1
00:00:02,240 --> 00:00:06,679
Welcome to the Simple Garden Life podcast, a program dedicated to keeping the yard

2
00:00:06,719 --> 00:00:11,359
of gardening simple, fun and always
rewarding. Now Here are your hosts,

3
00:00:11,439 --> 00:00:15,960
Jim and Mary Competti. Hello and
welcome everybody to Simple Garden Life. I'm

4
00:00:16,000 --> 00:00:19,359
your host, Jim Competti with my
wife Mary Competti. And Mary, you're

5
00:00:19,399 --> 00:00:23,239
here today to talk about one of
the best ways to save money and stop

6
00:00:23,280 --> 00:00:26,679
weeds in your flower beds all at
the same time. Absolutely, we're talking

7
00:00:26,679 --> 00:00:29,640
about how to divide perennials in the
spring. Yeah, we'll get to a

8
00:00:29,679 --> 00:00:35,039
second. We always talk about fall
dividing, how great fall is for dividing

9
00:00:35,079 --> 00:00:38,840
perennials, and it absolutely is,
but it gets lost that you can still

10
00:00:38,920 --> 00:00:42,159
do a lot of this in the
springtime. It can be very easy to

11
00:00:42,159 --> 00:00:44,399
do. And there's some things you
can do in the spring that are easier

12
00:00:44,479 --> 00:00:49,399
to divide, like ornamental grasses for
instance, that can really make a big

13
00:00:49,520 --> 00:00:52,880
change in your landscape for the upcoming
summer. Absolutely, and you know,

14
00:00:52,960 --> 00:00:57,479
sometimes in the fall when you divide
perennials, you're dealing with all the leaves,

15
00:00:57,520 --> 00:01:00,719
all the stems, and you know, sometimes in the spring it's actually

16
00:01:00,759 --> 00:01:03,479
easier to divide. That's a great
point. So we'll get into that in

17
00:01:03,520 --> 00:01:07,280
a second. Let's talk about if
you want to talk to us or have

18
00:01:07,400 --> 00:01:11,719
questions, you can email us always
at the farm at Owgarden dot com.

19
00:01:11,959 --> 00:01:15,519
We've been getting a lot of emails, a lot of great suggestions for future

20
00:01:15,519 --> 00:01:19,680
podcasts started. Oh it has and
we love it, so always again the

21
00:01:19,840 --> 00:01:23,439
farm at Owgarden dot com. You
can also sign up to follow us at

22
00:01:23,439 --> 00:01:26,439
simple garden life dot com or follow
us on Facebook. Um, you know,

23
00:01:26,519 --> 00:01:30,280
Facebook's great, go over to simple
garden Life follow us or you know,

24
00:01:30,359 --> 00:01:34,439
and you're gonna get every update,
you're gonna get our articles. Uh,

25
00:01:34,519 --> 00:01:37,000
it's really great. And as far
as the podcast, we're pretty much

26
00:01:37,040 --> 00:01:38,760
on every app you know, whether
it's iHeartRadio, you can go right down

27
00:01:40,040 --> 00:01:42,599
the list. You can follow us
there as well. Right if we have

28
00:01:42,640 --> 00:01:46,239
Apple podcasts, any anywhere that you
can get a podcast, we're pretty much

29
00:01:46,280 --> 00:01:48,599
on. I don't know why people
want to put that on, I know,

30
00:01:48,719 --> 00:01:51,439
but what they do. So let's
get into this right now. You

31
00:01:51,480 --> 00:01:53,640
know, people always talk about we
talked about dividing in the fall, and

32
00:01:53,760 --> 00:01:57,640
we do a lot of that as
well. Um, but springtime and you

33
00:01:57,680 --> 00:02:00,840
said a great reason you know,
there's no leaves on anything. You can

34
00:02:00,879 --> 00:02:04,560
really get to the plants quickly,
and you can add ornamental grasses in the

35
00:02:04,599 --> 00:02:06,959
spring, you know, picking them
up. We did a podcast on that

36
00:02:07,040 --> 00:02:09,879
not too long ago about how to
divide them. But you know, when

37
00:02:09,879 --> 00:02:14,719
you do all this and you divide
in the spring, you can really pack

38
00:02:15,199 --> 00:02:17,360
your you know, your flower beds
full of flowers. And we're going to

39
00:02:17,520 --> 00:02:22,719
talk about why that's so fantastic,
but let's talk right now by why it's

40
00:02:22,759 --> 00:02:24,319
so great to have. You know, many of the great reasons to divide

41
00:02:24,319 --> 00:02:28,479
your perennials on a regular basis,
whether it's fall or spring. I mean,

42
00:02:28,560 --> 00:02:30,759
right off the bat, Mary for
me, you know, keep them

43
00:02:30,759 --> 00:02:34,120
manageable. Right, Once perennials get
really large, you know, they're hard,

44
00:02:34,360 --> 00:02:37,120
hard to manage, hard to handle, and if you divide them,

45
00:02:37,159 --> 00:02:39,520
they're much easier to manage. Yeah, on a regular basis. And so

46
00:02:39,560 --> 00:02:43,439
what people always ask, like,
what's a regular basis? Well, for

47
00:02:43,599 --> 00:02:46,680
us, when we wanted to get
more plants, a regular basis is almost

48
00:02:46,719 --> 00:02:49,639
every year we would divide them in
half and get another plant. But on

49
00:02:49,800 --> 00:02:53,000
average every three to five years,
if you're going out and dividing your plants

50
00:02:53,000 --> 00:02:55,919
and keeping them in a normal,
you know, normal pace. It's gonna

51
00:02:55,960 --> 00:03:00,479
work to keep those those plants,
you know, just healthy, strong and

52
00:03:00,599 --> 00:03:05,120
not overgrown and falling over like we
see so often when they just get too

53
00:03:05,120 --> 00:03:07,439
big, right, And it all
depends on where you live as well.

