Dividing plants an inexpensive way to expand

Traveling back roads in Maine can be quite an adventure. Some of the most innocent looking roads can lead to the most interesting gardens. Usually equipped with a camera full of film, a note pad and a hopeful smile, I find myself knocking at the door of gardeners’ homes, ready to invite myself through their garden if they’re willing. Sometimes an invitation (as was the case this week) is all that’s needed to really get me worked up.

If you are, as I was, invited to Nancy Keilor’s garden in Old Town, you’ll likely be struck by her deep enthusiasm for working with plants. In fact, Nancy is one in a long line of passionate gardeners — she’ll explain how her father and grandmother both had green thumbs and encouraged her from a young age to garden alongside them. She even has some plants that were passed down through the generations that she cares for in her greenhouse and home.

One of the most inspiring things about Nancy’s garden is that she has done all of the work herself (excluding a little berm-building work done by her brother with his bulldozer). Although she has lived in the area for more than 30 years, she’s designed, expanded and managed the quarter-acre garden just in the past four years. She’s spent a great deal of time educating herself about general horticulture and on gardening to attract wildlife — mostly birds, butterflies and grandchildren! It’s to be admired that she has successfully kept annual inputs and her budget to a minimum by using resources from her community, such as Old Town municipal sludge as a mulch for her ornamentals and bark chips from a local mill.

Plants are cycled through Nancy’s garden by division throughout the season. Since she can’t bear to throw away any parts of the plants she’s divided, it’s no surprise her garden keeps expanding toward the wooded area behind her house. Luckily, she has about 90 acres left to play with in the future. In addition to using the divided plants to expand her own garden, Nancy sells only the healthiest extra divisions through her small business, The Flower Pot.

Although first thing in the spring is the best time to divide most perennials, most plants also can be successfully divided at this time of year. Since many perennials can stand to be divided every three to four years, it might be best for you to get your garden on a rotation where you can divide one section of plants every year. If you only have a few perennials, start selecting plants for division by assessing which ones have reached their mature size and need to be rejuvenated or by deciding which areas of the garden are beginning to look overcrowded.

Dividing perennials is fairly easy if you use a few simple techniques. By first loosening the soil around the base of each perennial with a spading fork, damage to the root system will be minimized. Be sure to spade in a complete circle around the base of the plant, at least as far out as the leaf canopy extends. After gently lifting the plant out of the ground, carefully shake the soil away from the roots so the crown of the plant (the portion of the plant where the stems join the roots) is exposed. Make your divisions by separating the plant in places where the crowns have both healthy root and shoot tissue. Be sure to discard any diseased or insect-infested tissue.

Transplant your divisions into their new locations while paying special attention to their additional water needs. It is best to make your divisions and transplant on a day that is cloudy. Avoiding bright sunlight will give your plants an easy transition to their new home.

Diana George Chapin of Veazie is the NEWS garden columnist.