Evening star., 1943-09-12

MdIly gardeners neSltaCe TO dis
turb well established perennial in
the belief that so long as it is max
ing good growth, blossoming freely
and Is free of disease 1t is unneces-
sary. However, most perennials,
with the exception of peonies,
gypsophila (babys breath), bleed
ingheart, gasplant and anemone
Japonica, and one or two others,
need to be rejuvenated by lifting
and dividing every few years. This
practice should not be put of until
| the plants are weak. diseased or SO
woody that they suffer unnecessary
shock during the process. Healthy,
vigorous plants are the ones that
suffer least shock and recover most
| quickly. Lifting and dividing should
be accompanied by thorough re-
working of the soil with the addition
of fertilizer and humus for the new
plants to feed on until it Is neces-
sary to lift them again-three to
five years hence.
Dividing perennials has been the
standard method of increasing their
number for many years, but lifting
and dividing to maintain the
health Of the plants has been ig-
nored by gardeners who are usually
well satisfied If they have large
strong-growing clumps 1t is the
general practice to allow columbine,
daylilies, iris and many others to
continue undisturbed until disease
or insect pests force the gardener
to do something.
Many gardeners would have
greater success with columbine If
they would lift the clumps in the
fall following their Towering and
divide them. Columbine usually de-
teriorate rapidly after they reach
towering size but by dividing and
resettingsin q cool, moist soil they
should in most cases continue to
grow and flower. If the divisions are
busted with bordeaux or sulfur most
of the trouble with crown rot could
be avoided. This works with del
phinium in some cases, but as they
are not adapted to this area they
should not be mentioned here.
Many of the stronger growing
perennials soon exhaust their feed
ing area and lifting is needed SO
that the soil may be enriched. The
addition of plant food in the bed IS
important and most gardeners rec
osnize this fact. However. few at
tempt to put enough Of the longer
lasting materials which are needed
to supply plant food for from three
to five years. OF course, well-rotted
manure, compost and leaf mold
provide both humus and plant food
that is liberated over period Of
years. Bone meal is another slowly
available plant food. .Cottonseed
meal, tankage and similar materials
are no longer available to the gar
dener, but after the war they will be
put on the market again and should
be considered in making a selection.
The lifting of plants for dividing
Is best done early in the fall as it is
very important that the plants have
sufficient time in which to become
we'll rooted before freezing weather
arrives. Normally this Is early in
September after the fall rains have
started. This may seem rather, late
in the season to many but with the
return of cool moist weather most
plants make very rapid growth.
After the divisions are completed
the plants should be kept covered
until the ground Is made ready for
replanting. Covering with wet peat
moss Is satisfactory, but wet cloths
or even paper will do. Loss of mois-
ture through exposure to sun and
wind should be avoided as it greatly
reduces the plants vitality.
Even after resetting, the plants
should be shaded for two or three
days until they have become well
rooted. Paper caps, berry boxes
and shingles are probably most
widely used for this purpose, but
any material available may be
used.
If freezing weather comes before
the plants are thoroughly re-estab-
lished the gardener should heavily
mulch the frozen ground around
the plants with compost to protect
them from 'heaving" Pine boughs
are normally an excellent material
for this purpose in that they shade
the plants and at the same time
admit air, but with young plants
whose tops die down the important
thing Is to keep the ground frozen