54
00:03:07,479 --> 00:03:09,479
I mean, I know, you
know, things grown Florida like crazy.

55
00:03:09,639 --> 00:03:13,439
That's true, that's true. No, we're talking, you know, do

56
00:03:13,479 --> 00:03:16,479
what is ever necessary in your area
for growth. Yeah. I think a

57
00:03:16,520 --> 00:03:20,400
great point is when they get too
large or when you need more plants,

58
00:03:20,400 --> 00:03:23,120
it's probably time to start dividing.
I mean, not only does it keep

59
00:03:23,120 --> 00:03:25,719
them manageable, but it keeps the
roots healthier and strong. And we talk

60
00:03:25,759 --> 00:03:30,800
about you know, being root bound
or using nutrients. You know, daylilies

61
00:03:30,960 --> 00:03:34,319
hostas these things. When they grow
for three, four or five years,

62
00:03:34,319 --> 00:03:37,599
they really start to the roots almost
start to grow together and pack in.

63
00:03:37,960 --> 00:03:40,520
When that happens, not only have
they taken excuse me, a lot of

64
00:03:40,560 --> 00:03:46,000
the nutrients out of the soil,
they've also grown together and can't absorb nutrients

65
00:03:46,039 --> 00:03:49,639
or water very well well. And
the same goes holds true with ornamental grasses.

66
00:03:49,759 --> 00:03:52,280
You know, when you're talking about
keeping the plants strong. You know,

67
00:03:52,719 --> 00:03:57,000
an ornamental grass is overgrown, the
center of the grass does not grow

68
00:03:57,080 --> 00:04:00,240
as well as it used to.
But when you divide it, you have

69
00:04:00,439 --> 00:04:03,080
strong grasses that can grow strong straight
up and you don't have that gap in

70
00:04:03,080 --> 00:04:06,680
the middle and they don't fall over. Yeah, and not just the grasses,

71
00:04:06,680 --> 00:04:10,039
but when you get back to the
perennials, you know, the last

72
00:04:10,080 --> 00:04:14,240
thing that it really does is it
gives you better blooming. People often say,

73
00:04:14,280 --> 00:04:16,519
well, hey, I've had this, you know, corobell here for

74
00:04:16,720 --> 00:04:19,759
seven years and it's always bloom great
and it's not blooming as well. Or

75
00:04:19,839 --> 00:04:26,079
daylilies, or you can go right
down the line see them. It doesn't

76
00:04:26,120 --> 00:04:29,920
matter. What happens is the longer
those roots grow and the thicker they get

77
00:04:29,959 --> 00:04:32,439
together, and the less nutrients turn
the soil, there's not enough to power

78
00:04:32,519 --> 00:04:36,279
strong blooms. And you might get
a lot of green growth, but fewer

79
00:04:36,279 --> 00:04:41,279
and fewer blooms. By dividing them
and transplating them, you're going to regenerate

80
00:04:41,279 --> 00:04:45,360
those plants. Well, let's get
to the real reason how we started dividing

81
00:04:45,360 --> 00:04:48,120
our perennials in the spring. That's
true. I mean for us, I

82
00:04:48,560 --> 00:04:53,839
look about this way back in the
day when we had our first farm.

83
00:04:53,839 --> 00:04:58,600
Mary will tell you, I think
your parents will tell anybody that knows me,

84
00:04:58,759 --> 00:05:03,319
will tell you that I have this
affinity for creating more and more flower

85
00:05:03,319 --> 00:05:06,120
beds. Yeah, you'd like to
have them completely filled. With good reason

86
00:05:06,160 --> 00:05:10,480
though, yeah, and everywhere.
So here we were starting out, and

87
00:05:10,600 --> 00:05:14,160
you know, transplanting and dividing is
a great way to save a lot of

88
00:05:14,160 --> 00:05:16,920
money. And back in those days
we looked for every way possible still do

89
00:05:17,319 --> 00:05:21,720
to try to cut corners and save
a little bit. Growing kids. Yeah,

90
00:05:21,959 --> 00:05:27,279
very hungry we did so. So
you know it was for us dividing

91
00:05:27,319 --> 00:05:30,519
in the spring or the fall was
a great way to fill our flower beds

92
00:05:30,800 --> 00:05:33,560
with tons and tons of flowers,
and not just dividing our flowers, our

93
00:05:33,600 --> 00:05:36,800
friends, our family. If I
saw a nice flower somewhere, I'd be

94
00:05:36,839 --> 00:05:41,120
like, hey, hey, this
spring, I will come up and dig

95
00:05:41,160 --> 00:05:44,360
that up for you because it looks
a little overgrown. And by the way,

96
00:05:44,399 --> 00:05:46,199
I'll take some of that with me
if I can. That's a great

97
00:05:46,199 --> 00:05:49,000
thing to do for people. We
do that now. We give away tons

98
00:05:49,000 --> 00:05:53,560
of plants every year because the more
you have, you're you're dividing them up

99
00:05:53,560 --> 00:05:56,279
and you can give them away.
But for us, it was a way

100
00:05:56,360 --> 00:05:59,120
to fill our beds. And let's
let's kind of get into that for a

101
00:05:59,160 --> 00:06:03,399
second. Out why that's so important, another way to save money. Obviously,

102
00:06:03,399 --> 00:06:06,839
you're filling your beds without going to
nurseries and buying a ton of plants.

103
00:06:08,839 --> 00:06:11,360
For us, if we saw a
plant we really loved, we might

104
00:06:11,399 --> 00:06:15,079
purchase it, knowing that in a
year or two that perennial could be three

105
00:06:15,120 --> 00:06:18,079
to five perennials. So that's a
great way to put plants into your landscape.

