before replanting. But again, keep them in the shade and water well when replanted. When in doubt, replant higher, never lower, than the original plant. More plants of all kinds are lost by planting too deep than any other reason.

Have a favorite garden phlox (

phlox paniculata

) that you want more of? Watch the plant as it stops flowering and the foliage begins to yellow. This usually takes place out here from late September to mid-October.

Place the cutting edge of a bulb planter in the center of the crown of the phlox surrounding the center stem. Push the planter down in one steady motion, with the result being a circular slice into the ground around the stem as deep as the planter will go. Pull the planter out. Return next spring and you’ll have scores of new phlox plants emerging, each a clone of the parent.

If you’re not that adventuresome, then you can simply use a rounded shovel to dig around the crown, lift it, then divide the crown by half or quarters. Replant each division (with one back into the original hole), and next year each division will flower as if nothing had happened.

Astilbes are also easily divided and transplanted at this time of the year. Simply dig the plant up and divide the crown. Or divide the crown while the plant is still in the ground by doing the division into halves or quarters, depending on the crown size. However, this is one plant that won’t tolerate drying out once moved, so keep it well watered for a couple of weeks in its new location.

Amsonia, heliopsis and some asters form crowns that can cover 3 square feet in four or five years and the crowns become quite woody and hard, thus difficult to divide. Often the entire crown has to be dug, then mercilessly sawed or hacked to be divided.

The amsonia, being a spring-flowering plant, can be divided now. The heliopsis and asters should be dug and divided in the spring as soon as new shoots emerge. But remember about rules being made to be broken.

A number of perennials that dropped seeds last year may have germinated and left you with small plants in open spaces and on the garden periphery. Purple coneflowers and rudbeckias are notorious for leaving such gifts around and you can make the best of them by using a hand spade to pop them out of the garden and into a new space.

Water the plant before doing the digging so the soil will cling to the roots, and get as much soil as possible with the foliage. Replant, water-in lightly, then every few days if it gets dry. These plants will mature and flower next year.

The garden is full of free treats and now’s the time to take advantage. Just cut, dig divide and move. Remember, when in doubt plant higher, not deeper.

So, remember, a little labor now will get next year’s garden going. Keep growing.