106
00:06:18,319 --> 00:06:21,519
But more importantly, it can save
you on mulch overall. Absolutely,

107
00:06:21,560 --> 00:06:25,360
the more plants you have, the
less mulch that you need. Yeah,

108
00:06:25,399 --> 00:06:27,959
I mean people talk about mulching and
I always say, you know, four

109
00:06:28,000 --> 00:06:30,160
to six inch layer of mulch,
you know, that's what you should have.

110
00:06:30,199 --> 00:06:31,839
And they're like, oh, it's
so much mulch. I'm like,

111
00:06:32,160 --> 00:06:35,959
not, if you've planted correctly,
if you've planted with divisions and you fill

112
00:06:36,000 --> 00:06:40,279
your flower beds, that mulch is
spread out over the beds. You're not

113
00:06:40,319 --> 00:06:44,439
just filling these large, expansive areas
with lots of mulch and no plants.

114
00:06:44,480 --> 00:06:47,279
And you're right, it saves tremendously
on the cost. But you know,

115
00:06:47,319 --> 00:06:51,040
it also adds a tremendous amount of
beauty to your flower beds when they're full.

116
00:06:51,399 --> 00:06:54,279
You know, when you have a
lot of plants and a lot of

117
00:06:54,279 --> 00:06:59,120
flowers growing all at once, it
looks really good. And then there's also

118
00:06:59,240 --> 00:07:01,439
that fact that it helps stop weeds. Right, if you have more plants

119
00:07:01,439 --> 00:07:04,759
in your flower beds, less malch, there's less weeds that can pop up.

120
00:07:05,120 --> 00:07:09,439
Absolutely, and I always say this
too. It's it's a little bit

121
00:07:09,480 --> 00:07:12,120
of a trick, but it's true. People will come and look at our

122
00:07:12,160 --> 00:07:14,519
beds, are like, how do
you keep them so weed free? Well,

123
00:07:14,600 --> 00:07:16,639
you know, we mulch, we
film thick, but there are some

124
00:07:16,680 --> 00:07:20,839
weeds sometimes. But when you have
so many plants, you might not see

125
00:07:20,920 --> 00:07:26,399
one little Strand when you have this
big open thing of malch and six plants,

126
00:07:26,920 --> 00:07:29,160
you're darn right you're going to see
all those little weeds coming up,

127
00:07:29,279 --> 00:07:31,199
right, and you have a nice
layer of mulch around your plants. The

128
00:07:31,240 --> 00:07:34,279
weeds are actually very easy to pull
up because they are trying to get down

129
00:07:34,279 --> 00:07:38,879
through the malch to embed into the
soil. And all you do is walk

130
00:07:38,920 --> 00:07:42,360
around and pick them up once in
a while. It's absolutely true. And

131
00:07:42,360 --> 00:07:46,040
then finally, and I think this
gets lost in why you want to fill

132
00:07:46,079 --> 00:07:47,879
your flower beds with plants and not
malt. I always talk about that,

133
00:07:47,920 --> 00:07:51,480
and malt should be the least amount
that you see in a flower bed.

134
00:07:51,480 --> 00:07:54,439
If you've done it, if you've
done it right, you know, you

135
00:07:54,439 --> 00:07:57,399
can put some rock formation somewhere.
You can put lots of plants. You

136
00:07:57,439 --> 00:08:00,920
can, but the malt should be
an accent, not the focus. But

137
00:08:01,079 --> 00:08:05,120
when you put a lot of plants
into a flower bed and they're all manageable

138
00:08:05,120 --> 00:08:11,800
sizes, they also help to regulate
the soil temperature because that canopy of leaves

139
00:08:11,959 --> 00:08:13,920
is really acting, you know,
as a barrier to the sun. It's

140
00:08:15,000 --> 00:08:18,800
keeping the moisture in the soil,
it's not drying it out. And then

141
00:08:18,839 --> 00:08:22,839
you have to water less less weed
seeds can find a way in. It

142
00:08:22,959 --> 00:08:26,639
is so beneficial to fill those flower
beds. And you know, I think

143
00:08:26,680 --> 00:08:30,399
people get hung up and I can't
afford that. I can't afford to go

144
00:08:30,439 --> 00:08:33,600
out and buy eighty plants. But
you don't have to, you know,

145
00:08:33,639 --> 00:08:37,159
you can keep dividing these in springtime, like I said, just a great

146
00:08:37,200 --> 00:08:39,919
time to get out there, and
you might have two big daylilies. I

147
00:08:39,919 --> 00:08:43,000
will get into this in a second
about our farm, but our old farm,

148
00:08:43,039 --> 00:08:46,039
we would take those and maybe make
sixteen plants out of each. Yeah,

149
00:08:46,039 --> 00:08:50,000
it was crazy how many plants we
got off of one day lily or

150
00:08:50,039 --> 00:08:54,399
one plant. But you know,
the whole point here is plant more plants,

151
00:08:54,799 --> 00:08:58,240
less mulch. It is and division
is the best way to do that.

152
00:08:58,360 --> 00:09:01,919
So all right, we've talked a
lot about why, and you know,

153
00:09:01,159 --> 00:09:03,960
we're going to get into the house
and we're gonna get into our question

154
00:09:03,960 --> 00:09:07,919
of the week when we come back. But we got to take that ad

155
00:09:07,919 --> 00:09:09,960
break. You know, we got
to pay for this airtime. I guess

156
00:09:09,000 --> 00:09:13,360
somehow we do enjoy it. But
so we'll be back right after this and

157
00:09:13,399 --> 00:09:16,879
we're going to talk about, you
know, how to divide in the spring,

158
00:09:16,000 --> 00:09:20,320
what you can divide in the spring. And also a little extra feature

159
00:09:20,799 --> 00:09:26,600
that we've used to our benefit that
really I think is a key secret is

160
00:09:26,679 --> 00:09:31,120
creating a holding bed for extra plants. And we'll get into that when we

161
00:09:31,200 --> 00:09:37,240
come back, and we'll talk more
about transplanting perennials in the spring. And

162
00:09:37,360 --> 00:09:43,080
we are back with Simple Garden Life
talking about dividing perennials in the spring.

163
00:09:43,159 --> 00:09:48,559
Let's get right to the question that
really created this entire podcast because we get

164
00:09:48,559 --> 00:09:52,000
this question a lot. I loved
this question, and Mary, go ahead

165
00:09:52,000 --> 00:09:54,919
with it, all right. We
got this last week from Tina Dotson out

166
00:09:54,919 --> 00:10:01,080
of Green Bay, Wisconsin. Kind
of rymes. Actually, her was when

167
00:10:01,080 --> 00:10:03,679
I divide perennials, how do I
know how many plants to make from a

168
00:10:03,720 --> 00:10:07,320
single plant? Is there a size
that I should be looking to cut them

169
00:10:07,399 --> 00:10:11,360
back to that is best? I
have two huge day lilies and want to

170
00:10:11,360 --> 00:10:15,000
get more plants from them this spring, but I want to make sure that

171
00:10:15,039 --> 00:10:18,840
they survive. Great questions, question
I get a lot. Yeah, and

172
00:10:18,919 --> 00:10:22,360
Tina, you we're gonna give you
the answer here. So let's first let's

173
00:10:22,399 --> 00:10:26,759
just kind of take this question and
divide it down. So how do I

174
00:10:26,840 --> 00:10:30,559
know how many plants to make from
a plant? Fantastic question, And the

175
00:10:30,639 --> 00:10:33,639
answer is it really comes down to
what do you want your plants to be

176
00:10:33,759 --> 00:10:37,720
this year? So I'm going to
use your day lilies, Tina as an

177
00:10:37,720 --> 00:10:39,600
example. So let's say you have
a day lily that when you dig it

178
00:10:39,639 --> 00:10:43,440
out, it's eighteen inches around.
That can happen. You know, you

179
00:10:43,519 --> 00:10:46,120
put a daily in the ground for
five six years. It's eighteen inches in

180
00:10:46,159 --> 00:10:50,159
diameter. So you lift it from
the ground in the spring. There's no

181
00:10:50,159 --> 00:10:54,279
no leafing out, you know,
it's just the root ball. You pop

182
00:10:54,279 --> 00:10:56,759
it out. So to many people
that are like, can I divide it

183
00:10:56,799 --> 00:11:01,320
in half? Can I divide it
in quarters? Cannot divide an eights?

184
00:11:01,519 --> 00:11:03,039
You know what, the answer is
that it all depends. Yeah, yes

185
00:11:03,159 --> 00:11:07,960
you can. So what you're going
to get is you're going to get a

186
00:11:07,000 --> 00:11:13,159
plant that is based upon your root
side. So if you're looking to fill

187
00:11:13,240 --> 00:11:16,879
in more plants and you want them
to not have to divide them in just

188
00:11:16,960 --> 00:11:20,480
another year or two, I would
take that plant and probably make eight to

189
00:11:20,559 --> 00:11:24,679
sixteen plants, and I would divide
it in you to two to three inch

190
00:11:24,759 --> 00:11:28,200
sections, because what that gives you
is a plant that's going to be smaller,

191
00:11:28,360 --> 00:11:31,240
but it's going to be able to
last three or four or five years.

192
00:11:31,360 --> 00:11:35,679
It's going to bloom. A lot. Now you maybe you have some

193
00:11:35,759 --> 00:11:39,960
planters. We do this a lot
with hostas great way to add some decoration

194
00:11:41,159 --> 00:11:46,279
to a shady area of your porch
or deck or patio. We'll pot some

195
00:11:46,320 --> 00:11:48,519
of our extra ones up right,
We actually have an article on this about

196
00:11:48,519 --> 00:11:54,200
how to use perennials to use them
in pot of plants to add interest to

197
00:11:54,240 --> 00:11:56,759
your patio spaces. Oh, it's
so free, it's so easy. I

198
00:11:56,799 --> 00:11:58,960
think we even have a podcast on
it last year. So we'll put that

199
00:12:00,240 --> 00:12:03,600
in the article and put it in
the extra features at the end. But

200
00:12:03,960 --> 00:12:07,240
what we're trying to say is you
may want a bigger hosta for that pot.

201
00:12:07,240 --> 00:12:09,639
If it's a big pot, so
you may want to leave when you're

202
00:12:09,759 --> 00:12:13,399
dividing that hosta or day lily up, whatever it may be. You might

203
00:12:13,440 --> 00:12:16,879
want to leave it bigger that year, or you might want a bigger focal

204
00:12:16,919 --> 00:12:22,279
point in the flower bed. The
larger you leave the divisions, the bigger

205
00:12:22,279 --> 00:12:24,799
your plants you're going to be.
It's really simple, but it really is

206
00:12:24,879 --> 00:12:28,879
up to you. But keep this
in mind. Keep in mind that what

207
00:12:28,080 --> 00:12:31,080
if you leave it large, you're
probably going to be digging that up in

208
00:12:31,080 --> 00:12:33,279
a year or two because it's going
to get big again. Right. It

209
00:12:33,279 --> 00:12:37,120
really just depends on how you want
to use your divisions. If you have

210
00:12:37,200 --> 00:12:39,240
one spot or a new flower bed
and you just want to put a day

211
00:12:39,279 --> 00:12:43,440
lily in there that's already a nice
size, that has some good interest.

212
00:12:43,720 --> 00:12:46,360
You know, you may want to
divide it in half or in quarters.

213
00:12:46,399 --> 00:12:50,159
However, if you have a brand
new flower bed and you want to fill

214
00:12:50,200 --> 00:12:52,320
it up, you may want to
take your day lilies, Tina, and

215
00:12:52,559 --> 00:12:56,960
divide it into eight or sixteen sections, and that way, in three years

216
00:12:56,960 --> 00:13:01,039
you have a beautiful flower bed.
But you know is full and vibrant.

217
00:13:01,200 --> 00:13:05,240
Yeah, I've never been I'm going
to show a little bit of mine.

218
00:13:05,240 --> 00:13:07,600
I don't even know what you call
this. I've never been a big fan

219
00:13:07,679 --> 00:13:11,559
of dividing a plant in half,
mainly in Mari Marita. When we first

220
00:13:11,600 --> 00:13:13,759
met, She's like, why do
you always plant in three, fives,

221
00:13:13,759 --> 00:13:16,399
and eight? You know, odd
numbers? I said, because it really

222
00:13:16,440 --> 00:13:18,480
makes beds look good. You want
odds, you to want even Well,

223
00:13:18,519 --> 00:13:22,960
Mary's very number driven. She's very
number driven. But you have come around

224
00:13:22,000 --> 00:13:28,279
to understanding those. Yeah. So, so I don't like halves for another

225
00:13:28,320 --> 00:13:31,360
reason, when you divide a circular
most most plants grow in a circular way.

226
00:13:31,440 --> 00:13:33,879
When you divide in half, you
get a weird looking plant. When

227
00:13:33,879 --> 00:13:37,759
you put half of a moon back
into the to the ground. So I've

228
00:13:37,759 --> 00:13:43,159
always been a big fan of dividing
in threes, even quarters gives you four

229
00:13:43,200 --> 00:13:46,080
plants, you can just gotta have
that odd one somewhere. Uh So that's

230
00:13:46,120 --> 00:13:50,399
one of the things we do.
And I really like that because it gives

231
00:13:50,440 --> 00:13:52,879
you a little bit more. I
don't like the half plants because of kind

232
00:13:52,879 --> 00:13:54,879
of what grows up from them.
But I mean, Tina, answer your

233
00:13:54,960 --> 00:13:58,039
question. You know, the sky
really is a limit for what you want

234
00:13:58,039 --> 00:14:01,679
to do. However, I would
say, you know, look at your

235
00:14:01,720 --> 00:14:05,360
space. How many plants do you
really want to gain from it? And

236
00:14:05,399 --> 00:14:07,399
then kind of divide that. So
if your plants are twelve to eighteen inches

237
00:14:07,440 --> 00:14:13,000
and you make you know, four
plants out of a twelve inch round plant

238
00:14:13,200 --> 00:14:16,360
that you're daily you're talking about,
you're gonna get three nice or four nice

239
00:14:16,360 --> 00:14:18,320
sized day lays for this year.
Probably that can make it two or three

240
00:14:18,360 --> 00:14:20,039
years for you have to do it. You make it eight, you can

241
00:14:20,080 --> 00:14:24,320
probably get five years out of it. So that's really what it comes down

242
00:14:24,320 --> 00:14:26,879
to and how you want to look
at it. And one thing to remember

243
00:14:26,919 --> 00:14:30,440
is don't go so small that you
have one little, you know, leaf

244
00:14:30,440 --> 00:14:33,759
popping above a ground. You really
want to do three inch at least at

245
00:14:33,759 --> 00:14:37,000
three inch rootball, you know,
to be able to plant your flower beds.

246
00:14:37,080 --> 00:14:39,879
This is so funny because that's coming
from the lady that I will divide

247
00:14:39,879 --> 00:14:43,879
a plant and there'll be one little
fraction of a plant. She's like,

248
00:14:43,879 --> 00:14:46,320
well, let's put that in the
holding bed. Well we have the same

249
00:14:46,360 --> 00:14:50,000
thing. Yeah, But she's right. When you're putting them in your landscape,

250
00:14:50,039 --> 00:14:52,559
that's a great idea. When you
just want to grow some extra plants,

251
00:14:52,559 --> 00:14:54,799
you can throw those little divisions somewhere
off and then they'll they'll grow to

252
00:14:54,799 --> 00:14:58,000
be bigger. So that's a great
question, Tina. I hope we answered

253
00:14:58,039 --> 00:15:03,360
it well for you. So let's
get into now quick and easy ways to

254
00:15:03,399 --> 00:15:07,559
divide and what you can divide.
So really the limit is I mean,

255
00:15:07,039 --> 00:15:13,440
there's any perennials on the table here, Any leafing perennial is great. Whether

256
00:15:13,440 --> 00:15:18,399
you're talking cone flour, black eyed
Susan. You just go down the list,

257
00:15:18,440 --> 00:15:22,840
coral bells, day lilies, hostas, ornamental grasses. Anything in the

258
00:15:22,919 --> 00:15:26,360
spring can be done. And the
quicker you do it, as soon as

259
00:15:26,360 --> 00:15:28,120
the ground is workable, the better
off you are. It does not have

260
00:15:28,159 --> 00:15:30,679
to come out. Yet people always
like, well, what am I going

261
00:15:30,720 --> 00:15:33,879
to kill the plants? It's going
to freeze still, they're perennials. They're

262
00:15:33,879 --> 00:15:35,600
fine if the ground is workable.
Don't do it when the ground's frozen,

263
00:15:35,639 --> 00:15:39,320
because then you can have some trouble. The ground is workable, you can

264
00:15:39,320 --> 00:15:41,279
dig them up. You can put
them back in the ground that day,

265
00:15:41,320 --> 00:15:46,039
you're going to be fine. So
get out there. That's the big key,

266
00:15:46,320 --> 00:15:48,600
and start looking at these plants,
and you know where they're at.

267
00:15:48,840 --> 00:15:50,799
And let's talk about mary now,
like how to dig them up? I

268
00:15:50,799 --> 00:15:54,759
mean, I think this is a
little key we've learned that really makes it

269
00:15:54,799 --> 00:15:58,120
easy. You go out, we
dig them up. We have the root

270
00:15:58,159 --> 00:16:00,840
ball, and what's the next thing? We do them over? That's right,

271
00:16:00,840 --> 00:16:02,720
And why do we do that well, because you can see the group

272
00:16:02,720 --> 00:16:03,759
ball. That's sorry, it's so
easy. People are like, well,

273
00:16:03,759 --> 00:16:07,159
I never know how to make divisions
from the top, and how do I

274
00:16:07,240 --> 00:16:11,320
do it? So let's just we'll
use a hosta for example. We'll dig

275
00:16:11,320 --> 00:16:15,080
a hosta up and we flip it
over and you can see the root structure

276
00:16:15,159 --> 00:16:18,399
so easily. I think we have
to stop here and clarify what we're talking

277
00:16:18,440 --> 00:16:23,360
about. Digging it up here Here's
the key is that you need to actually

278
00:16:23,360 --> 00:16:26,960
dig the whole entire thing up.
You're not dividing it while still in the

279
00:16:27,000 --> 00:16:30,480
ground. Yeah, that's a great
point. I mean, it's just easier

280
00:16:30,480 --> 00:16:32,480
to see, you know where the
roots are. You don't have these little

281
00:16:32,480 --> 00:16:34,120
strays coming up that always annoys me. When I do that, I accidentally

282
00:16:34,159 --> 00:16:38,440
miss some sometimes. But dig that
whole plan up. There's no leafing out

283
00:16:38,480 --> 00:16:42,519
yet, so flip it over.
Then it becomes really easy. Our favorite

284
00:16:42,559 --> 00:16:45,840
tool to use for this is a
hoary hoary knife. It just it's a

285
00:16:45,879 --> 00:16:48,720
garden knife with a serrated edge.
We'll put a link to this on our

286
00:16:48,759 --> 00:16:53,960
affiliate links on the article on Simple
Garden Life. And you can just cut

287
00:16:55,080 --> 00:16:59,320
right through most root balls. However, I've had some big grasses before that

288
00:16:59,360 --> 00:17:02,120
a heck, I pull the axe
out and start cutting them with an axe.

289
00:17:02,200 --> 00:17:03,519
But upside down is the way to
go because you can see where you

290
00:17:03,519 --> 00:17:07,319
need to go right and you also
sometimes use a spade shovel as well.

291
00:17:07,359 --> 00:17:10,400
I do. I do, I
really pretty much what's on hand. And

292
00:17:10,440 --> 00:17:12,079
if I don't want to walk back
to the barn or the garage, so

293
00:17:12,480 --> 00:17:15,680
we so you want to do that
early and you want to get out there.

294
00:17:15,799 --> 00:17:18,440
So I know you have this question, maire, you've been wanting to

295
00:17:18,440 --> 00:17:22,480
ask it or at least talk about
it. And it's okay, Wait a

296
00:17:22,480 --> 00:17:26,759
minute, I'm busy, I work, I came home. My hostess are

297
00:17:26,759 --> 00:17:29,519
already up through the ground. My
day lilies are already out. My coral

298
00:17:29,559 --> 00:17:32,480
bell is already leaping out. Now
do I have to wait till fall?

299
00:17:32,640 --> 00:17:34,200
Right? I was actually at my
mom and dad's house the other day and

300
00:17:34,400 --> 00:17:37,519
their day lilies are way ahead of
ours. And their day lilies are already

301
00:17:37,559 --> 00:17:41,200
popping up out of the ground and
nice and green. And you know the

302
00:17:41,279 --> 00:17:45,960
question is can I still divide those
if the greenery is already out? Yeah?

303
00:17:45,960 --> 00:17:48,720
First of all, why is our
final farm always behind everybody else?

304
00:17:49,000 --> 00:17:53,920
But anyway, you're right, so
great question. Listen. You can't harm

305
00:17:55,000 --> 00:17:57,759
them, okay. These plants are
really hard to kill in the spring.

306
00:17:57,839 --> 00:18:02,000
Even if they have a little bit
of of leafing out and they've come out,

307
00:18:02,400 --> 00:18:06,519
you can still dig them up,
flip them over. That that early

308
00:18:06,599 --> 00:18:08,440
growth may die back, it may
not, And it's okay. And it's

309
00:18:08,480 --> 00:18:12,400
okay because you're going to get new
growth right through the bottom. So and

310
00:18:12,559 --> 00:18:15,039
grass is the same way. You
just got to get them early. You

311
00:18:15,079 --> 00:18:18,559
can't wait until you know, a
month into the season and they're a foot

312
00:18:18,599 --> 00:18:22,640
tall, and do this without expecting
some some issues, but early on,

313
00:18:23,000 --> 00:18:26,440
don't worry at all. You can
get in there and you can do it.

314
00:18:26,680 --> 00:18:29,759
So you know, you get out
there, and we talked about,

315
00:18:29,920 --> 00:18:32,960
you know what, how do you
do it? How do you know?

316
00:18:33,079 --> 00:18:37,200
Just go look at your bedspaces.
You know you can see the plants there.

317
00:18:37,480 --> 00:18:41,640
Now's the time to get them in
and fill those beds with those plantings

318
00:18:41,640 --> 00:18:45,519
of whatever you're dividing and get them
in. And then when you're planting,

319
00:18:45,559 --> 00:18:49,839
this is such a critical key.
The easiest way to get better leafing and

320
00:18:49,920 --> 00:18:53,599
better root growth in the first year
is when you dig your plants up and

321
00:18:53,599 --> 00:18:57,359
you get your divisions. Try to
get them in the same day. It's

322
00:18:57,400 --> 00:19:02,200
not critical to their to their life. It definitely helps. So oh,

323
00:19:02,240 --> 00:19:04,359
it definitely helps. And then when
you dig that planting hole where you're going

324
00:19:04,359 --> 00:19:08,319
to put them. I live by
the fifty fifty rule, So whenever we

325
00:19:08,359 --> 00:19:12,839
dig something up, we're putting fifty
percent composts and fifty percent ground soil back

326
00:19:12,839 --> 00:19:17,119
in in the bottom and feed your
plants. It does. It feed your

327
00:19:17,119 --> 00:19:21,359
plants in more importantly than even that, and that's important. It allows the

328
00:19:21,480 --> 00:19:25,039
root growth to be so easy and
spread back out. There's not a lot

329
00:19:25,079 --> 00:19:29,119
of time. You know, you
put a transplant into hard claypan soil,

330
00:19:29,359 --> 00:19:32,880
it's going to struggle. But you
put it into a fifty fifty mix of

331
00:19:33,000 --> 00:19:34,680
compost. Mary said it best that
compost is going to feed the roots and

332
00:19:34,720 --> 00:19:40,160
that's gonna let them go right exactly. And you know, if you are

333
00:19:40,200 --> 00:19:44,079
dividing plants and you have a few
extra, we have a great tip for

334
00:19:44,119 --> 00:19:47,519
you to be able to use plants
later when you need them. Yeah,

335
00:19:47,599 --> 00:19:52,200
we lived on this ten years ago
when we build our first farm, and

336
00:19:52,359 --> 00:19:55,880
crazily we decided to build a second
farm and now we live by this too.

337
00:19:56,240 --> 00:20:00,799
So we create a holding bed and
it's nothing more than little area of

338
00:20:00,839 --> 00:20:04,279
a garden for us. Now it's
a little spot back in an open soil

339
00:20:04,440 --> 00:20:08,039
part of the field and we just
create some dirt. We open it up.

340
00:20:08,200 --> 00:20:11,559
It's I think ours is now like
six by ten or maybe twelve by

341
00:20:11,599 --> 00:20:15,400
twelve. I don't even know what
it is. And I go around and

342
00:20:15,880 --> 00:20:18,480
it's just basically a flower bed out
of sight, out of mind. And

343
00:20:18,480 --> 00:20:22,079
when we have all these extra transplants
and we don't know what to do with

344
00:20:22,119 --> 00:20:25,519
them right away, or if we're
going to be building something and we know

345
00:20:25,559 --> 00:20:30,079
we're going to need them in July
or September or even June, we plant

346
00:20:30,119 --> 00:20:32,759
them now and there and we put
them in this holding bed, and we

347
00:20:32,799 --> 00:20:36,720
don't we don't space them like far
apart, like a landscaping. We put

348
00:20:36,720 --> 00:20:38,960
them back to back to back.
Right. Original holding bed was actually in

349
00:20:38,960 --> 00:20:42,160
our first garden that we built at
our first farm. And you know,

350
00:20:42,319 --> 00:20:45,519
it doesn't matter whether it's actually in
your garden or if it's actually in a

351
00:20:45,559 --> 00:20:48,960
corner of your backyard. Just creating
a holding bed is a great way to

352
00:20:48,960 --> 00:20:52,039
have plants on hand whenever you need
them. Yeah, so whether it's a

353
00:20:52,079 --> 00:20:56,839
grass, you're not dividing these when
you dig them up later. So I'll

354
00:20:56,839 --> 00:21:00,319
give you a great example. Last
year we built some extra buildings here and

355
00:21:00,519 --> 00:21:03,359
as we were doing that, we
had to landscape them. Well, you

356
00:21:03,359 --> 00:21:06,720
know, to go out and buy
those plants would have been a fortune in

357
00:21:06,759 --> 00:21:10,400
the middle of June, July,
August. And so what we did is

358
00:21:10,400 --> 00:21:12,759
we created a holding bed from all
of our extra plants that we had divided,

359
00:21:12,920 --> 00:21:15,799
whether it was the fall or the
spring, and then when it came

360
00:21:15,880 --> 00:21:18,920
time and the building was done,
we could go out. We could dig

361
00:21:18,960 --> 00:21:22,640
them up just as a whole root
ball and set them in place. There's

362
00:21:22,680 --> 00:21:26,960
no damage, you're not dividing anything, there's no stress to the plant.

363
00:21:26,000 --> 00:21:29,319
A little bit of stressed the plant, but they can handle it, and

364
00:21:29,400 --> 00:21:32,240
we would put them in. I
mean, I think last year, at

365
00:21:32,240 --> 00:21:34,160
one point I probably had seventy to
eighty plants in a holding bed right,

366
00:21:34,160 --> 00:21:37,319
And I think it's a great way
to be able to give plants away to

367
00:21:37,400 --> 00:21:41,119
family and friends or someone that's moving
or someone that needs to flower bed.

368
00:21:41,400 --> 00:21:45,279
If you have plants and you don't
have any space for them, this is

369
00:21:45,319 --> 00:21:47,799
a great way to keep them until
they're needed. Yeah. I can't tell

370
00:21:47,839 --> 00:21:49,759
you how many times that people were
walking through, whether it was our old

371
00:21:49,799 --> 00:21:52,759
farm or this farm, they're like, wow, I really like that.

372
00:21:52,759 --> 00:21:56,920
That's you know that purple coral bell
is beautiful or this type of day lily

373
00:21:57,000 --> 00:22:00,359
is beautiful. And I'm like,
hey, you know what some in the

374
00:22:00,400 --> 00:22:02,240
holding bed you want one? And
they're like, well, do you have

375
00:22:02,240 --> 00:22:03,559
to wait till fall or spring?
Like no, we'll go out, we'll

376
00:22:03,599 --> 00:22:06,799
pop one up, putting in a
pot, and they're on their way,

377
00:22:07,000 --> 00:22:10,519
and it really is. I'm telling
you. Holding beds are fantastic and I

378
00:22:10,599 --> 00:22:14,440
can't tell you enough. Don't don't
space this. We plant them like garden

379
00:22:14,440 --> 00:22:18,440
plants, like they're two three inches
apart, because we know they're not going

380
00:22:18,480 --> 00:22:21,480
to grow together. We're going to
dig those up within the next year at

381
00:22:21,519 --> 00:22:25,599
the most and put them where they
need to be. So holding beds are

382
00:22:25,640 --> 00:22:29,160
the key if you if you have
a plants you need to divide, don't

383
00:22:29,200 --> 00:22:30,359
think you'll never need them. Don't
throw them away, don't kill them,

384
00:22:30,559 --> 00:22:33,640
go put them in a holding bed, cut them down to the size you

385
00:22:33,680 --> 00:22:36,839
know that they're going to be when
you're playing them. Put them in there

386
00:22:36,839 --> 00:22:37,920
and you're going to really be happy
about it. And if you don't have

387
00:22:38,039 --> 00:22:41,680
the room to do a holding bed, you can also put them in pots.

388
00:22:41,000 --> 00:22:44,799
You know there's going to need a
little extra care with some watering,

389
00:22:44,960 --> 00:22:47,319
you know, throughout the season.
But holding bed, if you have the

390
00:22:47,400 --> 00:22:49,119
room, it's a way to go. All right, So let's just kind

391
00:22:49,160 --> 00:22:52,640
of cover what we talked about today
because we've kind of been all over it.

392
00:22:52,680 --> 00:22:55,440
So The first thing is that filling
your beds makes sense and sense.

393
00:22:55,480 --> 00:22:59,000
I love that. So it makes
sense because you're keeping your plants healthy,

394
00:22:59,160 --> 00:23:02,839
you're letting them blue the more.
And it makes sense as in ce nts

395
00:23:02,880 --> 00:23:04,039
because you're going to save a lot
of money to come up with it.

396
00:23:04,160 --> 00:23:07,359
I did. Isn't that pretty impressing? I know Mary doesn't always know when

397
00:23:07,359 --> 00:23:11,440
I write these podcasts what's gonna come
pretty much making fun of me right now,

398
00:23:11,480 --> 00:23:15,039
but I'm all right with it.
So it does. It makes sense

399
00:23:15,039 --> 00:23:17,880
and sense. And then second of
all, Mary is try to divide why

400
00:23:17,920 --> 00:23:21,680
the ground is workable but before the
leaves come out. But it's not necessary,

401
00:23:21,880 --> 00:23:22,960
right, You definitely want to do
it as soon as possible. But

402
00:23:23,000 --> 00:23:26,599
if you know you have a little
green that's popping up through the ground,

403
00:23:26,720 --> 00:23:30,960
you still can do it. Yep. So flip those plants over dig them

404
00:23:30,960 --> 00:23:33,039
out, pop them out of the
ground, flip them over sea and see

405
00:23:33,079 --> 00:23:36,039
the root structure and then you can
make easy divisions. Whether it's with a

406
00:23:36,079 --> 00:23:38,799
shovel, hory hory garden knife or
you know, an axe. If it's

407
00:23:38,839 --> 00:23:42,319
something something large, it's real important
to replant them as soon as you can.

408
00:23:42,519 --> 00:23:47,119
I mean obviously the same day as
the best, but always know when

409
00:23:47,160 --> 00:23:49,039
you put them in the ground.
Use composts to help. Yeah, great,

410
00:23:49,039 --> 00:23:53,160
on the same day. If you
can't make the same day, make

411
00:23:53,160 --> 00:23:56,640
sure you keep the roots watered a
little bit, keep them in a shady

412
00:23:56,680 --> 00:24:00,240
part of your outside. You know
I've done too, Okay, I've gone

413
00:24:00,440 --> 00:24:03,640
a week before with grasses and I
have them somewhere and I notice them.

414
00:24:03,839 --> 00:24:07,000
But it's so much better to get
them in that same day. Right.

415
00:24:07,000 --> 00:24:10,160
It could be done, you know, a few days later, but it's

416
00:24:10,200 --> 00:24:12,599
best for the same day. Just
gonna help them get you know, their

417
00:24:12,640 --> 00:24:17,319
roots started that much easier. And
then again the final tip, use those

418
00:24:17,359 --> 00:24:21,000
holding beds. Such a great idea, it is, and you can have

419
00:24:21,359 --> 00:24:23,079
plans for later. You can share
plants for family and friends. It's just

420
00:24:23,119 --> 00:24:26,559
a great idea, not to waste
anything. All right. That's probably twenty

421
00:24:26,599 --> 00:24:30,880
four minutes more than anyone wanted to
hear us talk Mary. So I guess

422
00:24:30,920 --> 00:24:33,680
it's time and remember whatever you do, find the fun and gardening and grows

423
00:24:33,680 --> 00:24:38,720
something beautiful. All right, everyone, until next week, Happy gardening everyone.

424
00:24:40,599 --> 00:24:44,079
We hope you've enjoyed this episode.
Subscribe to The Simple Garden podcast on

425
00:24:44,119 --> 00:24:48,319
iTunes, Apple Podcasts, Spotify,
or most of your favorite podcast apps.

426
00:24:48,519 --> 00:24:52,000
You can also head over to simple
gardenlife dot com where you can listen and

427
00:24:52,039 --> 00:24:55,759
read all of the show notes to
every episode and if you have any questions,

428
00:24:56,000 --> 00:24:59,079
any ideas for show topics, or
if you want to share your favorite

429
00:24:59,079 --> 00:25:03,160
garden tip, email us at the
farm at owgarden dot com. Until next

430
00:25:03,200 --> 00:25:04,559
time, Thanks everyone,